Romney's Buffett Rule Math Adds Up

Mitt Romney’s claim that if the so-called Buffett Rule was in place the resulting taxes would pay for just 11 hours of government functioning is correct, The Washington Post concluded in a fact check of the assertion.

Romney was speaking about the plan advocated by President Barack Obama that would add a tax surcharge to adjusted gross incomes of over $1 million. The Post noted that various nonpartisan assessments conclude the tax would raise an additional $5 billion a year.

“The fiscal year 2013 federal budget is projected to have $3.803 trillion in outlays,” the Post wrote. “So, dividing $5 billion into that figure, you end up with the Buffett Rule covering 0.131 percent of the budget. Given that there are 8,760 hours in a year, that works out to just over 11 hours.”

Democrats have a different way of looking at the numbers, but the Post said the “revenue raised in 2013 even under the Democrats’ preferred metric is just $7.7 billion. That would be 18 hours of the federal government.”

In conclusion, the Post wrote, “This dispute over baselines — and how they can be manipulated — is a pretty good example of Washington dysfunction. But, within those constraints, Romney’s math adds up. One could even say he was generous, since he could have argued that the Buffett Rule would pay for no government in its first two years.

“Romney gets the rare and coveted Geppetto Checkmark.”