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The Democratic-controlled Senate failed on Monday to reach a super-majority needed to pass a tax plan offered by President Obamato require millionaires to pay a 30% minimum effective tax rate.
The 51-45 defeat of the "Buffett rule," named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, fell mostly along party lines. The bill needed 60 votes to move forward. Sen.Susan Collins, R-Maine, was the only Republican to vote with Democrats, while Arkansas Democrat Mark Pryor sided with the GOP.Senate Republicans criticized the bill as an election-year ploy by the president who has been campaigning on a message that all Americans should pay their "fair share" in order to help balance the budget. "For him, it's not about jobs or the economy. It's about his idea of fairness, about imposing it on others," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., countered that wealthy Americans are currently enjoying some of the lowest tax rates in modern history. "This unfair system has turned the gap between the richest few and everyone else into a gulf," he said.
The White House proposal was named for Buffett after he publicly called last year for a tax code that does not allow the wealthiest of Americans to pay a lower effective tax rate than the middle class, which is currently possible because of how tax rules apply differently to money made off of investments vs. money earned through a pay check.
Read more @: Senate fails to advance Buffett rule
Dear god why!? Its common ****ing sense. When we are at a time when we have deficits that need to be closed and we need to make investments to strengthen our economy why cant a simple thing like this pass!?