After Hitting Scott Brown on 'Buffett Rule' Opposition, Elizabeth Warren Admits She Didn't Pay Higher Taxes

Senate challenger Elizabeth Warren opted not to voluntarily pay higher taxes to the state of Massachusetts, prompting Republican Sen. Scott Brown to label her a hypocrite after she blasted his opposition to President Barack Obama's "Buffett rule."

Warren, a Democrat, said Friday she didn't pay a higher income tax rate on her Massachusetts tax return. The state gives taxpayers the option of paying 5.85 percent, rather than the standard 5.3 percent rate.

“I paid my taxes and I did not make a charitable contribution to the state,’’ Warren said, according to the Associated Press.

Warren criticized Brown for voting against the so-called Buffett rule last week, which would have required millionaires to pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes. In a statement, Brown's campaign said Warren, the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, was essentially refusing to put her money where her mouth is.

“The problem with running a campaign based on self-righteousness and moral superiority is that you had better live up to the same standard you would impose on everyone else,” Brown campaign manager Jim Barnett said. “Millionaire Warren lectures others about their obligation and responsibility to pay higher taxes, but she refuses to pay the optional higher rate available in Massachusetts.”

Barnett called it the "sort of hypocrisy and double-speak voters are sick and tired of hearing from politicians, especially those who can’t keep their hands out of others’ pocketbooks."

Brown's campaign said he too opted not to pay Massachusetts higher tax rate, according to the AP.

(h/t Instapundit)