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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LLCF who wrote (122687)	1/26/2012 10:55:19 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	1 Recommendation Respond to of 224729

Is Buffett's Secretary A One Percenter? Posted 06:44 PM ET Taxes: President Obama should have done a little more due diligence before making Warren Buffett's secretary the poster child for raising taxes on the rich. Her story gets fishier by the minute. Ever since Buffett claimed his secretary paid taxes at a higher rate than he did, Obama has been trumpeting Debbie Bosanek as proof that the rich don't pay their fair share. He brought her up in his State of the Union speech, and even invited Bosanek to sit next to Michelle Obama. She has become a virtual posterwoman for Obama's push to boost taxes on the rich. Obama's campaign website declares Bosanek to be "the inspiration behind the Buffett Rule," which would impose a surtax on millionaires. But the more we learn about Bosanek, the less it looks as though she's "just like an average citizen." An ABC News report, for example, says she "pays a tax rate of 35.8%," in contrast to Buffett's 17.4%. But wait a second. The very top federal income tax bracket is 35%, not 35.8%, and that doesn't kick in until a taxpayer has adjusted gross income above $379,150. Does that mean Bosanek is among the 0.4% of taxpayers whose income hits the top federal bracket? You know, the "1%" Obama and his pals always rail about? Buffett has claimed he pays his secretary just $60,000. So maybe she's adding in every other tax she pays besides her income tax, including her employer's share of Social Security and Medicare taxes. But even that won't get you up to 35.8%. Then there's the news that Bosanek and her husband just bought their second home, this one in Phoenix, for $144,000. Last time we checked, there weren't many 99 percenters who could cough up a $29,000 down payment for house No. 2, much less afford dual mortgages. Maybe her husband makes a lot of money, pushing her into a higher bracket. But that, too, would call the lie on this whole charade, since a minimum-wage janitor could claim to pay taxes at the top rate if he were married to someone rich. Under normal circumstances, we couldn't care less what Bosanek and Buffett pay in taxes. But they've willingly thrust themselves into the center of one of the most important policy debates of the election. Given that, the public can't simply take their word for it. Indeed, if Buffett and Bosanek are telling the truth about their taxes, they should be delighted to prove it by releasing their 1040s for public inspection. Until then, they should shut up.