President Obama has come out strong in favor of raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, but Marco Rubio thinks that's a fool's errand. In Rubio's mind, the rich just have too much money to waste on things that will get them out of paying taxes anyway.
"The billionaires and millionaires that are going to be impacted by higher rates, they can afford to hire the best lawyers, lobbyists and accountants in America to figure out how not to pay those higher rates," Rubio told National Journal's Major Garrett at The Atlantic Washington Ideas Forum. "The people that are going to get stuck by that bill are the small businesses, the partnerships, the S corporations, that cannot hire the lawyers to get them out of it."Which is kind of true. Mitt Romney only had an effective 14.1 percent tax rate in 2012, and could have paid less. Warren Buffett, the third wealthiest person in the world, was paying a lower income rate than his secretary, and now supports a rule that would insist that people making over a million dollars a year should pay at least a minimum 30 percent tax rate.
Which is why President Obama proposed the so-called Buffett Rule.
Anyway, there's also nothing stopping successful small businesses from hiring decent lawyers and accountants too, is there?
Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.
