Warren Buffet on billionaires protected ‘as if we were spotted owls’
Several of you have pointed out today’s op-ed piece by billionaire Warren Buffet in the New York Times, which begins thusly:
Billionaire Warren Buffet/AP
Our leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.
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.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
174 comments Add your comment
Doug
August 15th, 2011
4:58 pm
Most of you who are opposing Buffet here are missing his main point. Why should the super rich pay a LOWER tax rate than the middle class (15% versus 30% in income tax + about 6.5% in FICA/payroll withheld from employee’s paychecks by law).
GaBlue
August 15th, 2011
5:11 pm
Doug,
They’re missing the point because they’re not interested in the point.
Atlantan
August 15th, 2011
5:15 pm
@Doug – I assume you’ve never sold stock or a home? It isn’t just the billionaires that will have to pay a higher capital gains tax. I’m concerned over the level of selfishness and stupidity of Americans who fall for this class warfare trap, but don’t believe or insist the Federal Government has any room to cut.
Revolutionary War Soldiers and all American soldiers who died in war are rolling over in their graves…. Socialism and a government leviathan are not worth fighting or dying for.
double
August 15th, 2011
5:27 pm
Enter your comments here
Republican No More
August 15th, 2011
5:58 pm
I have had it with the ultra-conservatives that want us all to be Puritans. I’m voting for all Democrats – at least they are real people!
Toes the Line
August 15th, 2011
6:04 pm
Too bad most tea party “patriots” can’t read.
td
August 15th, 2011
6:32 pm
Republican No More
August 15th, 2011
5:58 pm
You have never voted for a Republican in your life my friend. Who are you trying to fool.
Rob Woodall Has Always Gotten His Healthcare for Free (but Paid By You), Yet he wants your grandparents to forgo food to pay out from their fixed income for healthcare
August 15th, 2011
6:33 pm
I don’t know understand how conservatives and libertarians can object to Warren Buffet opining that individuals making more than $1 Million per year can afford to and are willing to pay additional taxes.
He’s not saying that individuals making less than $1 Million per year can afford to and are willing to pay additional taxes. Just those making more.
Where is the controversy?
If you are trolling this blog, I bet you are not making more than $1 Million per year. So your opinion on what people making more than $1 Million per year should do is significantly less relevant and insightful than Warren Buffet.
td
August 15th, 2011
6:34 pm
Toes the Line
August 15th, 2011
6:04 pm
Too bad most tea party “patriots” can’t read.
Sorry my friend but you are from the party of the uneducated, welfare receiving non-producers. They do not belong to the tea party.
td
August 15th, 2011
6:40 pm
Rob Woodall Has Always Gotten His Healthcare for Free (but Paid By You), Yet he wants your.
This is a side issue. You can take 95% of Buffet’s money ($49 billion) and it is not going to stop the deficit spending we do for one year. The top 50% of wage earners are taxed enough. The bottom 48% pay $0 in Federal income tax and we are spending way to much money. Cut the spending first and then we can talk about increasing taxes.
Ghost Rider
August 15th, 2011
7:56 pm
Republican No More:
. . . better identified as “Never A Republican”
“I’m voting for all Democrats – at least they are real people!”
You’ve always voted democrat. Why change now?
karen
August 15th, 2011
7:58 pm
Lame responses when you tell Warren to go ahead and write a check of his own accord. He donantes billions to charity already, but it’s almost like you dont want to get the point he is making. But we have come to expect nothing more from you. Read MSN today about how tax cuts to the wealthy helped create this recession along with 2 wars and Medicare meds.
Ghost Rider
August 15th, 2011
8:02 pm
td:
I heard Obama talking today to a group of people. It just so happened that the particular small town he was visiting had an enemployment rate of just over 5%! He called upon the citizens to contact their elected representatives in D.C. to encourage a spirit of compromise.
When Queen Pelosi had the majority in the House and Roughshod Reed had the majority in the Senate, I can’t remember Obama, Pelosi or Reed ever using the word compromise. They didn’t need it and they weren’t going to do it, so they never needed to call for it.
2012 will be the end of the Obama reign!
karen
August 15th, 2011
8:40 pm
In your dreams Ghost. I’ll take some of your money if you want to bet.
Kamiya
August 15th, 2011
9:20 pm
Anyone rememeber in 2003 when Warren Buffet was appointed financial advisor to Ahnold in his campaign for governor of California. First time Buffet opened his yap he suggested that Californians didn’t pay enough property taxes, and he was outta there.
He’s a terrific investor and businessman and seemingly a good guy, but Warren really needs to keep his political opinions to himself.
td
August 15th, 2011
9:33 pm
karen
August 15th, 2011
7:58 pm
You do realize that you could tax buffet at a 95% rate ($49 billion) and it would not pay off the deficit for one year ($4 billion per week or $210 billion per year) that we are currently borrowing. We do not have a revenue problem in this country, we have a spending problem. After we take 95% of all the wealth of the top 1% that might cover the deficit spending for 4 or 5 years then what are we going to do? How will we pay the bills plus the $14 trillion debt?
td
August 15th, 2011
9:37 pm
karen
August 15th, 2011
8:40 pm
In your dreams Ghost. I’ll take some of your money if you want to bet
Please tell us how Obama is going to win re election? What will his strategy be? What groups will he carry in this election? Will the youth come out in the same numbers as 4 years ago? Will African Americans break another all time record? Will white suburban women give him 55% of their vote this time around? Will social conservatives stay at home again like they did 4 years ago? Just wondering how you think he will win.
Dennis Johsno
August 16th, 2011
12:07 am
I totally agree with Buffet, am amazed by the comments that he can send in more, that is totoally outside the discussion. You might check and he did just donate 1.5 Billion to Charity, which is better than sending in 1 check, his point was all high earners – get the message?
I made over $130,000 last year in retirement and could not believe the government still sent me a check for $400????? I couild pay more also, as many others can. As far as the 47% that pay no taxes, I volunteer steady with Habitat and the Food Pantry, again lets target the real issue not the people goint every 2 weeks to pick up a couple bags of groceries.
Thank you Buffet and Gates, both believe rich should pay more.
Help someone out there, please.
Tanisha Green
August 16th, 2011
12:19 am
Mr. Galloway…aside from the obvious point that Mr. Buffet is certainly free to send a check to the federal treasury for any amount that he might feel appropriate…he is always relating his famous story about how his secretary pays a higher tax rate then he does. But he is only talking about their INCOME TAX rates. But though he earns a nice salary as a CEO, most of what Mr. Buffet makes is NOT considered earned income. And whenever a bill is introduced in congress promoting an increase in capital gains taxes, not only has Mr. Buffet vehemently opposed it, but it has also been opposed by other prominent billionaires who speak out in favor of higher income tax rates. One proposal two years ago was to tax all dividends and indexed capital gains over $1,000,000 for any individual taxpayer as ordinary income. And both Bill Gates and Warren Buffet opposed that, and made large donations to organizations that were against it.
Reminds me of Ted Kennedy, who always advocated very high estate tax rates…though his family only paid a little over a hundred thousand dollars on his father’s estate of almost $500 million.
Ferfzilla
August 16th, 2011
4:12 am
For Mr. buffet to infer that anyone making over 1 million a year should be paying higher taxes is absurd. He makes that much when he sleeps at night. I think he has forfeited the right to speak for those that have spent a lifetime busting their a@@ to clear a million bucks and are not in a position to hire the high powered accountants as he is to help them hide the $ from the government. Hell, he probably paid those accountants 3x that much last year alone. Tax reform, yes. A dude with half a trillion dollars including anyone making a million in his “mega-rich” commentary: No Thanks. Shame on him. Why does he profess to leaving 99% of his wealth to charity? If he thinks the US governments such a stalwart steward of it’s citizenry’s wealth, why doesn’t he just sign it over to the US Treasury? ps- this government thinks if you clear 200K a year that makes you a millionaire. Hmmm. This is Doublespeak blather coming from a guy who crossed the finish line ages ago. It’s a game to him…but yes, he is right, I paid 30% income tax last year to his 17%. and I am no “millionaire” until I hit that 200K marker, woo hoo!
Ginny
August 16th, 2011
5:38 am
It’s 3:28 am and I can’t sleep because even though I am blessed with a job, I’m still worried about making ends meet with my next paycheck. I am grateful that Mr. Buffett is at least acknowledging that many of us are struggling to keep above water. I have been reading all the comments and it is sad that many of the comments seemed to have lost sight of what Mr. Buffett is really trying to get across as a humanitarian gesture. I myself “Thank you” Mr. Buffett for thinking of your fellow Americans that are struggling financially……
karen
August 16th, 2011
8:02 am
TD, the only reason it will be close is the economy. But the clowns the Repulicans have runnning will get very little support from independents. And clowns is a kind word.
Alex Hamilton
August 16th, 2011
8:45 am
US Debt – [u.s det] n. – that unpaid obligation by the Federal Government amassed as a result of systematic revenue reduction over the last 20 years of the twentieth century and the first 10 of twenty first, combined with global imperial efforts by the first new president of the 21st century, the lack of regulation of the oligarchical financial industry (so Jeffersonian) and the refusal of a dysfunctional legislative branch to develop a functional health services policy that would complement the broad social entitlements desired by the electorate, thus causing an unbalanced cost to that service.
Joe Mama
August 16th, 2011
12:46 pm
Libertarian — “I hardly think I “crapped and moaned.” I made one comment about how I find it ironic that he gives all his money to charity and the supposedly needy but that his granddaughter is poor and he won’t help her.
I think you did crap and moan, and you made more than just one comment about it.
There are these several items at 3:18 — “Buffet is a little wacko . . . the man refused to pay for his granddaughter to go to college….that’s just insane . . .The man won’t even give his own family money. Clearly he’s lost it.”
And this at 3:28 — “on one hand, Mr. Buffet wants to give more the government and to charities but won’t give to his own family who are in “need.”
Again, for someone claiming to be a Libertarian, you sure do seem to be interested in directing how others make their own spending decisions.
“Its his choice…just ironic.”
I imagine it makes perfect sense to Mr. Buffett, and I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that he’s makes better decisions with his money than you do with yours or I do with mine.
“Can you please let it go now?”
There’s nothing making you respond to me. You’re perfectly free to ignore me if you please.
“Oh and since everyone’s moniker must be true in your mind, I supposed you are Joe’s Mama?? (laughing)”
If you’re going to call yourself “Libertarian” but not act like one, then I’m going to call you out on it. And my handle is “Joe Mama,” not ‘Joe’s Mama.’ Attention to detail, ‘Libertarian.’
“He can do what he wants with HIS money. But he and your pal Obama can keep their hands out of my pocket.
What makes you think that President Obama is ‘my pal?’
“Joe Mama the free speech advocate writes off others’ opinions as “blather.” (Laughing)”
I write off the prattle of sockpuppets as “blather,” yes. But if you find that the shoe fits you as well, then you’re perfectly entitled to wear it. (laughing) XD