Warren Buffett has agreed to host an event in Chicago for the re-election bid in 2012.
A Barack Obama campaign official said billionaire investor Warren Buffett agreed to head an event in Chicago to help raise funds for the U.S. president’s re-election bid in 2012. The $35,800 a ticket October 27 event will take place in a Chicago North Shore home where major donors from Obama’s 2008 presidential run are expected to attend.
Inspiring the supposed Buffett Rule, Obama proposed a tax raise on the wealthy and the Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s chairman became the center of a political battle. In a column Buffett wrote in August, he mentioned that rich people who can afford to pay more are paying less tax courtesy of U.S. tax code loopholes. Republicans censured Obama’s plan as class warfare after the president cited the billionaire on Monday in his proposal to set a minimum tax rate for people earning over a million dollars a year.
Next week, in New York, Buffett is again set to head another fundraising event with tickets priced at $10,000 to $35,000 each. University of Chicago law professor and former White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee will be moderating both events. Crain’s Chicago Business said investor James Crown, philanthropist Penny Pritzker, portfolio manager John Rogers Jr., and two local benefactors who also supported Obama’s first attempt at the presidency are co-hosting the Chicago event.
