Larsen says support for ‘Buffet rule’ sends message

  • By Evan Smith, Herald writer
  • Tuesday, April 17, 2012 6:20pm

Democratic 2nd District Congressman Rick Larsen says that his support for the “Buffet rule” sends a message to middle class taxpayers in his district.

The 2nd District now includes Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Brier in addition to the urban areas of Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties and all of Island and San Juan counties.

Larsen is a co-sponsor of the “Paying a Fair Share Act,” which would require that households earning more than $1 million per year not pay a lower tax rate than middle-class taxpayers.

A companion bill died in the Senate on Monday after opponents blocked debate with a filibuster.

A Larsen spokesman said Tuesday that supporting the proposal isn’t futile because members of the House and Senate need to compromise by the end of the year when the Bush tax cuts and the social-security tax holiday both are scheduled to expire.

The Larsen spokesman said that members of Congress would need to compromise on tax policy.

“It’s not clear at this point what the path forward for this is,” the spokesman said.

“At minimum this is a message to the residents of northwest Washington about where Congressman Larsen stands on this important issue and an added voice to the national support for this movement.”

Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.

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