U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin believes the nation is ready to move past the partisan divide. “They want politics behind us and progress ahead of us,” the freshman senator told Wisconsin Radio Network. Included in her outlook is the need to reach a deal to stop the upcoming sequester, automatic government cuts that will take effect March 1.
President Obama and Republican leaders met Thursday about avoiding such a pitfall. Meanwhile Senate Democrats recently released their sequestration-replacement package. Baldwin called it a “fair and balanced package.” Included is the Buffett Rule, a plan Baldwin has been advocating for that would raise taxes on wealthy Americans.
A number of Republicans have opposed such a plan. When Baldwin was asked whether the measure could be a sticking point in negotiations, the Wisconsin Democrat said she’s hoping the “drive to avoid sequester will bring us together.”
The proposal is named after Billionaire Warren Buffett who squawked about his secretary paying a higher tax rate than he did. It would raise the minimum effective federal income tax rate to 30 percent for those who make a million dollars.