Those Crazy Liberals, Warren Buffett and Ronald Reagan

After Warren Buffett said on air last week that he does, in fact, support the Buffett Rule, right-wing pundits and Republican politicians distorted his words to claim that he disagrees with the Buffett Rule. Meanwhile, they're attacking the ordinary Americans occupying Wall Street -- and ignoring Ronald Reagan. 

PUT THEM ON DEFENSE

The Claim: "Obama is wrong - even Warren Buffett disagrees with the Buffett Rule."

The Real Story:

• The truth is Warren Buffett said he agrees that millionaires shouldn't pay lower taxes than middle-class Americans and he's happy the President named the Buffett Rule after him.

The Message That's Working:

• The Buffett Rule is simple. No middle-class family should pay higher taxes than any millionaire. President Reagan got it. President Obama gets it. Americans get it. It's time for Republican millionaires in Congress to get it, too.
• America was founded as a country where we reward hard work more than how much money anyone's family has. 
• As Warren Buffett tells it, the only "class warfare" in America is being waged by his class - and they're winning.

Why Now:

• Right now, hard work is taxed higher than wealth that's just sitting there. When your child's teacher or your neighbor earns money from their job, their income is taxed higher than the money that millionaires and trust fund kids make off money they already have.
• That's why Warren Buffett pays lower taxes than many middle-class Americans. So do plenty of other millionaires and billionaires - including the 4,000 millionaires who didn't pay any federal income taxes at all last year.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Millionaires and billionaires are now raking in higher incomes and skyrocketing bonuses while paying the lowest income tax rates in generations. The richest 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined.
• Warren Buffett says we should "stop coddling" millionaires and billionaires with tax giveaways for the sake of the country. Wealthy business leaders, investors around the world, and over a hundred "patriotic millionaires" agree.
• 27 major national polls show that Americans believe we need to raise taxes, including a recent poll that shows 70 percent want to end wasteful tax giveaways to millionaires.

GO ON OFFENSE

On whose side they're on: Tax Cuts for Millionaires But Not the Middle Class

On their motives: Republican Political Strategy vs. Jobs

On bringing it back to jobs: How Not to Create Jobs

We develop messaging by aggregating, analyzing and distilling polling, tested messaging, and expert recommendations, and monitoring the media to identify what is and isn't working. See here for some of the experts and organizations we draw on.

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