Obama to Call for Minimum Tax Rate for Millionaires

By National Journal staff

Updated: September 17, 2011 | 7:36 p.m.
September 17, 2011 | 7:00 p.m.

President Obama on Monday will call for a minimum tax rate for Americans who make at least $1 million a year, a senior administration official tells National Journal.

Obama wants millionaires to pay at least the same in taxes as middle-income Americans. He will call the tax rate the "Buffett Rule," named after Warren Buffett, who has complained that richer Americans pay less in taxes than Americans who make less.

"We've always said that you can't reduce the debt with spending alone or you'd have to make draconian cuts to the heart of what Americans rely on," the official said. "This is a substantive way to raise revenue."

The Buffett Rule is an effort to put political pressure on Republicans serving on the so-called "super committee" to agree to new revenues—which they have refused to do.

Details of the tax rate were not available, but the official confirmed that Obama would also propose additional cuts to the Medicare program.

"They will be meaningful," the official said.

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