CLAIM: The so-called “Buffett Rule” would ensure everyone pays their “fair share” in taxes.

• “Tax reform should follow the Buffett rule…” (President Obama, State of the Union Address, January 24, 2012)

FACT: Because the president clearly cannot run on his record, he has regrettably turned to the politics of envy and division. The “Buffett Rule” is a gimmick. We need to cut spending, not impose tax hikes that would destroy jobs.

• The “Buffett Rule” touted by the president “is a great populist proposal if the president wants to score some political points, but it has little practical value,” wrote The Atlantic.

• A chart titled “Good Politics, Weak Deficit-Cutting” shows the president’s proposal “wouldn’t make a dent in the nation’s deficit problem.”

• A majority of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics last year believe spending cuts are the key to reducing the federal deficit – not job-crushing tax hikes.