Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Buffett: I beg you to raise my taxes

Warren Buffett, the third wealthiest man in the world with a net worth of about $80 billion, is demanding the U.S. government make the rich like him pay higher taxes and says they should no longer be protected like endangered “spotted owls.”
In a New York Times op-ed on Monday, titled “Stop Coddling the Rich,” Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway’s chair and CEO, said he and his “mega-rich” friends have been spared the “shared sacrifice” the country’s leaders have asked for as the country veers toward a double-dip recession.
“While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks,” he wrote.
“These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.”
White House spokesman Jay Carney on Monday cited Buffett’s op-ed when he was asked by reporters if there is hope for the 12-member supercomittee, which has been charged with crafting a deficit reduction plan. Carney quoted Buffett, saying that the government can no longer “coddle the super rich.”
In The New York Times, Buffett observed that investment managers earn billions, but only pay a 15 percent tax rate.
Buffett said his 2010 tax bill, including income and payroll taxes, totaled $6,938,744 — or 17.4 percent of his taxable income. Most people in his office pay 33 percent to 41 percent, he said.
He noted 80 percent of government revenue came from personal income and payroll taxes, adding the “mega-rich pay income taxes at a rate of 15 percent on most of their earnings but pay practically nothing in payroll taxes. It’s a different story for the middle class: typically, they fall into the 15 percent and 25 percent income tax brackets, and then are hit with heavy payroll taxes to boot.”
Buffett suggests raising taxes for anyone with a taxable income of more than $1 million, and an even higher rate for anyone making $10 million or more.
“My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice,” Buffett wrote.
His comments come as the 12-member congressional supercommittee will soon begin work to tackle the nation’s deficit and some in Congress, and President Barack Obama, are pushing for the panel to back higher taxes on the wealthy.

I have never bought into the whole class warfare bullshit agenda, if your wealthy good for you. Rich liberals like this asshat wanting to use their standing to advance whatever socialist agenda they subscribe to and fuck everyone else need a swift kick in their shriveled nuts......better yet Buffnutts just write a check for seventy five percent of your worth to the IRS and then shut the fuck up.

Posted at Politico

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