Warren Buffet: good investor, poor public policy
October 31st, 2007 | by rocketc |How can Warren Buffet be right on so many things, but how does he get taxes all wrong? If he wants to pay more tax, why doesn’t he just get out his check book and write a check to the US Treasury? Who is he to say how much money another person should or should not make or should or should not pay in taxes?
The more that rich people are taxed, the less they have to spend on the services and goods that are sold by the little people (like me). Buffet is actually paying significantly more than his fair share, when compared to his employees - 17% of his income is an astronomical amount of money as the article points out:
. . .the top 1% of US earners accounted for 39% of tax revenue – and the highest earning 25% of the population delivered 86% of the tax-take.
Furthermore, the deficit is going down and total government revenue is up – due to the fact that when the economy grows, more people pay taxes. The US economy grew at a great 3.9% pace last summer, and will continue to grow if taxes are cut or remain steady.
Why doesn’t Buffet just give more to charities or pay his employees more?
Why does he think that he needs to call on the Bush administration to enact more legistlation so he can give away more of his money?
It is like saying I can’t decide to eat less food unless the government passes a law that restricts my food intake.
2 Responses to “Warren Buffet: good investor, poor public policy”
By plonkee on Oct 31, 2007 | Reply
No, he’s paying his fair share when he pays the same proportion as other people. Of course the extremely wealthy pay the most tax, they have the most wealth. I think there’s some Pareto 80/20 type rule when considering wealth, not these exact numbers, but 80% of the wealth is held by 20% of the people, in which case I’d expect that 20% to (on average) pay 80% of the taxes (if not more).
By rocketc on Oct 31, 2007 | Reply
I think a flat tax solves almost all of these problems, but liberals (including some on the Republican side) in our country would rather control behavior and cater to special interests through the use of tax incentives and deductions.
I do not believe that it is fair for 1% of the population to pay 39% of the taxes. I say this as one who is in the lowest tax bracket and who takes advantage of a great many deductions. I pay very little tax – except whenever I buy something.
I understand that the fewer taxes paid by the wealthy and big corporations, the more money they will have to spend in our economy, to give away, or to hire and pay employees.