Clinton proposes hiking taxes on wealthy
Hillary Clinton wants to expand the “Buffett rule” that would hike taxes on America’s wealthiest earners, the Democratic presidential front-runner told supporters on Wednesday during a rally in Nebraska.
{mosads}Clinton spoke during her first public appearance of the campaign with billionaire Warren Buffett, one of the world’s richest people who has been a long-time Clinton supporter. He has also donated tens of thousands of dollars to Ready for Hillary, the super-PAC that laid the groundwork for her bid.
President Obama initially offered the Buffett rule in 2011 with the billionaire’s blessing, but it has languished in Congress.
Introducing Clinton, Buffett ticked through a series of statistics that showed America’s decreasing income inequality. Clinton frequently notes that the “deck is stacked” against the the middle class while talking about the issue on the stump, but the proposal comes days before the former secretary of state debates Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent Vermont senator who has made income inequality the center of his campaign.
Buffett also noted that because of Nebraska’s proportional electoral college apportionment in the general election, the district housing Omaha, which trends more liberal than the rest of the state, could deliver the Democratic nominee one electoral vote. In what’s expected to be a close election, Buffett said, that could be vital.
—Naomi Jagoda contributed
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