THEN: In September 2011, Obama Said The Buffett Tax Was About “Stabilizing Our Debt And Deficits For The Next Decade”

OBAMA: “What I’ve said is this is a very simple principle that everybody should understand: Warren Buffett’s secretary shouldn’t pay a lower [sic] tax rate than Warren Buffett. A teacher making $50,000 a year, or a firefighter making $50,000 a year or $60,000, shouldn’t be paying a higher tax rate than somebody making $50 million a year. And that basic principle of fairness, if applied to our tax code, could raise enough money that not only do we pay for our jobs bill, but we also stabilize our debt and deficits for the next decade. And as I said when I made the announcement, this is not politics; this is math.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks By The President At DNC Event, San Diego, CA, 9/26/11)

YESTERDAY: “W.H.: Buffett Rule Not Answer To Debt”

“The Obama administration is emphasizing ‘fairness’ over deficit reduction in its renewed pitch for the ‘Buffett rule’ ahead of next week’s scheduled Senate vote. Introducing a minimum 30 percent income tax on millionaires ‘was never our plan to bring the deficit down and get the debt under control,’ Jason Furman, the principal deputy director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters on a conference call Monday afternoon. ‘This is not the president’s entire tax plan. We’re not trying to say this solves all our economic problems, all our budget problems.’” (Josh Boak, “W.H.: Buffett Rule Not Answer To Debt,” Politico, 4/10/12)

TODAY: Press Secretary Jay Carney Gaggles Telling Reporters “The President, No One Ever Suggested That Implementing The Buffett Rule Would Contribute In Large Measure To Reducing The Debt”

CARNEY:  “I think the money we’re talking about here, $47 billion over 10 years, is nobody’s idea of a small amount, A. B, we never suggested — the President, no one ever suggested that implementing the Buffett Rule would contribute in large measure to reducing the deficit.  The President has put forward a comprehensive deficit reduction plan that takes a balanced approach, that includes as a principle of tax reform the Buffett Rule, but that does not rely on — and we never suggested it would rely on — the Buffett Rule to reduce the deficit by a significant measure.  It is a principle of tax fairness. And $47 billion is money that in a world of finite resources we could be using to invest in the kind of — in education, in innovation and in infrastructure, the kind of areas where investments are needed to continue to grow the economy in the 21st century — areas which, by the way, under the Republican budget would be slashed dramatically in order to give more tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.” (White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, Press Gaggle, 4/10/12)