If you want "tax fairness" Warren divest yourself from your billions in your tax shelter & give the IRS a go for it.
Even better, call for the elimination of all 501c(3) foundations of the privileged elite. Yeah....your term "shared sacrifice" is a good tag for their abolition. Become a leader on this by stepping out front.
Photo: AP
Warren Buffett (file photo)
Warren Buffett says he paid almost $7 million in taxes last year. He says that is not enough.
“I think people at the high end, people like myself, should be paying a lot more in taxes," said Buffett.
The billionaire investor wrote an opinion article in the New York Times in August, claiming that all 20 employees in his office pay a higher percentage of their incomes in taxes than he does.
Buffett suggested increasing taxes on millionaires and billionaires. He wrote, “My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It is time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.”
President Obama is incorporating Buffett’s proposal into his plan to reduce the federal deficit.
“Middle-class families should not pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires," said President Obama. "That is pretty straightforward. It is hard to argue against that. Warren Buffett’s secretary should not pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett.”
The president announced his deficit-cutting plan on Monday, and said it would include a provision he called the “Buffett Rule.”
The rule states that “No household making over $1 million annually should pay a smaller share of its income in taxes than middle-class families pay.” Administration officials have not given details on how the plan would be put into effect.
Some reports have shown that most of the richest Americans already pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than lower- or middle-income taxpayers.
Meanwhile, some Republicans call the proposal class warfare. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says it would stifle job creation.
“If he is feeling guilty about it, I think he should send in a check," said McConnell. "But we do not want to stagnate this economy by raising taxes.”
Obama said Thursday the purpose of his plan is basic fairness.
“If asking a billionaire to pay their fair share of taxes, to pay the same tax rate as a plumber or a teacher, is class warfare, then, you know what? I am a warrior for the middle class," he said. "I am happy to fight for the middle class. I am happy to fight for working people.”
Public opinion polls show that most Americans agree with Warren Buffett that the richest citizens should pay more in taxes.
Buffett is ranked as the third-wealthiest person in the world, with $39 billion. He has been investing for 70 years, since he was 11-years-old. His success has earned him the nickname “The Oracle of Omaha.”
Buffett endorsed and contributed money to Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008, and he is scheduled to host a fundraising event for the president in October. Tickets will cost $35,000 each.
The 81-year-old chairman of the conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway has committed to gradually give all of his company stock to philanthropic foundations. He said more than 99 percent of his wealth will go to philanthropy during his lifetime or at death.
“My wife and I, when we were in our twenties, decided that whatever we had that we did not need should go to somebody that did need it," he said. "We had that planned for years, and lately we have taken up with this Giving Pledge to try and encourage others to feel the same way.”
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