The White House is on a veto spree today. They threatened to veto the House’s new 90-day surface transportation extension because it includes a quick approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. Without an explicit veto threat, they “oppose” any version of a cybersecurity bill that violates user privacy (more on that later). And they threatened [...]

Over the past few years, Tax Day has meant protests by people in tri-corner hats waving Don’t Tread on Me flags. This year, however, while the Tea Party founders, groups affiliated with the 99% Spring, the labor and progressive-based complement to the Occupy movement, will gather in over 40 states to call for economic justice [...]

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Senate Republicans blocked consideration of the Buffett rule last night with a filibuster. The bill would have set a millionaire’s minimum effective tax rate at 30%, with a phase-in between $1 million and $2 million and an exemption for charitable donations. But Senate Republicans wouldn’t let it get [...]

Today, the Senate will vote on a motion to proceed to the Buffett rule, formally known as the Paying a Fair Share Act. This concludes a two-week push by Senate Democratic leaders and the Obama Administration on the bill, and the larger conversation around tax fairness and the need for the rich to pay a [...]

David Leonhardt’s big takeout on the “fiscal cliff” did not convince me that the prospect of Clinton-era tax rates is something to fear or avoid. I would start by saying that all of this is true: On Jan. 1 of next year, the federal tax bill for a typical middle-class household — making in the [...]

I don’t have a huge problem with the Buffett rule, which will get a vote in the Senate and fail on Monday. But I do have a problem with the concept of a minimum tax based on adjusted gross income as a killer app in tax policy, rather than just raising rates and closing loopholes. [...]

The President held another Buffett rule event today in Washington, featuring a series of millionaires and their secretaries. The people who have joined me here today are extremely successful. They’ve created jobs and opportunity for thousands of Americans. They’re rightly proud of their success. They love the country that made their success possible, and most [...]

With the general election kicking off yesterday, we will have seven more months of the kind of “I know you are but what am I” politics we saw on display yesterday. It’s almost too depressing to even contemplate. Mr. Romney fought back on his preferred turf, jobs and the economy, making the case that women [...]

I probably should have warned you before posting that video of George W. Bush, speaking today at the George W. Bush Presidential Center. His remarks came in conjunction with a conference called “Tax Policies For 4% Growth,” put together by such luminaries as James Glassman, the guy who wrote “Dow 36,000.” I don’t have strong [...]

Reading about this, I’m reminded of that old liberal bumper sticker about how “it will be a great day when schools have all the money they need and the Pentagon has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.” In Miami County, Kansas, they had to hold the equivalent of a bake sale to [...]

It’s certainly against type to see a Democratic Presidential campaign running on taxes. In particular, raising taxes on a certain subset of the population. But as they search for an articulated agenda, the Obama campaign has latched on to the Buffett rule, the alternative minimum tax for millionaires, as a key campaign plank. I noted [...]