CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — At a campaign rally Wednesday afternoon, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich blasted the “Buffett Rule” President Obama proposed in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
“I watched the president and … he said one thing which I want to directly challenge the White House about today because I’m not sure he understood what he was saying,” Gingrich said at the beginning of his address to a crowd of several hundred people.
“I know you could say that about large parts of his speech, but I want to focus on one part. When he proposed a 30 percent minimum tax, if he actually means it, that would double the tax on capital gains. That would drive the stock market down. It would affect every pension plan in the country. It would affect every 401k in the country. It would lead people to invest outside the United States. It would stop capital formation. It would block the development of new companies and it would be about as big a job killing proposal as any president has ever made.”
“Now I’m hoping the White House is going to clarify today that 30 percent didn’t mean 30 percent because if it meant 30 percent that would be so stupid even they couldn’t defend it,” Gingrich added.
“But if in fact it does mean 30 percent, every American needs to understand the president last night proposed doubling the tax on capital gains which is the engine which drives job creation in the United States so he is talking killing job creation in America — something he’s been really good at doing for three years and now wants to continue.”
The president had proposed the so-called “Buffett Rule” before, but he reiterated the proposal in his address to the nation Tuesday night.
“Tax reform should follow the Buffett Rule: If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes,” the president declared.
“Now, you can call this class warfare all you want. But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense.”