Even Democratic legislators now acknowledge the Buffett rule won’t play any meaningful role in balancing the federal budget, as Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) admitted on MSNBC. The Hill reports:
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) on Wednesday acknowledged GOP criticisms that the Obama administration’s Buffett Rule “isn’t going to balance the budget,” but argued that the proposal was important as a matter of “values” and “fairness.”
“This is an issue about fairness,” Coons said on MSNBC. “It isn’t going to balance the budget, but it is important for values and for showing some fairness.”
The concept of using the Buffett Rule as a method of closing the deficit gap has been thoroughly debunked, as has the argument that raising taxes on wealthy Americans is somehow fair. Despite these realities, the Democrats continue to press this issue.
Senator Coons is not the only Democrat who is willing to admit that the Buffet Rule nonsense is but a canard as it relates to solving the nation’s fiscal woes. In the White House Press briefing this morning, Press Secretary Jay Carney claimed the President has never suggested the Buffett Rule was a budgetary tool. Carney stated in no uncertain terms, “It is a principle of tax fairness.”
The Buffett Rule is nothing but class warfare, and class warfare does not appear to be a winning strategy in this election. The American people are interested in real fiscal reform, not meaningless gimmicks designed to penalize success.