America’s version of the ‘tax the rich’ debate

While the battle continues to rage over the government’s plan to cap tax relief, on the other side of the Atlantic the US bill that inspired it has been killed. The ‘Paying a Fair Share Act 2012’ — more commonly known as the ‘Buffett Rule’ after billionaire Warren Buffett — failed to get the votes it needed to be debated in the Senate. It was backed by a majority of senators, with 51 voting ‘Yea’ to 45 ‘Nay’s, but fell short of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.

Fraser explained on Friday how Obama’s efforts to ensure that — as the President puts it — ‘If you make more than a million dollars a year, you should pay the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle class families do’ inspired Nick Clegg’s ‘Tycoon Tax’ proposal, which has in turn led to the current ‘charity tax’ debacle. Obama