Obama promotes ‘Buffett Rule,’ mocks ‘trickle down’ economics

Reporting from Washington —  President Obama preached a message about tax fairness to students at a Florida college this afternoon, speaking only indirectly of Republican candidates for president and deriding their party’s commitment to “trickle down” economic policies that he says hurt the middle class.

Obama spoke less than an hour after Rick Santorum announced he is suspending his campaign for the Republican nomination, a development many consider to be the unofficial beginning of the general election race between Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Obama neither mentioned Santorum’s name nor acknowledged the change in the GOP primary field. But the president was clearly on the campaign stump, offering up a familiar economic message with a far more fiery delivery than in any recent appearance.

He plugged his proposed “Buffett Rule,” which would require that the wealthy pay at least 30% of their income taxes. Even though the idea is highly unlikely to pass before the election, it could still serve Obama’s purpose by casting Democratic economic ideas in a positive light with independent voters.

At Boca Raton’s Florida Atlantic University, which boasts one of the most diverse student bodies in higher education, Obama rose nearly to shouting level to be heard above the cheering audience.

“Prosperity doesn’t “trickle down” from the wealthy to the rest of the population, Obama said, “contrary to adherents of that economic theory like “some people who are running for a certain office right now.”

“It grows outward from the heart of a vibrant middle class,” he said.

Original source: Obama promotes ‘Buffett Rule,’ mocks ‘trickle down’ economics