

Charlie Rose with Warren Buffett: Stop Coddling the Super-Rich - pkaler
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11845#

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anamax
Warren Buffett doesn't have a significant income, so once again he's
advocating taxes for other people.

If he holds true to form, he's also got a way to make money from other people
paying higher tax rates. (He has investments that depend on the estate tax and
has arranged things so his estate won't be taxed.)

If he think that his tax rate isn't high enough, he's free to write a check.

How about a tax that will hit him? For example, he likes to hold stocks
"forever" and does a lot of tax-free exhanges, so there's "never" any tax on
the gains. Why not require holding companies, like Berkshire, to do a "wash
sale" and pay the resulting taxes on the oldest 5-10% of their portfolio every
year. That way Buffet would pay some of the taxes that he thinks other people
should pay.

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scott_s
_Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll
taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of
money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s
actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our
office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36
percent._

Sounds to me like he's saying "I should be taxed more than $6.9 million." He's
rather specific at the end of his piece:

 _But for those making more than $1 million — there were 236,883 such
households in 2009 — I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in
excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And
for those who make $10 million or more — there were 8,274 in 2009 — I would
suggest an additional increase in rate._

From [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/stop-coddling-
the-...](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/stop-coddling-the-super-
rich.html)

~~~
anamax
> But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s
> actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in
> our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and
> averaged 36 percent.

I'm pretty sure that he's wrong about their tax rates (or is using numbers
that can't be compared to the rate he quotes for him).

From <http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/08inratesharesnap.pdf> .

"For returns reporting positive adjusted gross income, the top 1 percent of
taxpayers had an average tax rate of 23.3 percent; the top 10 percent of
taxpayers had an average tax rate of 18.7 percent; and the bottom 50 percent
of taxpayers had an average tax rate of 2.6 percent."

Supporting data is at
[http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/indtaxstats/article/0,,id=96679,...](http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/indtaxstats/article/0,,id=96679,00.html)
.

~~~
pasbesoin
I was sort of listening to the program last night, but as I recall, in the
next sentence or three he indicated that his figure included payroll tax.

As for "writing a check", I believe Buffet might point out that no one person
can, through individual expenditure, fix the problem. He's out to _fix the
system_.

He's a competitive businessman. He doesn't mind -- would welcome --
contributing more to the financial well-being of our government and thereby
country. However, he wants to do it _on a level playing field_.

Businesses and businesspeople piss and moan about expenses. But Buffet's
message is the meat behind the whine: If the playing field is _level_ , people
will figure it out, and the smart and savvy players will still succeed --
because they are not tying one arm behind their back while giving their
opponent a nine iron.

I'd say that's a big part of his point about the current revenue system for
the federal government (and many states', I would guess). The small player is
cuffed while the big player has sprouted extra arms (for grabbing).

I don't agree, or blindly accept, all that he has to say, and when you look
behind some of his influence and advice, it certainly has played well into and
payed out for his/Berkshire's own investments.

But the man has a point: You have to _pay_ for the things you use -- and that
includes the rich. And you don't exist, nor succeed, in a vacuum. So (whiny
Mini-Me's), stop your caterwauling and _fix_ the country. And "normal" people:
Stop electing these idiots (or their tools).

[I realize this comment may have started to sound political. But we're
discussing what Buffet means with his comments, and this is my take on that.]

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dublinclontarf
Why is this on the front page again, it was here yesterday.

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badwetter
So refreshing to hear a wealthy man like Mr. Buffet say this! Helps President
Obama too.

