Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she plans on expanding the so-called “Buffett Rule” by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
During a campaign stop in Waterloo, Iowa Monday, the former secretary of state said she wants the top .02 percent of Americans to pay a “fair share surcharge,” which would increase the tax load by four percent for those making $5 million or more.
“It’s outrageous that multimillionaires and billionaires are allowed to play by a different set of rules than hard-working families, especially when it comes to paying their fair share of taxes,” Clinton said.
“The Buffett Rule,” named after billionaire Warren Buffett and lauded by President Barack Obama’s administration, calls on anyone making over a million dollars to pay a minimum of 30 percent in taxes.
“I want to go further and impose what I call a fair share surcharge on multimillionaires because right now we’re behind and we need to get the wealthy and the corporations to pay more of their fair share,” Clinton said, according to Bloomberg news.
Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a Washington, D.C.-based conservative advocacy group, reported the move will cost taxpayers $150 billion over the course of a decade.
“Hillary is now the third Democrat presidential candidate to call for raising taxes on ‘the rich.’ Bill Clinton and Barack Obama said the same and immediately pivoted to raising taxes on the middle class. Bill taxed gasoline, and Obama imposed seven Obamacare taxes on the middle class,” ATR President Grover Norquist said in a statement. “Hillary’s promise to raise taxes on ‘the rich’ is only the first part of the sentence: She left out I will raise taxes on the rich….first…then you. Her husband Bill made the same promise and then raised energy taxes, gasoline taxes on the middle class.”
Clinton has already wavered on her promise not to raise taxes on the middle-class. During a December appearance on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Clinton was asked if her tax plan was a “rock solid read-my-lips promise.” The Democratic front-runner responded it was something she was aiming for but wouldn’t confirm.
“Well, it certainly is my goal. And I’ve laid it out in this campaign. And it’s something that President Obama promised,” Clinton said. “It’s something my husband certainly tried to achieve. Because I want Americans to know that I get it.”
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