President Barack Obama used his 2012 State of the Union address to make a second appeal for Congress to pass a so-called Buffett Rule on wealthy Americans. The idea is to raise taxes on anyone earning more than $1 million a year who pays a smaller portion of their earnings to the government than do middle-class workers.
"Right now, because of loopholes and shelters in the tax code, a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than millions of middle-class households. Right now, Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary," Obama told a joint session of Congress.
Specifically, the president is proposing to tax millionaires 30 percent of their earnings.
"Washington should stop subsidizing millionaires," Obama said. "In fact, if you're earning a million dollars a year, you shouldn't get special tax subsidies or deductions."
So how would the Buffett Rule really work? How many people would it affect?
(Photo: Alex Wong / Getty Images)
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