Report: Rich Would Dodge Buffett Rule

The proposed "Buffett Rule" tax on America's highest earners would barely make a dent in the federal deficit, according to a report from congressional analysts. The plan to impose a 30% minimum tax on people making more than $1 million a year would raise just $47 billion over 11 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, which predicts that millionaires will find many ways to dodge the rule. Some $7 trillion in federal budget deficits are projected over the same period.

Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, who requested the analysis, called the plan "a dog that just won't hunt," and urged President Obama to "stop the class warfare." The plan, which Obama unveiled last month, was named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who says wealthy Americans like himself should be taxed at a higher rate. Obama's proposal to end Bush-era tax cuts for couples making over $250,000 a year would do a lot more to reduce the deficit, raising an estimated $850 billion over the next decade, the Wall Street Journal notes. (More taxation stories.)