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Politics & Government

Should Millionaires Pay As Much As The Rest Of Us?

Two recent polls show support for proposed "Buffett Rule."

Do you think millionaires should pay taxes similar to the middle class?

A new Gallup poll released Friday shows a majority of Americans support the proposed Buffett Rule, which would require individuals earning $1 million or more per year to pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes.

The bill, intended to prevent the wealthy from paying a lower actual tax rate than most middle class workers, is named for billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who has argued that he should not be allowed to pay a lower tax rate than his secretary.

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President Barack Obama has recently pushed this tax policy, and the Senate votes on it this week.

The survey, conducted April 9 to 12 among 1,016 adults (with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points) found that 60 percent of adults support enacting such a policy, while 37 percent oppose it.

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By significant margins, both independents (63 to 33 percent) and Democrats (74 to 24 percent) supported the measure. Republicans opposed it by a smaller margin of 54 to 43 percent.

Another poll conducted by CNN shows that seven out of 10 — or nearly three-quarters of Americans — support the proposed legislation.

In Pleasanton, the median household income in 2010 was $120,094 and the average household income was $159,045.

The percentage of household incomes at $200,000 and higher was almost 22 percent.

To compare, in Danville, the median household income in 2010 was $146,969 and the average household income was $198,103.

The percentage of household incomes at $200,000 and higher in that town was almost 32 percent.

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