The White House disclosed this past week that President Obama paid an effective federal tax rate of just over 20 percent on adjusted gross income of nearly $790,000. The White House claimed that Obama’s effective federal tax rate was lower than that of his secretary and used it as an argument to support its so-called Buffett Rule proposal, even though the Buffett Rule wouldn’t affect taxpayers making less than $1 million a year. In the parallel universe occupied by President Obama and his supporters, it all makes perfect sense.
On Fox News Sunday this morning Chris Wallace asked Obama political guru David Axelrod why Obama doesn’t just chip in at the office to mitigate the unfairness of the system (transcript here). Good question!
Axelrod replied with some exasperation: “That’s not the way we operate our tax system, okay?” he said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We don’t run bake sales. It’s not about volunteerism. We all kick in according to the system.”
If you’re a liberal, doing the right thing (by liberal lights) must be compulsory. Otherwise, what’s the point? It took modern liberalism to make volunteerism compulsory. Zombie has nevertheless gone to the trouble of creating a special Buffett Rule Form 1040 that the president can take advantage of if he sees fit.
Axelrod added: “The president’s proposal would have him pay a higher rate of taxes in the future.” Here Axelrod was taking advantage of Wallace’s apparent lack of knowledge of the inapplicability of the Buffett Rule to taxpayers, like Obama, making less than $1 million a year. Even the AP got this one right.
Axelrod and his crew are entirely dependent on the ignorance of their intended audience when they make points like this. Axelrod’s statement could only become true “in the future” when the Buffett Rule is in effect and Obama is making more than he did last year. Maybe that’s what he meant! Byron York explains, however, why the Buffett Rule isn’t going to be enacted any time soon.
Obama earned almost as much on royalties on Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope last year as he did on his presidential salary. Whoever wrote Dreams for him must be stewing in the injustice of it all. Talk about unfairness!
Regarding Axe’s appearance on Fox News Sunday this morning, Jennifer Rubin has more here, with the hilarious video below.
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