Buffett’s shared sacrifice farce
On August 14, 2011, Warren Buffett penned an op-ed for the New York Times. It was named, subtly enough:
Stop Coddling the Super-Rich
Get the idea?
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. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.
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.
On and on he goes. His final resolution is to tax everyone making more than one million dollars a year. That’s a bunch of people.
There are two problems with this scenario most people figured out pretty quick.
- Obama wanted to tax everyone making more than $200,000 a year. Which is a lot more people than Buffett’s plan. He’s not really doing anyone any favors with his plan.
- His primary source of income, Berkshire-Hathaway, has short-changed ( or simply hasn’t paid ) the federal government to the tune of about two BILLION dollars since 2002.
So, one can assume that even IF Obama taxed every millionaire in the country at a higher rate, it would be somewhat moot if those people simply didn’t pay the taxes they did owe.
But, the bottom line is it is simply amazing how liberals consistently say one thing and do the exact opposite in plain view for everyone to see, expecting the rules they want to apply to everyone but themselves.
Just pay the taxes you do owe, Warren. I have always paid mine on time. Once we’re on the same playing field, THEN we’ll talk, OK?
