Warren Buffet tells Christiane Amanpour that the wealthy should pay a “lot more” in taxes in this clip from an upcoming interview on “This Week with Christiane Amanpour.” Buffet does, however, advocate cutting taxes for those in the lower brackets.
In this clip, Buffet also references the Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles plan which has been offered as a deficit cutting solution – look for my comments on that plan later in the week.
I believe that Warren is capable of paying much more than he does now. If he feels he should pay more, then by all means send the IRS an additional check. I’m sure they will not return it to him. That goes for all the rest of you that feel like taxes should be raised. Until you are my elected representative, do not try to speak for me.
Interesting. I recall him famously stating that even without trying to wiggle numbers, his tax rate was lower than his secretary’s, at a fundraiser in 07 I believe.
It’s a pretty easy fix. As long as Buffett properly defines “rich”.
How about exempting the first $250,000 of capital gains, then taxing the excess at 28%. Gains over 1,000,000 at 40%. Gains over $10,000,000 at 70%.
Do the same for income tax. Add another bracket at $500,000 to $1,000,000 at 40%. $1,000,000 to $5,000,000 at 50%. $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 at 70% and over $10,000,000 at 90%.
Of course none of it will work. As someone famous once said, you cannot tax a nation into prosperity.
That kind of thinking almost lost us the War of 1812! Truth is, this nation was taxed into prosperity.
I don’t think we need to add all of those other brackets, just do as Buffet suggests. Those who profit the most from the system should support it the most; a true patriot would be glad to lift their nation out of debt by paying their share.
Buffet’s a typical socialist hypocrite. He wants others to pay so he doesn’t have to. He wants the wealthy taxed more but not the super wealthy like himself. The reason he pays a lower percentage of tax than his secretary is because he purposely structures his affairs to pay less tax. If he wanted to pay higher tax, he could freely do so. But why bother when he can use his influence to force others to pay for what he wants.
He’s the same with the estate tax. He wants a high estate tax, yet sets up a charitable foundation so he himself avoids the estate tax. Hypocritical jerk.
There is no law against simply stop talking and doing, if ones got money simply give it to the government of thier choice wheither local, state or federal. Me I couldn’t even afford a Turkey for Thanksgiving this year. Had to depend on others.
Why are we so determined to complicate the simplest solutions?
Warren Buffet is no hypocritical jerk if he has already committed a huge amount to help fund the Gates Foundation and the good it now does worldwide. The fact that he is one of the few extremely wealthy people in our country to be honest enough to admit that the rich are getting richer at the expense of the poor or middle class says a lot about his character. Those who scream about “no new taxes” usually mean no new taxes for their already rich selves, not those less fortunate than they are . When we can finally acknowledge that someone has to pay taxes to keep this country going at every level ( federal, state, county,city, etc) we can move on to figuring out a fair method of payment for each of us. Those who have more income should morally be expected to pay a larger share since they already benefit from having more than they need to survive. Since some do not accept morality as a personal standard, laws are required to push them to do the “right “thing. It’s not Communism or Socialism, it’s simply common sense and fair play. In a country where some of the wealthy like to use religion to promote their personal or financial agendas, a little Christian charity would go a long way to helping us all climb out of the financial hole we find ourselves in today.
The Rich will only get richer and the poor poorer, thats the way it has been for centuries and the middle class gets squeezed, Poor getting handouts, middle class winers and the rich getting smarter.
Buffett says taxes should be increased. He structure his affairs so that he is in one of the lower brackets. He also protects most of his income through his private foundation. He wants taxes raised so others pay more though he won’t. That is hypocritical.
Buffet also knows that the super wealthy like him can afford whatever tax structure is in place yet he advocates policies such as higher taxes and an estate tax that will destroy the family businesses of those who are classified as wealthy. Again hypocritical.
Xn charity is totally irrelevant to a govt created problem. One Xn principle that does seem relevant is “Do not steal”.
As Joe stated above, Buffett should stop talking and start doing. Then he wouldn’t be accurately accused of hypocrisy.