Debbie Bosanek is Obama's class warfare poster girl, symbol of the struggling middle class.
Bosanek is "secretary to billionaire investor Warren Buffet" She's "the face of the 'Buffett Rule,' the tax policy President Obama is pushing, inspired by Buffett’s assertion that he shouldn’t pay a lower tax rate than his secretary does."
And there was little Ms. Bosanek, joining Michelle Obama in the gallery during the State of the Union address. Bosanek is seen here next to Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Steve Jobs.
Photo here.
New revelations about Bosanek prove to be awkward for Obama.
From Paul Roderick Gregory, Forbes:
Warren Buffet’s secretary, Debbie Bosanek, served as a stage prop for President Obama’s State of the Union speech. She was the President’s chief display of the alleged unfairness of our tax system – a little person paying a higher tax rate than her billionaire boss.
Bosanek’s prominent role in Obama’s “fairness” campaign piqued my curiosity, and I imagine the curiosity of others. How much does her boss pay this downtrodden woman? So far, no one has volunteered this information.
...Insofar as Buffet (like Mitt Romney) earns income primarily from capital gains, which are taxed at 15 percent (and according to Obama need to be raised for reasons of fairness), we need to determine how much income a taxpayer like Bosanek must earn in order to pay an average tax rate above fifteen percent. This is easy to do.
The IRS publishes detailed tax tables by income level. The latest results are for 2009. They show that taxpayers earning an adjusted gross income between $100,000 and $200,000 pay an average rate of twelve percent. This is below Buffet’s rate; so she must earn more than that. Taxpayers earning adjusted gross incomes of $200,000 to $500,000, pay an average tax rate of nineteen percent. Therefore Buffet must pay Debbie Bosanke a salary above two hundred thousand.
We must wait for further details to learn how much more than $200,000 she earns. The tax tables tell us about average ranges. For all we know she earns closer to a half million each year, but that is pure speculation.
I have nothing against Debbie Bosanke earning a half million or even more. Buffet is a major player in the world economy. His secretary deserves good compensation. At her income, however, she is scarcely the symbol of injustice that Obama wishes her to project.
Debbie's salary isn't the sort I typically think of when it comes to secretary work.
She's a rich girl.
Embarrassing for Obama.
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