Warren Buffet: RAISE MY TAXES!!!

Good post. I posted some videos of five or six major (including Buffet) billionaires forming a group and stating the same thing. It's in here somewhere. They make the same point as Warren Buffet. Time to close the loopholes. Cuts only will not do it. No, I am not a heretic! :smile:



Abner

 

Of course he's really making a political statement. I think the obvious statement being that the Republicans are wrong when they argue that raising taxes on the rich will hurt the economy. That the rich can easily afford to pay more taxes since they are taxed even less than normal wage earners.

My understanding that Buffet does contribute large sums of money to various charities.

 

Look, you want to tax billionaires that's fine, but it's not going to make dent in the national debt. I truly respect Warren Buffet, but I think it's presumptuous that he is speaking for all wealthy people in this piece, at least that's how it seems to me. I'll agreem if the wealthy want to donate to the national debt it is an option on their annual return, but forcing it on them is un-American.

 

But we can force the poor to purchase heathcare...wait we can't do that either!

 

There is no such entry on the Form 1040, nor on the Form 8888 where you can direct how your refund is disbursed. You may be thinking of the Presidential Election fund, which is actually funded by revenues, not contributions, and does not affect taxes paid or refunds received.

Look, even the most ardent fair-tax nut out there should raise an eyebrow at the fact that Buffet paid less than 18% of his income in ALL federal taxes last year. I sent the feds almost 24% of my income, and I took advantage of just about every strategy there is out there to lower my tax bill, including maximizing my personal 401(k) contribution and taking several of the stimulus tax credits for home improvements. The fact of the matter is that we treat rents (income earned through ownership of assets) much differently than we treat wages (income earned through the sweat of your brow). That difference lets the rich off the hook for paying their fair share, because they tend to get more of their income from rents (hence the old "it takes money to make money" truism). The fact that so many people who earn no income from rents are willing to fight so vociferously for the "rights" of the rich is just insane to me, but seems to be par for the course in Tea Party America.

 

There is no way to earmark funds to a specific cause/function/agency. But for those that wish to contribute:

Gifts to the United States Government: Questions and Answers: Financial Management Service

 

Bill,

it's not that the rich cannot afford the taxes. It's a question of where they make up the revenue loss. Typically this will come from loss of a job or jobs. The system to prevent an immediate impact on the employees is not in place.

 

On that note, here is a list of 13 Billionaires/Millionaires that want their taxes raised:

*Warren Buffet
*Mark Zukenberg
*Bill Gates
*Ted Turner
*Tom Steyer
*Morris Pearl
*Michael Steinhardt
*Mark Rufallo
*Doug Liman
*Edie Falco
*Garret Gruener
*Ron Garrett
*Barrack Obama

*****On Michael Steinhardt**********

Dubbed a “demi-billionare hedge-fund operator,” Steinhardt has one of the country’s most colorful paths to financial success and philanthropic legacy. The son of a convicted jewelry fence and one the most successful early hedge-fund managers, Steinhardt signed the second installment of the Patriotic Millionaires letter pleading for American leaders to raise taxes “for the good of the country.”


Full article:

Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett: Billionaires Who Favor Tax Hikes - The Daily Beast

Abner

 

Here is what I see in my line of work. Most of the money ends up in the hands of CEO's, not the workers. Bonuses (even when companies need bail outs), golden parachutes and all sorts of goodies are handed out while thousands are laid off. It happens over and over and over. There never seems to be a shortage of money for such luxuries.

I think people are starting to see that the trickle down theory is a failed experiment.

Abner

 

This would be really interesting if Buffett had not just made provisions to have $31 billion of his fortune donated to the Gates Foundation upon his death in an attempt to avoid the 55% Federal Death Tax (his words). Kinda hypocritical. People are smoking crack if they think raising the taxes on the rich will generate more tax revenue - rich people are rich because they have access to resources to grow their money (and that includes reducing tax burdens).

 

Another interesting fact I just uncovered about Buffet and his tax hypocrisy:

Buffet takes no annual salary from Berkshire/Hathaway - instead he chooses to get compensated in stock options which he converts to cash when needed. No problem you would think since it is his company, his stock options, his choice. Why does he choose to structure his compensation this way? Very simple - he only pays the capital gains tax rate on his converted stock options rather than pay the higher income tax rate he would have to pay on the equivalent salary. It is kinda hard to take someone who goes to such great lengths to avoid federal taxes seriously when he notes that the rich need to pay more in taxes. The top 10% pay 70% of the total tax bill - how much is enough?

 

Actually it validates his point. If the option is there, people will take it.

 

Validates what point? Buffet could already pay more in taxes if he were to play by the rules that everyone else has to play by. If he is so high and mighty he should be the first to NOT exercise his rights to use the tax code to his advantage. He wants the government to close the loopholes, but until they do he is going to use them to their full advantage?

What people who advocate taxing the rich more as the solution fail to recognize is that rich people have the resources and the incentive to avoid whatever is put in place to confiscate their wealth. Just like Buffet can pay less using capital gains than he could if he were to pay income tax on the equivalent amount - you close that loophole and the rich have the ability to create another one. The super-rich have very little in the way of personal assets, they are owned by corporations who only pay taxes on profits. For every person in government trying to figure out how to get more revenue from the rich, the rich person has several more trying to figure out how to avoid it.

 

And the top 10% make how much of the income? \And the top 10% own how much of the assets?

 

Why Reagan Raised Taxes and we should, Too

Why Reagan Raised Taxes and We Should, Too: Echoes - Bloomberg

According to my friend Truckie, Reagan must have been on crack? :smile:


Abner

 

The top 1% own 42% of the assets. Guess that's how they got to be the top 1%.

I'm wondering what, in your mind, is a reasonable and proper taxation rate for individuals and for corporations? If you were King For A Day, what tax rates would you impose?

I guess along with that, I would ask you is there ever a time when spending becomes the problem? And at what point would that be?