Obama urges Congress to increase taxes on wealthy Americans

US President Barack Obama urged Congress on Saturday to pass the Buffet Rule, which increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans, a point of contention with Republicans on Capitol Hill. "We can either settle for an economy where a few people do really well and everyone else struggles to get by, or we can build an economy where hard work pays off again - where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules," said Obama in his weekly address. "When it comes to paying down the deficit and investing in our future, should we ask middle-class Americans to pay even more at a time when their budgets are already stretched to the breaking point? Or should we ask some of the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share?," he added. Obama noted that the United States has "unlimited resources" and that hundreds of billions of dollars were spent in the last decade "on what was supposed to be a temporary tax cut for the wealthiest two percent of Americans. "Today, the wealthiest Americans are paying taxes at one of the lowest rates in 50 years; over the last 30 years, the tax rates for middle class families have barely budged," he added. Obama mentioned that Congress is expected in few weeks to vote on the Buffet Rule: "If you make more than USD 1 million a year, you should pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle class families do. On the other hand, if you make under USD 250,000 a year - like 98 percent of American families do - your taxes should not go up." "So every Member of Congress is going to go on record. And if they vote to keep giving tax breaks to people like me - tax breaks our country cannot afford - then they are going to have to explain to you where that money comes from. Either it is going to add to our deficit, or it is going to come out of your pocket," he concluded.