This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
The Warren Buffet Tax
This article originally appeared on the Daily Capitalist.
It really irks me when rich and famous guys are treated as gods and gurus because they made a lot of money. Money gives them the imprimatur to bloviate on how things should be. Warren Buffet is at the top of my bloviator list since he and Bill Gates (Sr. and Jr.) have talked about how they are under-taxed, how estate taxes are too low, and how rich people should give all their money away for charitable purposes. And, if you are Warren Buffet, how the government should bail out his investments.
Forget the fact that Warren Buffet is a great businessman, or, rather, was a great businessman. The man is a phony. He is a cheerleader for Obama's failed policies. Yet he has relied on bailouts to make his investments good, i.e., Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. I can guarantee to you that Mr. Buffet will never lose a dime in BAC because he knows that the government will never let it fail.
Now Mr. Buffet is prattling about how unfair his low taxes are and he has a big fan: President Obama.
Here is Mr. Buffet's argument for higher taxes: rich people should be taxed more because they make more. This is called a progressive tax (not to be confused with Progressivism, although it fits in) because the more you make, the more they take. In our history, the highest tax rate was 94% in 1944 during WWII. As recent as 1980 the highest rate was 70%. In other words because people are successful and have more of something, it should be taken away. "Fair" would mean everyone pays the same percentage no matter what they make, but that is not Mr. Buffet's idea of fairness.
Mr. Buffet favors taking away assets of rich people because they have them. That is, because he feels rich people should pay more, he wishes to force rich people to pay more.
Here is the phony part: why doesn't he voluntarily pay 90% of his income to the federal government right now? Why does he need a law to tell him to do this? If he truly believed it was the right thing to do, why doesn't he go ahead and set an example for other rich people and fork over 90% of what he earns to the government. Mr. Buffet, tell us why you don't do this.
Ditto with the estate tax. He and Gates Sr. and Jr. believe that they know what's best for you and your children and they wish to employ the power of the state to force you to part with your money because they think your kids will become wastrels. So effing what! They are your kids, not his. This is just social engineering by a bunch of rich guys who think they know what's best for everyone. Again, instead of giving their money to charity, why don't they just give it all to the government when they die since they believe that government knows better what to do with the money than their heirs. Mr. Buffet could actually pay for a couple of weeks of the wars in Afghanistan. That would be a big help. Mr. Buffet tell us why you don't do this.
So now the President comes up with an idiotic jobs program that is doomed to failure like the previous ones and he blithely claims it will be revenue neutral! Except that he is going to raise taxes to pay for it, which includes his tax-the-rich scheme which he calls the "Buffet Rule." Some neutrality.
President Obama looks desperate, dazed, and confused. He knows his America Jobs Act will go nowhere in Congress. He's trying to shift the blame on the Republicans. It is quite sad.
Mr. Buffet and others like him really don't have a clue as to how the economy runs. If he did he would understand that lower taxes and substantially reduced federal spending are the way to jobs and recovery, not more spending and debt, not more bailouts of his investments, and not more taxation on those who create jobs for the rest of us.
Mr. Buffet prove you aren't phony and do yourself what you would force other people to do.
»
- advertisements -
Look, any "rich" guys out there that want to send a check to the US Treasury go right ahead. Otherwise shut up, and that goes especially for Prez Owe's friend Mr. B.
OMG! Someone is advocating increasing taxes on the RICH. This is...well...Class Warfare...that's what it is Class Warfare!
No, it's just reverting to the mean in regard to taxes on the well-to-do.
Class warfare is when they take them out and hang them from lampposts!
Class Warfare was the French revolution. Read some history on Class Warfare.
Western society was founded on a simple bargain. The rich agreed to share the wealth with the poor. The poor agreed to not murder the rich in their beds. Some of the rich have apparently forgotten their side of the bargain.
The reality is, the rich have set the middle class up to share their wealth with the poor, so the rich don't have to. They have bankrupted the middle class with taxes on income and FDIC, while they skate away with capital gains and interest income at 15%. Don't forget their non-profits and foundations and all the other shit they have rigged the system with.
I'd like to shove a Ukulele up Warren's ass.
So we can murder them in the street?
OK, so there's gonna be a buffet tax... what if one orders "a la carte" - is that still taxed? tia
(Buffet to accountants)...Get me every damned deduction possible or I'll fire your ass & find accountants who will!!!
(Buffet to Obama)...You guys don't tax me enough.
(Obama to the people)...Buffet says his taxes are too low so we, er ahhh, need to raise income taxes...starting with muni bonds that retirees use for an income stream.
That about cover the latest Barry/Buffet crony lullaby?
Progressive taxation is much more subtle than that. A large population of very rich people slows down the velocity of money in an economy because very rich people can't spend all that they make. The idea is to redistribute wealth so that that wealth operates most effectively for the entire economy. That's the economic argument.
If you want a moral argument: rich people are rich in part because they're smart and tough. but they're also rich in large part because they're _lucky_. Or to put it differently, it was the economy that made rich people rich to begin with, and so they have a greater responsibility to support the system that made them wealthy.
A large estate tax is among the most democratic institutions ever developed. A substantial estate tax destroys the possibility of a wealthy _class_, thus leaving those resources available for the ambitious to chase. In short, a big estate tax = meritocracy.
But just to be clear: I think Gates and Buffet are phoney, too. Especially Buffet. And I think the Gates Foundation is probably going to be just another unaccountable social juggernaut once Gates dies.
The man is a phony.
O yeah? He has $24B or so and you do not. He is for real, because in capitalist society this is what matters.
He is for real, because in capitalist society this is what matters.
Ah, the commies are out, redefining words to "prove" they are right!
Proof that universities are still in operation.
what a pile of bullshit. i'm pretty much sure that buffett knows how the economy runs better than a damn financial blogger!
funny how all the financial guys r going nuts over the tax. every silicon friend, entrepreneur and doctor i have worked with earning over a million is very quiet about the tax. we all realize that it will not kill us at the end of the day. it's only the fucking banksters that can't stand the thought of their theft being partially sent back.
how many times do we have to hear the stupid analogy if buffett wants to pay let him pay? is this ur idea of how government should work? by that logic people who don't like living in the us should leave the u.s., people hating banks should pay cash only for everything, people who complain about u.s. healthcare should go somewhere else to get taken care of. i'm not saying the tax is the best idea, it prob is a big waste of time...but the amount of illogical thought behind bashing it is insane!!! what fuckin idiot actually thinks that buffett and gates should hand their money over while the banksters keep it. if anything, they should keep their cash and let the banksters pay their taxes also since both buffett and gates actually contribute to the economy (ok buffett is questionable but definitely will help more people live better lives than a damn 6th grade blogger).
shit man, zerohedge is utter crap nowadays. without reggie & a handful of others, it is basically like reading the mainstream media
Good point. Bufett knows what he is talking about and have his billions show for that. And I never heard that he made his money doing something terribly unethical. And he was around for a long time.
The country is out of money and you have to draw a line somewhere. A million dollars is so much above how average person is making (31K is average for 90% of population).
This $31K, WHERE does it come from? Not everyone is working for the US Govt.
Then lets make the Buffet tax retroactive for 30 years applicable to the time in which Buffet conspired with the drunken sailor government to make his millions. Yes he's all for taxing the rich AFTER he's made his and has it protected in trusts from which he can affect its direction even after he dies. Buffet, like Gates, is a total asshole.
WHY NOT INSTITUTE A WEALTH TAX ON THE RICH....100 MIO IN ASSETS AND ABOVE 1-2% ACROSS THE BOARD...THIS WAY WARREN GETS TO PAY MORE. 2% OF 40 BILLION IS A LOT MORE THAN TAXING HIS INCOME. WARREN SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THAT.
Both of you fail to realize the error of misallocation of resources. What is the government going to do with this new tax? They are going to use it to create more porkulus spending. Great ROI there. Yea, it's worked so well in the past two years.
Lame.
Private sector record in resource allocation is dubious at best:
- Sub-prime homes - trillions of dollars
- Internet bubbles
Are you kidding me? Who subsidized those bubbles?
Troll harder.
Would they be so quiet if they realized that Buffett only earns $100k a year in income?
And if ZH is utter crap, it's from illiterate posts like yours. If you're going to try and smack someone down, at least take a minute to appear intelligent while doing so, instead of looking like a high school dropout.
Buffet is a statist tool. Disgusting.
(Shrugging) "We" have been spending like drunken sailors for 40+ years - carefully passing the bill to the unborn credit card. Perhaps it's way past time to atone? Something like: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/10/the-least-we-can-do/8228/
Hard to feel sympathy for anyone except these youngsters.....it I were them - would soylent green us for sure.
Doesn't matter. You either go to your shakedown with dignity, or they chase you down and beat the livin crap out of you - then take it. The bill is due.
Hmmm...really enjoy making my brother in law's head spin around by suggesting taxes get doubled (daughter nodding head in background). Someday it's gonna explode :)
Was that war good for you too? You woulda liked it better had they drafted your ass.....
Hey! Quit insulting drunken sailors!
I was a drunken sailor and I could never spend money like a politican can. I always ran out of money!
I found that drunken sailors were pretty good at saving money...you only had a little bit and you needed every penny to stay drunk.
buffet really just wants to make payments on all his subsidies... starting with you
.
honestly if we just keep spending money like we are, hes going to look like an ass who DVDA'd the banks cuz his paper is as good as anyone elses
.
buffet and rothchild like the cat seat of this age just fine.... with all its austarity
Amen, brother. Buffet is the worst kind of hypocrite on so many levels. Classic rich liberal. Derides the rich when he himself is one of the richest men on Earth. Wants to tell everyone else what they should do with their money. Employs an army of tax attorneys to make sure he minimizes the taxes he pays. Here's an idea, Warren, why don't you fire the tax attorneys, fill out a 1040-A yourself, and don't claim any deductions. I'm pretty sure the old fogey could figure it out. It would just be income, short-term capital gains, and long-term capital gains. I keep waiting for the worthless emitter of CO2 to join the rest of his robber-baron brethren in Hades, but he just seems to carry on and on.
Actually, Warren Buffet *does* file his own personal taxes. His tax situation is extremely simple. He makes $100,000 from Berkshire and $30,000 as a director of Washington Post. He owns two houses; the first one he bought in 1957 and he still lives there (paid for, no mortgage interest deduction to calculate) and another in California. He holds about 10 stocks in his personal portfolio (http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/a-peek-into-warren-buffetts-personal-p...) and has sold only one position in the last 5 years. Pretty short Schedule D: one entry in 5 years. Almost all of his income is dividend income as the link above details. Almost all of his wealth is in his BRK/A holdings: 350,000 shares which he has never sold, and are worth $104,308 per share today. Because Berkshire doesn't pay a dividend, and there are no taxes in the US on unrealized capital gains, he hasn't had to pay any taxes as his fortune in unrealized capital gains in BRK/A has swelled into $35 billion.
I'm sure Berkshire does have plenthy of accountants and lawyers helping to minimize the tax bill for the corporation within the bounds of the law and ethics: Buffett has a fiducuary duty to shareholders to do so. But for his personal taxes he has relied mainly on himself, which is probably worth a lot more than armies of accountants anyhow.
Buffett is only talking this way in hope that the mobs will not come for him after the fiat system reset.
Warren Buffet needs to go home and die.
Gate and Buffet are used as tools to raise taxes on everyone
Why would I want to give more money to someone(govt) that can't manage what I / we've given them over the last 10 to 20 years.
I say starve the beast. Go underground or retire early. Your hourly take home rate is only going down my friends.
Well said, Max.
Buffet/Obama = Mr. Drummond/Arnold?
Buffett / Berkshire Billion dollar IRS bill that they don't want to pay
http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2010ar/2010ar.pdf#page=56