Warren Buffett is interviewed at the White House on July 18, 2011, following his meeting with President Obama. AP View Enlarged Image

Billionaire Warren Buffett, always popular among Democratic redistributionists, says he wants a minimum tax on the very rich.

Never mind that we already have one, and that what he proposes would hurt both the economy and the middle class.

The third richest man on Earth has endeared himself to the far left by calling for punitive taxes on those with wealth.

Writing in the New York Times, he has proposed a minimum tax of 30% on incomes of $1 million to $10 million and 35% on incomes above that. Hey, these people are rich so who cares?

Well, you should. Because Buffett’s proposed tax hike is just another way of removing investment capital the engine of economic growth from the U.S. economy. It would also do next to nothing to close our long-term budget deficits, now running at $1 trillion plus a year.

Last year, according to the Treasury Department, the U.S. deficit was $1.1 trillion. According to a study by Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation, a Buffett-style 30% tax on all millionaires would generate just $5 billion.

That’s less than one-half of one percent of our budget. In short, Buffett’s proposal is a fiscal joke.

Buffett and others have said tax hikes on the rich are fair. The top 1% earn about 16% of all income in the U.S. But they pay 37% of all the federal income taxes. Is that fair? If so, would making millionaires pay even more be fairer still?

Consider this: The 400 richest Americans pay about as much in taxes as the bottom 50% about 72 million Americans do.

As a group, millionaires have an effective income-tax rate that is, what they actually pay of 24%. For the rest of us, it’s 11%.

As for Buffett’s idea for a minimum tax on the rich, the U.S. already has one. It’s called the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

It was put in place in 1969, after it was revealed that 155 people with incomes over $200,000 had paid zero in income taxes in 1967. It was meant to catch a handful of rich folks who were not paying their fair share.

Well, next year, thanks to bracket creep, the AMT will snare as many as 20 million middle-class Americans. Is that fair?

No, but that’s how tax the rich works. Raise taxes on the rich first, then extend them to everyone else later, including the middle class.