Obama Gets the Millionaires' Tax Right

I've never thought President Obama cared that much about reforming the nation's tax system. After listening to his speech this morning, I still think that. As President, he's certainly entitled to his priorities, number one of which was health care.

And I get that the President wants to increase income taxes on "millionaires" and "billionaires." He's been clear on that - over and over again. But he's not been as clear on what a "millionaire" is.

Well, today the President corrected his error by proposing what appears to basically be a new alternative minimum income tax on real millionaires. He calls it the "Buffett Rule," but the President didn't use that term in his speech. It may not be a bad idea as part of the solution. But he did it for the wrong reason; he did it because it's a good political move. You can tell that by the typical lame GOP responses: "This is class warfare. This will kill jobs. The rich will stop working."

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View TaxAnalysts' Chris Bergin's opinion in its entirety on TAX.com.

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