Obama Gaffe: 'Asking a Billionaire to Pay the Same Tax Rate as a Jew - as a Janitor'

Following his high-profile speech to the United Nations Wednesday concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it appears Barack Obama has Jews on the brain.

Speaking at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation gala Saturday evening, the President had a little slip of the tongue saying, "If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew -- as a janitor makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor" (video follows with transcript):

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: The reform we're proposing is based on a simple principle: Middle-class folks should not pay higher tax rates than millionaires and billionaires. (Applause.) That's not crazy -- or it's good crazy. (Laughter.) Warren Buffett's secretary shouldn't pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett. A teacher or a nurse or a construction worker making $50,000 a year shouldn't pay higher tax rates than somebody making $50 million. That's just common sense.

We're not doing this to punish success. This is the land of opportunity. I want you to go out, start a business, get rich, build something. Our country is based on the belief that anybody can make it if they put in enough sweat and enough effort. That is wonderful. God bless you. But part of the American idea is also that once we've done well we should pay our fair share -- (applause) -- to make sure that those schools that we were learning in can teach the next generation; that those roads that we benefited from -- that they're not crumbling for the next bunch of folks who are coming behind us; to keep up the nation that made our success possible.

And most wealthy Americans would agree with that. But you know the Republicans are already dusting off their old talking points. "That's class warfare," they say. In fact, in the next breath, they'll complain that people living in poverty -- people who suffered the most over the past decade -- don't pay enough in taxes. That's bad crazy. (Laughter and applause.) When you start saying, at a time when the top one-tenth of 1 percent has seen their incomes go up four or five times over the last 20 years, and folks at the bottom have seen their incomes decline -- and your response is that you want poor folks to pay more? Give me a break. If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew -- as a janitor makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor. I have no problem with that. (Applause.) It's about time.

(H/T Hot Air Pundit)