48 Responses to “Warren Buffett is Wrong on Taxes”

1. Comment by Calvin Buchanan

   October 28th, 2008 at 10:04 am

   I was very concerned with the tax statements that Mr Buffett has put forth over the past year. We may all sing his praises for his considerable investing savy, but stop there. He is not an economist, a tax accountant, or a politician. In regards to the rich paying too little taxes, it is those “rich” people who flood the markets with investment dollars and in doing so expect returns. I do not feel that the difference they pay between capital gains and income tax percentages is a break or credit. I feel this difference reflects the amount of risk those individuals take by investing. So what is Mr Buffett’s alternative? Let’s take the difference between the highest rate 35% and the 15% he pays now and give our government the 20%? I’m not really happy with how that bunch is spending my tax dollars now the last thing I want is to give them more to build bogus projects or bail out companies that maybe should have gone under in the first place.

2. Comment by Shawn

   October 28th, 2008 at 10:17 am

   Taxes will forever be a thorn in the side of average hard working Americans. Folks in the higher brackets have the income to avoid them and those in the lower brackets get a check back. I say cut out all the BS wording and laws of the tax system and come up with a plan that is simple and one you can’t hide from.

3. Comment by Dave

   October 28th, 2008 at 10:27 am

   Brian I agree with you. I’m one of those mid size business owners that pays plenty of taxes when we have a good year. Sometime I don’t pay any taxes because of a lousy year. I’m having a pretty lousy year, so I’ll pay very little taxes next year. Trust me, taxing small and mid size business owners more is not going to expand job growth.

   As to Mr. Buffett, he is indeed brilliant. Mr. Buffett is sitting with billions of cash on the sidelines. Of course he is supporting BO for president, he knows that when BO gets elected, confidence will be low and a long term economic stagnation or decline is likely. Mr. Buffett can pick up some real bargains with the cash he has.

4. Comment by Deakon

   October 28th, 2008 at 10:36 am

   Yes, Warren Buffett and many others talk about getting the rich to pay more taxes. Obviously, no one would argue that Mr. Buffett and his kind (Gates, Soros etc.)are rich and could easily afford to pay more taxes regardless of whether anyone believes it’s fair or not. My problem is the definition of “rich”. Obama and others define “rich” to be anyone making $250K and more. Why? There is certainly a BIG difference between an annual income of $250K and Buffett’s billions. Furthermore, I’ve never accused someone making $250K a year as being “rich”. Maybe comfortable but not rich. I’d like to hear Buffett’s answer to this question since he’s so smart and compassionate.

5. Comment by Mike C

   October 28th, 2008 at 10:37 am

   Mr Buffett’s comments and the way they are being used politically by the Obama campaign are just the latest example of how complex the tax system is and how few people actually understand how it works.

   It shows us all why the move to a simpler tax system is not only required, but will never happen. I’m quite sure Mr. Buffett would have serious issues if all his revenue streams were added up and treated the same as my paycheck.

   If he were really serious about the extremely wealthy paying an appropriate amount of taxes based on their actual assets and revenue, he would call for a system that offers no deductions, no hiding anything. Everyone would be required to do what we are now demanding of Wall Street - total transparency!

6. Comment by Eric from FL

   October 28th, 2008 at 10:38 am

   And based on this example does anyone really wonder why the masses are angry and going to elect a socialist like Mr. Obama? The wealthy in America have failed to make the case against him, and at times, have even made the case for him. Since less of us are wealthy than not, I personally don’t find it surprising that we are heading down the path that we are.

7. Comment by Kris

   October 28th, 2008 at 10:59 am

   Buffet is just trying to stay the richest man in the world. He knows that if everyone else has their taxes rasied, it will be almost impossible for someone to catch him. It is very selfish.

8. Comment by Stuart

   October 28th, 2008 at 10:59 am

   The wealthy want Barack in the White House because he is a Puppet. Well actually all politicians are puppets it seems. The politicians don’t want to fix our financial system because there are those that control it are building an empire off of it. And those are the ones in control of our politicians. I really believe if we all and me including would live within our means and save 10% each month their empire would crumble and we would get back to rebuilding this financial system. I don’t want socialism but I don’t want elitism either. Sara Palin isn’t a puppet. She has a track record for going after corruption.

9. Comment by Nathania

   October 28th, 2008 at 11:05 am

   If he feels so bad for people like his secretary, why doesn’t he pay her more than $60,000 a year? And if he’s so progressive, then why is he still calling her a secretary?

10. Comment by jake

    October 28th, 2008 at 11:18 am

    Brian do you feel the capitial gains tax should be higher then?

    also is the 17.7 percent really the same rate as a family making $15,000? That has to be wrong because tax brackets (let alone overall tax rate) are not that high for $15,000.

11. Comment by Will

    October 28th, 2008 at 11:26 am

    Any discussion of tax rates and percentages is always used by the Democrats and the left to to promote their idea of class envy and fairness.

    I would like to see more examples of dollars paid or dollar range paid instead of rates and percentages.

    For example: Buffett is in the $1,000,000+ tax due bracket and his secretary is in the $10,000 - $15,000 tax due bracket. Instead of hearing that a “big oil” Company got a 10% tax break, I would like to hear that they paid $— in taxes, up or down from the previous year.

    Using Dollars instead of rates & percentages gives one a very different perspective.

12. Comment by gene42243

    October 28th, 2008 at 11:30 am

    There is no doubt - but what increasing taxes on the Middle Class (with enough capitol left to invest in anything) will cause our unemployment to skyrocket. Every single thing out there tells everyone to “save their money” because if any is spent to begin a small business - the folks opening their wallets will get mauled!
    One depression in my time - is enough for me! So I hope everyone will “open their eyes” and look elsewhere for “the one” to arrive; Obama is NOT “the one” to save anyone!

13. Comment by A Capitalist

    October 28th, 2008 at 12:46 pm

    Brian,

    You are correct, Buffett is wrong on taxes. Capital gains/losses are incurred when investors move money between competing investments. I will go with Stock A over B, because I believe it has better value. I may believe it is a better value for a host of reasons. But over the market long-run A will only be chosen as an investment if is more economically productive. So why does it make sense for the gov’t to impede investors moving their money over the long-run from less productive to more productive investments. Isn’t more productive investment what helps everybody? Indeed it is.

    Furthermore, it is easy to prove Buffett incorrect. If he advocates increasing cap gains taxes to say 25% (pick your % du jour), ask him why gov’t shouldn’t tax it at 100%. If higher rates are better, why then is 100% bad? And if higher rates aren’t better, then why don’t we use a rate of 0%, and correspondingly reduce gov’t spending, the real source of trouble.

14. Comment by Philip Lawrence

    October 28th, 2008 at 12:59 pm

    This is yet one more reason why taxing income doesn’t work. If we really wanted to have a fair tax system, Big Government would switch from taxing income to taxing consumption. The Fair Tax is just that: a repeal of the federal income, corporate income, & FICA tax while replacing them with one national sales tax. The more you spend, the more tax you pay.

    I like the Fair Tax myself but those who try to get it passed keep overlooking one thing: to really succeed, passing the Fair Tax isn’t enough. First the 16th Amendment must be repealed, so that left-wingers can’t slap the income tax back on us on top of the Fair Tax sometime later.

15. Comment by gene42243

    October 28th, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    The one thing that could upset every “apple cart” out there would be if Obama went thru with plans most people now worry about: 401 being discarted! A lot of folks have suffered many years - to make sure they saved through this plan. If those people were to lose what they have done without to save - it could be a costly burden placed on a great deal of the population?!
    This, the higher taxes (in an economy that is already bankrupt) to come up with the money to “spread the wealth around” - grouped together will bring about “the great depression”. And I mean as bad - or worse - than the one some of us remember!
    Yet, Democrats refuse to even LOOK at the possibility of Obama having problems (with his past). How is it possible - for that many people to follow like sheep - regardless of the number of “bad” things that come out? Makes me aware - that we are in for some pretty rough times - in the near future.
    I’m not even saying “don’t vote for Obama”. I’m saying the American people should at least be able to listen to all the messes starting to show up? We can all remember - when even a SMALL problem like this came up - folks wanted to know about the scandle before just laying down and quitting? People are a lot more gullible than they used to be.
    It will not be the downfall of me, personally. Because I am getting past my “prime” and don’t have many years left. But it WILL effect those I love so much - in the years to come.
    Americans were always thought to be the smartest people (overall) in the world - but I’m not as convinced about that (as I used to be).

16. Comment by cris

    October 28th, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    We can see clearly what the government has done with our tax money, the Iraq war, bailing out the banks and henry paulson’s buddies, screwing up social security so that it is fairly obvious that while we pay, there WILL NOT be a social security check waiting for us, especially if god forbid we are one of those evil people who earns more than 250,000 a year. Why should we give the Government one penny more?! They have all but wasted and squandered our hard earned money and now want MORE? That is appalling and disgusting. Patriotism? Are you joking senator Biden, get back to planet Earth where the rest of us are.

17. Comment by Nick

    October 28th, 2008 at 2:09 pm

    Thus speaks the “Fair Tax”. The only real way to spread the wealth and be fair to everyone.

    Why concern ourselves with what is earned…let’s generate taxes to “Protect & Serve” the country thru the Fairest Tax of all…based upon what it spent. There are only a few misers out there who work hard to earn more and don’t intend to spend it. If we aren’t collecting income tax on illegal earnings (illegal aliens, cash only business, drug lords, and hiding money in of-shore accounts, etc), generate the tax when the money is spent. Drug lords don’t sell drugs and hide income with the intention to save the money for retirement, they spend it, but if they don’t report the income, we don’t collect a dime.

    Why does it matter if the money Buffett spends is derived from Earned Income, Cap Gains, or inheritance…my guess is no matter where the “income” in generated from he spends more than his admin does.

    And what could be fairer…if you earn $50K each year and spend $40K and save some…collect the 15%, or whatever the rate might be, on the $40K spent. If Buffett earns $2B, and spends $30M (or whatever he burns through in a typical year) tax his spending at th same 15%…he earns more, he spends more, he pays more. You earn less, you spend less, you pay less…but we all pay the same rate…gee doesn’t that sound fair?

    NO ONE wakes up in the morning, gets out of bed to go to work with the goal to earn a living to pay their taxes…they want to earn a living, take care of their family and SPEND the money they earn. If you don’t want to work hard, and you earn less, guess what you have less to spend. Your problem, not mine.

    Even though the Lottery system is a voluntary tax system for stupid people, no one plays the lottery so they can pay a lump sum in taxes…they play the lottery with the intent to SPEND the winnings. One would think that the State & Feds would “earn” more in tax if paid on what is spent out of the lottery winnings than them skimming 30% off the top…let all that money get spent in the economy and it would most definitely generate more.

    We talk about all the money sent overseas paying for crude and energy, and we don’t collect a penny on the income earned by some sheik in the Middle East…but if he sends his harem here to do some shopping, or makes a trip to Vegas to blow off some steam, then we can collect some Fair Tax when the bounty is spent. And guess what…they spend a LOT of money in the US…

    Overhaul the system, do away with the IRS, simpify taxes and grow the economy, and bring true fairness to all. I think it is so simple it only makes sense, but then the Leftists will loose the ability to blame the rich for all the country’s ills and create class envy…Oh yeah and by the way, we also need to cut back on Federal spending at the same time.

    I live in Texas and we don’t have a state income tax and guess which state is one of the only ones with positive growth in the down economy? Yeah we have a higher sales tax than many states but guess what…EVERYBODY pays it…

18. Comment by Steve

    October 28th, 2008 at 5:04 pm

    401K funds converted to Social Security-style pension scheme, “fairness doctrine”,
    wealth redistribution, Warren Court as paragon of moderation, banned firearms list
    targeting the hunting rifle your grandfather gave you, percentage of GDP to world-wide welfare, codification of union thuggery, street level agitation trumping the Constitution….these people are
    Marxists and your criticisms will soon be silenced.

19. Comment by Dan

    October 28th, 2008 at 5:16 pm

    As the saying goes “Taxes are a necessary evil”. I don’t mind paying taxes, but it is the way in which we are all taxed that must change. Lets face it, at times we want the services of the police, we appreciate smooth roads and it is of the utmost importance that education in this country be the very best. However, the whole idea of credits and rebates, low income verse high is joke and its all about votes. I believe the only way to straighten the system out is to do away with the entire Federal tax system as we know it and implement the Fair Tax and pass a balanced budget amendment.

    The Fair Tax is a more dynamic system that will create more revenue for the government when the economy is good and less when the economy is bad. Notice I said revenue not higher taxes. Congress can not act as quickly to economic conditions as a simple percentage can. Where spending is concerned, pass a balanced budget amendment that limits government budgets and correlates to the lowest tax revenue of the last 5 years. By doing this, when the economy is slow, the government wouldn’t borrow and when its good the government would have a surplus to put toward the debt. Business could make decisions based on profits not taxes. People could understand just how much they pay in taxes. I could go on but I’ll encourage you to read up on your own. For those critics of the Fair Tax who say business would get a free ride, you’re wrong. Ultimately the consumer pays all the taxes thru higher prices.

    Last thing I have to say, not as related, but important. Why does Congress not have term limits? With all the ethics problems, partisanship, misguided policies and lobbying taking place in Washington it is long over due that Americans rein in their government. Term limits would reduce their power considerably.

20. Comment by Jenn

    October 28th, 2008 at 6:42 pm

    Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are the only 2 billionaires on earth that makes virtually nothing on salary AND bonuses.

    Every other billionaire on earth makes hundreds of millions of dollars a year on stock incentive bonuses — that are the root of the problem of the current financial crisis. Stock incentive bonuses are INCOME.

21. Comment by Teni

    October 28th, 2008 at 6:57 pm

    I believe he is right. All income from all sources should be taxed the same. Why should a guy working his backside off and risking his life to hang off a roof all day and support his kids, get taxed more than the guy that sits at a computer selling his stock. Flat tax rates would be much fairer. Let Buffet pay 20% and take off 5,000 or so per dependant. Let everyone do that. Cut out all the rest of the deductions etc. and you will see a lot more common sense in business and out of it.

22. Comment by THOMAS O'HARA

    October 28th, 2008 at 9:40 pm

    I started my business out of the back of my car and have been successful because I know my math.

    Because free markets are dynamic and not static, almost all revenue targets like me are already planning to change our behavior in order to minimize Obama’s impending threat to our ability to continue doing business and thereby create jobs. If us revenue targets can’t cut enough expenses to cover Obama’s new dictated expense (yes taxes are considered just another expense by any rational entrepreneur), then we will be forced to raise our prices, thereby shifting the burden of higher taxes to our clients.

    Now most of my clients are in the very demographic that will be hurt more by these higher prices than they will be helped by the promised tax cut, assuming it is ever granted by the Washington elite. (Remember Clinton’s unfulfilled middle class “tax cut”?)

    It’s always the same story. Businesses are not going to absorb higher taxes or any other expense. Doing so puts the entire enterprise and the jobs it creates at risk of failure. Any business owner, including me, will get out before that happens. At that point, maybe Barack and his friends (do not forget about his dangerous friends) will be able to employ all 70 of my ex-employees as placard carrying protesters against successful people like me.

23. Comment by Joseph

    October 28th, 2008 at 11:49 pm

    Just about all of Warren Buffet’s income comes from Capital Gains on his Berkshire Hathaway stock, which is taxed at 15% instead of the 35% income tax rate. I don’t know which taxes he thinks should be raised, but in my opinion the Capital Gains Taxes should be increased progressively just as the income taxes are.

24. Comment by Jonathan

    October 29th, 2008 at 8:15 am

    The important thing to understand is that taxes are wrong on principle. The amount doesn’t matter. Government should not engage in the use of force to fund itself.

25. Comment by Scott

    October 29th, 2008 at 9:35 am

    Funny how the hard-core libs are noticeabley absent from blogs about money and taxes backed up with hard facts.

    I challenge anyone to make a case for how “taxing the ‘rich’” is good for our economy.

26. Comment by Greg Patrick

    October 29th, 2008 at 10:47 am

    Brian, great story and explanation of Buffett’s comments. I can see why Buffett’s statements are being scrutinized so close to the election given his influence over public opinion during our economic crisis.

    -a Buffett follower

27. Comment by jeff saturday

    October 29th, 2008 at 11:23 am

    “As I have argued, the income tax grabs at just that; income. It goes after those making a monthly paycheck. Not those like Mr. Buffett who have their money in low-tax stock portfolios. There is a massive difference between the wealth of people such as Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and the rest of the Forbes 400 and the successful businessperson making a few hundred thousand dollars per year. But yet that businessperson will be much more impacted by the increase on income taxes than the uber-rich.”

    How many years would it take for someone making $250,00 a year to acquire the amount of wealth that Gates and Buffett have ? Raising the tax rate on people on people making over $250,000 won`t mean spit to Gates or Buffett. Buffet is for Buffet. What is his guaranteed return on his GS investment? Perhaps these gentleman should remember what country gave them the opportunity to acquire their massive wealth. You are right Brian, as far as I know there is no law stopping Mr. Buffet from giving the government more money than he is REQUIRED to pay.

28. Comment by Brent

    October 29th, 2008 at 11:57 am

    If the comparison is made correctly, a “Family” with atleast one child, would actually receive an Earned Income Credit refunded to them for approximately $2,815. This equates to most people in America as Redistribution of Wealth. If a “Family” has two children the Earned Income Credit refunded to them would increase to $4,667. By the way, Family is defined by Websters as: parents and their children. When you reference the US Tax Code, please make sure you are giving the correct tax tables as your references. Tax tables in the code do not take into effect the number of dependents reported on a tax return to arrive at a taxable income.

    I would also recommed that in the future when you write an article regarding tax issues that you consult a tax professional to determine that your substance it correct.

    When the Democratic candidate speaks of giving 95% of Americans a tax break, remember that only 60% of us actually pay taxes. What will really happen is the folks that are currently getting Earned Income Credits will get a higher credit refunded to them; thus redistributing wealth once again.

    For those of you who don’t employ anyone, here is what happens when these credits are received by the recipient. In some cases they are receiving 33% of their annual income in a tax credit/refund. Most don’t use this money to get ahead in life, instead they take off from work for one, two and sometimes three months as they have sufficient income to support themselves from the handout they have just recieved. If this is increased under a new Democratic administration, the time off from work will only increase and not improve most of these peoples’ lives.

    Sincerely,
    A CPA

29. Comment by Cats

    October 29th, 2008 at 2:00 pm

    Whenever I have heard or read Buffet on higher taxes, as he said about retaining the “death tax”, I’ve screamed at myself “if he wants to give more let him give more. If he believes that the government can better do with his money than he can himself, let him make the contribution. But, don’t structure the tax laws so that I’m forced to allow the government to confiscate my money”. Both John McCain and Barack Obama have mentioned offering some sort of “economic” role to Warren Buffet. This makes me wonder whether or not there is a real difference between McCain and Obama on the economy.

30. Comment by Kris

    October 29th, 2008 at 2:56 pm

    Remember the original Constitution and Supreme Court ruled that the power to tax is the power to destroy and that income taxes were Unconstitutional. What we really need to do is repeal the 16th Amendment, shrink the Federal government 80% and put this country back in line with what the original founding fathers wanted. A country that provided freedom for its citizens to earn a living without that living being stolen.

31. Comment by JB

    October 29th, 2008 at 3:55 pm

    The only “fair tax” would be a consumption tax that taxes you on what you spend and not on what you earn. While this tax has been called regressive (i.e. it would stop people from consuming, or unduly burden the poor), it may be the best option. For Example, a local candidate where I live, Steve Hudson (US Congress MD District 8), has suggested such a tax on candy and soda to help pay for federal medical programs (i.e. obesity will be part of the problem and part of the solution).

32. Comment by Anne

    October 29th, 2008 at 4:06 pm

    I don’t understand… do you not think Warren Buffett fully understands which kind of tax he pays? His point is not semantic. His point is that something is wrong with a system that allows him to make that much money and pay a lower rate. PERIOD.

    As another individual who will pay more under the Obama tax plan, I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Buffett.

33. Comment by The J

    October 29th, 2008 at 4:54 pm

    Buffet is not a prophet or a Guru, he is a good investor. I get scared everytime Mr. Middle class Obama says his plan is good because Warren Buffet is on board. What the heck does he know about the real world and being middle class?

34. Comment by Jason

    October 29th, 2008 at 5:07 pm

    Now Jonathan at 8:15am had the best answer of any post. I agree 100%. Take a look at the constitution when it was created…NO TAXES. We fought a war over forced taxation call The American Revolution. “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed….For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent…” Read the Declaration of Independence people. Nuff Said.

35. Comment by Billy, MBA, CFP

    October 30th, 2008 at 3:21 am

    Warren Buffett is no doubt a brilliant investor. He has a very humble persona that in recent years has changed a little, and why not. I have been preparing tax returns for my investment clients for 38 yrs. I know what people pay in taxes, and it’s a considerable expense. The wealthier you are the more you pay in taxes. I’ve always thought that Buffett’s claim might be true but disingenuous. He is confusing the issues. Maybe his personal income tax rate is only 17% but many of the companies that he owns or has stock in, are paying big bucks in taxes. So his claim of a lower pesonal tax rate than his secretary or any other CEO of a Fortune 500 company might be a little bit of bragging about how well he is in arranging his ducks in order …

36. Comment by David in Sarasota

    October 30th, 2008 at 11:50 am

    I agree with Jonathon and Jason, read the constitution (for all you on the left that would be the Constitution of the United States of America not the USSR constitution). Not only are we forced to pay taxes every employeer is forced into the occupation of tax collecting. And they have no choice.

    Time for a new revolution.

    Lock and load…

37. Comment by AG

    October 30th, 2008 at 2:37 pm

    The progressive tax system is what the Adam Smith, Father of our Capitalistic Economy, founded for our taxing system with. Unfortunately if we need to have taxes (unless we have no government, anarchy, or flat tax, socialism) the where-with-all to pay is the only way we know how to tax meaning the rich will pay more than the poor. The real question is how much more, that is the true debate? What we cannot do is continue to borrow 700 billion and not find a way to pay for it, either by raising taxes or eliminating expenses (usually a combination of both)…

38. Comment by N. Tolby

    October 30th, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    W. Buffet lives in such an illusionary world of his! Yeah he’s a hard-core Democrat because he never had to pay 40% income tax since all of his income are from investments! If he’s such a patriot why can’t he go ahead and volunteer to pay 40% of his stated paper wealth, this would knock him off the Forbes list so he can come to reality really fast to join rank with noble wealthy people like T. Boone Pickens!

39. Comment by A Capitalist

    October 30th, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    To Anne,

    I think you just made an argument that non-cap gains income tax rates (wages, self-employed income, S Corp earnings, interest etc.) should also be lowered to 15% or less. I’d go for that.

    The real problem is gov’t spending because it drives taxation. Money is only a medium of exchange and a somewhat unreliable measurement of wealth. So money is not the key, but the total goods produced is a better measurement of wealth creation. And all wealth is created or produced by the free market. Gov’t does not produce wealth and cannot since it does not own the means of production (i.e. factories, mines, oil wells, power plants, etc.). So whenever gov’t intrudes into the market place to remove funds through either direct income taxation or borrowing from the private sector, it removes real wealth from the citizens. Now if the gov’t was more efficient at investing this back into production than the free market (i.e. they had a crystal ball and knew which companies, technologies, would produce the greatest economic progress), then we would all be better off if the gov’t took all our money and gave us enough back to live on and reinvested it into the areas it produced the greatest benefit (this is known as communism, which failed miserably). But gov’t is extremely inept (i.e. old Soviet Union), it wastes money that would’ve been put to better use if it was left in the free market. So the extra goods/services/new technologies that would’ve been produced had the money been left in the free market, don’t get produced and we all end up paying higher prices because of it, rich or poor, regardless of tax bracket. It is therefore irrational to argue for higher tax rates.

    Jason, Jonathan, et al. who are limited gov’t types. You are correct, this is why the founding fathers (especially Thomas Jefferson) sought to limit the ability of gov’t to take money from its citizens. They wanted the federal gov’t to protect the several states from invasion, set up a court system, and pretty much leave everyone else alone. Thomas Jefferson was a big proponent of laissez-faire capitalism, which pretty much ended in the 19th century.

40. Comment by Its not complicated

    October 30th, 2008 at 5:21 pm

    How about cut government spending. Not just by a few million like Obama, and McCain talk about, but abolish entire agencies. If we were to go back to the 1997 levels in spending we could abolish the IRS/FIT and still have a balanced budget! Won’t hear that on Fox News! Its actually conservatism!

41. Comment by stewballs

    October 30th, 2008 at 8:48 pm

    warren buffet.. here we go again.. always talking about assets.. never about the accrued liabilities.. Note: this is just the reverse of when financial reporters go over the national debt / deficit and fail to talk about assets..
    1. Warren Buffet is us..
    2. Accrued liabilities are income, gift, estate, admn, health care, non profit donations etc…
    3. additional income and asset growth.. go back to number 2.
    4. More “circular” economics.

    so you see it doesn’t matter what buffet does… it will all eventually end up with the “taxpayers” that got him there in the first place…

    remember .. anybody who bought stocks when the dow was 700 in the ’70s is going to look like a genius… IF YOU LIVE LONG ENOUGH..!!

    and also please note Birkshire Hathaway.. 40 percent drop from high to low.. just like the rest of the market..

    we just appreciate he is doing such a fine job..
    only concern is he underpays his staff.. their salarys should be triple the going market..

    good job warren… and i am sure you are enjoying plenty of “free” food.. !!

42. Comment by A.J

    October 31st, 2008 at 9:35 am

    Why am I not surprised tha Buffet is supporting Obama.Most of the rich people are supporting Obama.Did anybody checked who are the richest man in America.If you did your homework you would find that the are Democrats.Why are the bank and Waal street supporting Obama.I have a hard time to figure out why the republicans are branded as supporting rich.I can consider myself to be a midlle class.As far as I am concern last time when democrats were running the country 50% of my social security was taxed.Because my income was over $ 32,000.Today the democrats are claiming that $ 32,000 is bellow powerty limits.With Clinton`s supporting Obama what we can expect.
    In January they will claim that our financial situation they inharited from Republicans does not leave them a choise but to stick it to ua again.
    Wake up America.Where are the richest people living.Isn`t it West and East coast.
    And we know whom they are supporting.

43. Comment by cbk

    October 31st, 2008 at 10:38 am

    Why do rich people want everyone else to pay more taxes ? Why ? I’m all for an 90% tax rate for anyone making what Buffett or Gates makes ! Now let the SOB squeel like a stuck pig ! Maybe he can borrow money from his secretary ! Buffet is such a hypoctrite!

44. Comment by Ed Weber

    October 31st, 2008 at 2:13 pm

    Does Warren Buffet (and other wealthy liberals who don’t believe they pay enough taxes) not know he can send into the Feds whatever he wants? I believe it is called a “gift to the government.” He could even lead a group of his liberal wealthy buddies to chip in even more billions then he could alone.

45. Comment by Mike

    November 1st, 2008 at 11:06 am

    Brian Sullivan is wrong on taxes.

    But let me make a correction first - Buffett has been referring to the “Super-Rich”, not your average paper-rich average middle-class joes. He has made his statements very clear on TV, as well as before Congress.

    “Income” vs. “investment” is exactly how the rich (and especially the super rich) reaps great benefit, and this is a flaw that Mr. Buffett is keenly aware of and one point he is presciently making. (The man is amazing is seeing what is coming so many years ahead)

    I myself intend to exploit that flaw to the fullest, making all my money from “investments” and not from “income”, until that day when Congress realizes that taxing the middle class to death using the “notion of working income” can no longer generate enough revenue. On that day, we will not be debating about this silly point.

    Buffett is being Practical, not unrealistically ideological. Get with it, people.

46. Comment by David Hutson

    November 1st, 2008 at 12:01 pm

    Yes Mr Buffet is wrong.

    Hopefully, at least some of Buffet’s 44 billion is providing working capital for companies that employ workers. I.E. the idea that “rich’ people are the creators of jobs. How many peoople does his secretary employ?

    Lower rates of taxation have always stimulated economic activity which generated larger tax revenues.

    The vast majority of politicans who advocate higher rates of taxation are rich or super-rich socialist idealogues who care nothing for the good of the country or those of us who make this great county “work”. They care only for their obscene greed for power over other people. These people such as Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Barrack Obaama are the most practiced of consumate liars who can look you straight in the eye and lie to you even in the face of hard evidence that what they say is a lie. Look at what they do, not at what they say.

    These people are worse than liars. They are no better than street punk burglars who will steal you blind and then lie about it when caught red-handed. They began raiding the Social Security “Trust Fund” when their policies of high rates of taxation cut government revenues. Then when a period of economic prosperity resulting from the lower rates of taxation of the Reagan era,(when lower rates of taxation doubled the amount of revenue collected due to economic growth) produced high amounts of revenue into the Social Security system they put the system “on budget” so that they could use those high collections to claim that they had a budget surplus. Without the higher Social Security collections being mingled with the general fund revenues there was no surplus. The federal budget was still in deficit. Lies, lies and more damned lies.

47. Comment by Kent

    November 3rd, 2008 at 3:56 pm

    One problem the “Fair Tax” eludes is that the rich have the ability to travel overseas and spend their wealth. Without preventative action the rich will go to foreign countries satisfy their consumption habit and never return the spoils to the good ‘ol US to pay their percentage. Joe Plumber can’t afford to travel overseas and therefore will be mandated to a “Fair Tax”.

48. Comment by Diaa Kristy

    November 7th, 2008 at 1:00 pm

    What about this???

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIqyCpCPrvU