Republican Rep. Steve Scalise wants any tax increase for wealthy to be voluntary
Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and Rep. Cedric Richmond say a 5 percent surcharge on millionaires is worth considering to pay for President Barack Obama's jobs proposal, but Republican Rep. Steve Scalise wants any tax increase for the wealthy to be voluntary. Obama said Thursday that he's "fine" with the millionaire tax proposal by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to pay for the combination small-business and payroll tax reductions and funding for highway and school construction with the goal of 1.9 million new jobs.
President Barack Obama gestures during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington Thursday. Members of the Louisiana congressional delegation reacted to his statement that he is 'fine' with a proposal to pay for his jobs package with a 5 percent surcharge on millionaires."The president keeps insisting that he wants to raise taxes on hard-working families and small businesses, and has used Warren Buffett as the poster child for his class warfare scheme because Buffett continues to say that he doesn't pay enough in taxes," Scalise said. "If Warren Buffett and others like him truly feel they're not paying enough in taxes, they can use the 'Buffett Rule' to put their money where their mouth is and voluntarily send in more to pay down the national debt."
Scalise, who said higher taxes on the wealthy would cost American jobs, proposed legislation Thursday that would create a box on tax forms that filers can check if they want to pay more than they owe.
Richmond, D- New Orleans, said for him it isn't a matter of class warfare or math (Obama says simple math indicates it will take a combination of major spending cuts and tax increases to reduce the deficit) but the philosophy recounted in the Bible: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded."
But Republicans note that even the president has said it would be a mistake to raise taxes during economic hard times.
"Reid's proposal, just like the president's, is a major tax increase in the middle of a recession that will hit a lot of small businesses that file and pay through the individual rates," said Sen. David Vitter, R-La.
But Landrieu said the latest Reid proposal is a big improvement over previous Democratic proposals that mostly targeted ending tax breaks for major oil companies.
"President Obama's jobs package has the potential to play an important role in our long-term economic recovery," Landrieu said. "Now that we have found a way to pay for the bill that doesn't single out one industry, I look forward to working with my colleagues to send the strongest possible bill back to President Obama, so we can put people back to work and get our economy moving again."
Bruce Alpert can be reached at balpert@timespicayune.com or 202.450.1406.