Compare this with a tax reform that broadens the base and lowers rates. Some studies indicate this might raise the U.S.'s average growth by roughly 0.3 percentage point annually. That increase in growth might boost federal revenue by $80 billion to $100 billion. Put differently, adopting the Buffett rule, instead of a fundamental tax reform, would deprive the government of a net $45 billion to $65 billion a year.

Fairness in public policy is important, but the Buffett rule gets it wrong. With spending racing out of control, there are many better places to look for fairness. One place to start is to reduce the entitlement benefits of the affluent. In an era when a debt crisis could cripple the economy and bequeath a lower standard of living to the next generation, it is a moral imperative to undertake tax and entitlement reform.

Perhaps Buffett could have that conversation with his secretary.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who was the director of the Congressional Budget Office from 2003 to 2005, is the president of the American Action Forum, a public-policy institute. The opinions expressed are his own.

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