Was Buffett Wrong?

Mark Perry writes:

We now have a proposal for a tax policy - the "Buffett Rule" - based on Warren Buffett's anecdotal "evidence" of his and his employees' tax burdens. But that "evidence" seems pretty far-fetched and not consistent with: a) average federal income tax rates available from the IRS, nor b) average tax rates for all federal taxes paid, from the CBO. Buffett's anecdote has to be an outlier or exception, because under the current federal tax system, the average "super-rich" taxpayer pays taxes at a rate 2-3 times the average secretary. Instead of raising tax rates, we should probably figure out what kind of loopholes allow Warren Buffet to pay taxes of only 17.4% on his $40 million income last year.

Update: Steve Moore on The Kudlow Report tonight said in reference to myth that secretaries pay taxes at higher rates than the "super-rich," (and citing some of the same tax data that appear above) "It's almost as if Barack Obama and Warren Buffett made those numbers up."

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