Tuesday, September 20, 2011

VIDEO: Message Discipline — The GOP Wages ‘Class Warfare’

Yesterday, President Obama put forward a new plan to reduce the federal deficit by $3.2 trillion over the next decade. One highlight of the plan — along with the expiration of the Bush tax cuts for the top two tax brackets — is a new minimum tax for millionaires. This has been termed “the Buffett rule,” in honor of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who often highlights the injustice of our current tax code with the example that he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.

The plan had not even been officially unveiled when a number of politicians, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), emerged on the Sunday news show circuit to denounce the new rule as “class warfare.” From there, a whole host of both conservative politicians and media personalities coalesced around the talking point with remarkable speed, ubiquitousness, and consistency.

Apparently, asking the wealthy to pay taxes at a higher percentage than the middle and working classes is the equivalent of calling for the torches and pitchforks. ThinkProgress has the video report. Watch it:

No comments:

Post a Comment