On CNBC’s Wednesday broadcast of “Squawk on the Street,” CME Group floor reporter Rick Santelli went through the numbers and explained why President Barack Obama’s so-called “Buffett rule” would do little to remedy federal deficit woes.
Santelli projected new government revenue that would be earned by imposing the rule, taking the number of millionaires and billionaires and applying the tax hike to their earnings.
At the end of the scenario, even with the rosiest projection of the number of millionaires and billionaires used, the new revenue falls significantly short of correcting the deficits the government is accumulating, according to Santelli.
“If you look at total public debt held, it has increased $792 billion in this time to a grand total of $15.6 trillion,” Santelli said. “You see what the problem is? We can bash people. We can drag people that used to be called successful and drag them down. But is it going to cure a problem? No. We cannot collect enough taxes to catch up with spending. Do I know a solution? Not really. Does your politicians know a solution? Does our commander-in-chief offer a solution? Absolutely not.”
Santelli added that he wasn’t clear on how making people pay their so-called “fair share” would result in better opportunities for his children.
“I have solutions but you know what? It will take a long time to go there,” he said. “People don’t really want to hear solutions. They want to change the dialogue, bait and switch so we get more worried about what people pay, what’s fair. How are my kids’ opportunities affected by how many millionaires there are? I don’t see that opportunities are affected. You know what I see will affect their opportunity? $15.6 Trillion.”
(h/t The Right Scoop)