The Republican Party: Of the Rich, By the Rich and For the Rich -- and All Other Americans Be Damned

From Progress Report -- April 16, 2012:

Republicans Side With The Wealthy (Again)

Apr 16, 2012 | By ThinkProgress War Room

Senate Republicans Block Buffett Rule

Earlier this evening, the Senate voted on whether or not to take up the Buffett Rule in the form of a bill that guaranteed millionaires would pay a minimum tax rate of 30 percent. Just as they did time and again last year when it came to taxing millionaires in order to create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, Senate Republicans almost unanimously sided with millionaires instead of middle class workers — millions of whom will pay a higher tax rate than millionaires do when they file their tax returns tomorrow. Just one Senate Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, voted in favor of making millionaires pay at least the same tax rate as middle class workers.

The fight for a fairer tax code that isn’t rigged for the wealthy is just getting started, so here are three charts showing why we need the Buffett Rule and a tax code that makes the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share.

1. The Buffett Rule will restore a sense of fairness by ensuring that no millionaire is paying a lower tax rate than middle-class families.

2. The Buffett Rule will require those who have captured an outsized share of the gains to finally contribute to deficit reduction.

3. Tax rates on the wealthiest Americans have plunged.

IN ONE SENTENCE: Instead of the Republican plan to end Medicare in order to slash taxes on the wealthiest Americans, Progressives want the Buffett Rule to make sure millionaires aren’t paying a lower tax rate than middle class workers.