Manchin Voices Support for Buffett Rule - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Although the U.S. Senate rejected the so-called Buffett Rule April 16, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he supports a fair tax system.

"We (in West Virginia) just don't understand why hardworking middle-income people are paying a much higher tax rate than some of the wealthiest people in the country," Manchin said on the Senate floor. "Take our coal miners, who go to the mine every single day to make a living for themselves, for their families, but who are paying a higher tax rate than some people making $1 million a year."

The Buffett Rule, named for billionaire Warren Buffett who last year said he paid personal income taxes at a rate lower than his secretary, would require those making $1 million a year or more to pay a minimum 30 percent effective tax rate. According to a CNN/ORN poll conducted the weekend before the vote, 72 percent of Americans support the idea of setting a minimum tax rate on millionaires. However, the measure failed to reach a three-fifths majority in the Senate and failed 51-45. Both Manchin and Sen. Jay Rockefeller, also D-W.Va., voted in favor of the bill.

"I was disappointed to see the Buffett Rule fail last night," Manchin said in an April 17 conference call with media. "I thought it was a good stop to put fairness back in our tax system. If you can put fairness in and people change their attitude knowing they'll be treated fair, it changes everything. It changes your opportunities more than anything else."

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., introduced the bill in March. According to CNN Money, Whitehouse said the bill, known in the Senate as the "Paying a Fair Share Act," would ensure millionaires "pay a fair share no matter what loopholes or special treatment lawmakers add to the code in the future."

Although critics have said implementing the Buffett Rule would punish those in a higher income bracket, Manchin said the rule would make the system more fair for those with lower incomes.

"It's not a punishment," he said in the conference call. "We're not raising the rate at all. We'd just be collecting the money we should be collecting based on the income bracket you're in."

Democrats said the bill would have raised an estimated $47 billion over 10 years if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire, or $162 billion over the same period if the cuts are extended.

Manchin said most West Virginians think the current tax system is "inherently unfair."

"The Buffett Rule would take a small step to show the American people that we're trying to correct those problems and, most importantly, put some basic fairness back in our tax system," he said on the Senate floor.