My response to this article at newjerseynewsroom.com:

Can you please site the source that says 1,500 millionaires paid no federal income tax?? The tax code would not allow this unless they had no income (which if they had no income they shouldn't be taxed)! But I sincerely doubt they wouldn't have at least capital gains income which is taxed at 15%. This is of course how Warren Buffet would pay a lower tax RATE then his secretary because he only receives income from investments. BUT when you say the plan is, "based around the simple idea that billionaires shouldn’t pay lower taxes than their secretaries." You are not telling the whole story. Billionaires are NOT paying lower taxes then they are secretaries it is just a lower RATE. The amount of dollars that Warren Buffett paid in taxes is actually significantly higher than what his secretary paid. In fact the top one percent of earners already contribute 38% of the federal tax income. (http://www.heritage.org/budgetchartbook/pdf/2011/top10-percent-income-earners.pdf)

Another element we need to consider is how this rule would increase revenue vs. how much our government spends. If you consider this chart, by crunching the numbers you see that the income by implementing the Buffet Rule doesn't really attack the source of the problem which is exuberant government spending. The spending problem is the first issue we need to address before we look at increasing taxes. If the government were a private business it would have been bankrupt by now because the amount being spent is FAR more that the amount coming in, so much so that even taxing the richest americans won't move the needle that much.

The last thing I want you to consider (especially coming from the non-profit sector) is that the top 3% of earners account for more than 66 percent of all charitable giving year after year. So be careful when you ask the government to take more from them. Sure it will ultimately give the government more but it may reduce the giving to the non-profit sector. If this were to happen it is a question of: who do you trust to do the most good, for the most people AND in the most economical way... the government or a non-profit organization?? I would rather give my hard earned money to a solid non-profit that has a great track record of helping people because I know my money is going to a good cause. With the government however I'm not so sure where my money is going and how it translates to help the people who need it.