A version of the "Buffett Rule" was introduced today by Senate Democrats after a call by President Obama for the super-rich to start paying their fair share in the State of the Union Address last week. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, formally introduced what he's calling the "Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012." Under the law, millionaires would pay a minimum 30 percent effective tax rate, or more than double what millionaire Mitt Romney has been paying. According to the Congressional Research Center, approximately 94,500 taxpayers, a quarter of all U.S. millionaires, pay a lower tax rate than the vast majority of middle-income taxpayers. While potential revenue has yet to be formally calculated, Whitehouse estimates that the law could generate $40-50 billion annually. more ›

It's easy to get caught up in the moment and forget about those who are hurting the most this holiday season: old, rich white men, who have suffered the slings of the 99% despite being responsible for all that is good in the world. Thankfully Bloomberg News was able to track down these noble creatures to find out what they think about the legions of Americans who believe in greater income equality. "Who gives a crap about some imbecile?" 82-year-old billionaire and co-founder of Home Depot, Bernard Marcus says. "Are you kidding me?" more ›

These days, stories of CEOs getting their companies to buy their antique map collections for millions of dollars have us yawning. We need examples of pure, systematic evil to get our bile mojo going. Thankfully the Times supplies it in a profile on how billionaire cosmetic heir Ronald Lauder dodges more taxes than a Black Friday crowd in Delaware. more ›

Despite earlier signage indicating a 10 p.m. curfew in Zuccotti Park after yesterday's eviction and cleaning, the NYPD clarified that protesters will be allowed to stay in the park 24 hours a day. However, "lying down" remains prohibited, making it difficult for those who have made the park their home to sleep there. One man skirted the rule by sleeping in a semi-upright position. Another who identified himself as homeless curled up in the fetal position on a bench. Two NYPD officers approached him within minutes, and jabbed him in the ribs with their hands. "Sit up. You can't lie down. No sleeping." more ›

In his weekly radio address, billionaire autocrat Michael Bloomberg took the opportunity to criticize the groups of students, labor unions, and other demonstrators who haven taken to Lower Manhattan to protest the state of our economy. "They're trying to take away the tax base we have, because none of this is good for tourism," Bloomberg said, apparently unaware that the tourists are eating it up and that some of the protesters are tourists themselves. He also claimed that those in Zuccotti Park were "trying to destroy the jobs of working people in this city." more ›

It's been a long, strange, helicoptery trip, but Chris Christie has chosen life: the New Jersey governor is holding a press conference today at 1 p.m. to announce that he is NOT running for president. "He's not running. Mary Pat and the gov just called tier one [donor] group to say he was out," a source tells Politico. Those tier one donors shouldn't worry, as they can just shift their donations to Mitt Romney. Or they can shovel the cash into a giant pit in the earth, douse it in kerosene, and set it on fire. While both choices will have the same result, the primal urge to bask in the glow of combustion is considerably more exciting than Mitt Romney. more ›

While the country fervently wrings its Chris Christie t-shirts anticipating the announcement of the New Jersey governor's 2012 run, let's take a moment to meet the noble white billionaires who would make the dream possible. more ›

Billionaire interior decorator Michael Bloomberg feels that he and his fellow wealthy Americans pay plenty of taxes, thank you, and that Warren Buffett is a drama queen. "I think a lot of it is just theater," the mayor said today on Meet the Press. "If Warren Buffett made his money from ordinary income rather than capital gains his tax rate would be a lot higher than his secretaries…in fact a very small percentage of this country pay a big chunk of the taxes." Bloomberg would seem to have a point except for the fact that most of the rich don't earn money from wages: at least 60% of their income comes from capital gains. more ›

Forget the 46.2 million Americans who are living in poverty—when one of our nation's precious "job creators" is hurt, a bald eagle commits suicide. Billionaire Gristedes owner and relative to Dick Nixon by marriage John Catsimatidis may have to close the supermarket chain if the company can't afford to pay a $3.5 million settlement to 300 employees for back wages and overtime. "Gristedes is suffering," he tells the Post, citing a "squeeze play" by his vendors after rival Food Emporium declared bankruptcy last year. A "squeeze play" is also the technique for testing the ripeness of Gristedes produce, which involves gripping it tightly, pressing it to your face for a deep inhale, then placing it back amongst its brethren. (This technique is also an effective "negotiating" tactic when dealing with money-grubbing employees.) more ›

Besides whale bone back-scratchers, one of the best parts about being rich is that you make money because you're rich. In 2008, the 400 wealthiest taxpayers made 60 percent of their income in the form of capital gains (profits from investments), and 8 percent in salary and wages. Meanwhile, the rest of the country made 5 percent in capital gains, and 72 percent in salary and wages. Under the current tax code, billionaires pay less than anyone making more than $34,500 in wages on capital gains earnings. This is because, as one Yale professor tells WaPo, “the amount of lobbying that takes place on tax policy from the deep-pocketed interests that have the most at stake is enormous." Maybe all those unemployed people should just become lobbyists? more ›

When will people on the street understand that rich people have the right of way? The late Bob Novak understood this, when he just cold plowed into a pedestrian in D.C. and didn't even notice ("He's not dead, that's the main thing," Novak magnanimously said). Now some clod in New York has filed a $100 million lawsuit after he oafishly stuck his foot under a Colombian aristocrat's Mercedes tire. Andres Santo Domingo, a 31-year-old son of billionaire Julio Mario Santo Domingo, allegedly rolled over Ryan Coutu's foot and "slammed his arm with a rear-view mirror," the Daily News reports. Coutu suffered pain in his foot and "nerve damage in his right arm," but hey, at least he got to touch Santo Domingo's Mercedes free of charge. more ›

While Barack Obama and Joe Biden release their complete tax returns to the public once a year, Mayor Bloomberg makes journalists cram into a room and view his redacted returns for less than three hours—no photocopies. The Mayor says that it's because he fears "disclosing sensitive corporate information to his competitors," but it also probably has something to do with all the fun income streams and expenditures the Times found yesterday, including his $98K in equestrian winnings, and his $44K cabinets that were later donated to charity. more ›

Embattled Knicks guard Stephon Marbury seems to have come up with a new strategy in an attempt to elicit sympathy for his exile from the team since the dawn of the Mike D'Antoni era: present himself as an everyman fighting the injustices of billionaires trying to keep him down. While at a Lakers game last night, Marbury referred to the Knicks multiple times as a "billion-dollar company" and at one point said, "For me, what am I going to do against a billion-dollar company? I can't beat a billion-dollar company so I got to stand still and just wait." Marbury himself will make $21 million in a season that has yet to see him take the court. The Knicks still hope that they might be able to negotiate a deal to trade him before the March 1st deadline. He was at last night's game wearing the Laker colors of purple and gold, possibly to lure the Western powerhouse into a trade or possibly just to make it abundantly clear that he was rooting for a team that wasn't the Knicks. more ›

Yesterday Forbes magazine, in their annual ranking of the rich, declared New York City is no longer the billionaire capital of the world. Where have all the dollar signs gone? To Moscow, of course, who beat us out by 3 billionaires (they have 74 to our 71). more ›