Why Billionaires like Buffet want to pay more taxes

Discussion in 'Political Opinions & Beliefs' started by Ephemera, Aug 17, 2011.

  1. Ephemera

    Ephemera New Member

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    No. Not because they never have to worry about money. Probably because money is the only thing they have to worry about. Paying ninety percent of their income in taxes takes a load off their shoulders. That's 70 million less they have to deal with. All 24 mattresses in their mansions are already stuffed to the seams. The banks turn them away because they have no more room in their vaults. It's a real pain to continue buying buildings, starting foundations and shuffling funds overseas. Paying it all in taxes makes more time for golf, TV appearances and building the ultimate super-yacht.

    Let's have some sympathy for billionaires. They forget what it's like to be millionaires, or hundred thousand-aires. That was the time in their careers when taxes mattered. Back then the tax rate was the difference between growing and remaining stagnant, between hiring people and downsizing.

    If you asked twenty year old Warren Buffet to pay ninety percent of his income in taxes he'd say, "Heck no! I was planning to move to the Hamptons this year."

    That's why they say, never forget where you come from.
     
  2. Beevee

    Beevee Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    At what rate does he pay his taxes and why does he pay them at that rate?

    Is he taking advantage of loopholes in the law and if so, which party was it that introduced such a law?
     
  3. Ephemera

    Ephemera New Member

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    All valid questions, but, uh...this was kind of a comedy piece.
     
  4. P. Lotor

    P. Lotor Banned Past Donor

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    The IRS has a page on their website where you can make make donations. As far ad I know, Buffett has not gotten down off his high golden horse to donate his high golden horse, or anything at all! Actually, Buffett has made his fortune off taxes, more specifically providing services that allow people to evade taxes. Hypocrisy, thy name is Buffett.
     
  5. akphidelt

    akphidelt Banned

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    Warren Buffett does not use "loopholes". The majority of his income comes from capital gains at 15%. He basically makes money from money. So his effective tax rate is around 16-17%... whereas his secretary with SS and income taxes pays up around 29-30%.

    His argument is that the country can afford higher taxes on the rich for economic reasons. He isn't trying to game the system, and he doesn't have to give all his money to prove that he can afford higher taxes.
     
  6. akphidelt

    akphidelt Banned

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    Baloney, Buffett does not need to give money to the Government to prove that we need higher taxes. That is a cop out and a complete red-herring to his message.
     
  7. PatrickT

    PatrickT Well-Known Member

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    One place for the really wealthy to shelter their assets from taxation is in insurance. Warren Buffett owns three, I believe, insurance companies. Taxes go up, his insurance business goes up. And he won't be paying higher taxes anyway. He also promised to give away 99% of his wealth. I wonder how that's going?
     
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  8. signcutter

    signcutter New Member

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    Strawman arguement made by simpletons. Buffet makes his spending money from carried interest gains .. which arent taxed at all unless they arent reinvested... very simple to launder these proceeds offshore and never pay a dime when making millions a year.

    Buffet is a capitalist first and foremost.. but he isnt stupid.. he knows that the current exploitation of the cash cow.. the american consumer.. will kill the cow sooner than later. Why kill the cow to gorge for a week when you can milk the cow for years and then feed off it offspring in the future.. only a short sighted idiot with no interst in maintaining the staus of the live stock kills his "seed stock"
     
  9. James Cessna

    James Cessna New Member

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    You are very correct, Ephemera.

    Your remarks are directly to the point and well crafted!

    Whay most people don't realize is when you consider federal, state and local taxes, the Average American pays almost 40 cents of every dollar he earns to taxes. This means each week each of us must work 16 hours or two full days just to pay the "tax man'!

    [​IMG]

    Taxes take a hefty toll. Everything from property taxes and the alternative minimum tax to the taxes added to cell phone bills and the cost of gasoline, when combined, takes a massive bite out of earnings -- in some cases even more than the federal income tax. And it's not likely to get better soon. States and municipalities have been steadily raising income tax rates to help close gaping holes in their budgets. Property taxes are also increasing, even though real estate values have cratered. And sales taxes are hitting record levels, in some areas nearing 10%. Gas taxes, alcohol taxes and hidden surcharges on everything from airline flights and ferry rides to vehicle registrations, rental cars and even sodas have also been stealthily rising.

    On top of that, additional tax increases for couples with salaries of $250,000 or more (and single people earning $200,000 or more) are scheduled to go into effect in 2013 under the health care bill passed a year ago. Plus, the Democrats, who supported legislation to raise income tax rates for higher earners last year, will probably push for the same measure when the Bush-era tax cuts expire at the end of 2012.

    Consider the tax profile of the Joneses when they're based in Huntington, a suburb of New York City. Thanks to all their smart pretax contributions and a fat deduction for mortgage interest and state and local taxes, the couple's federal income tax is only $29,344. But what often goes overlooked is the toll taken by state and local taxes. In this case, it exceeds that of the federal income tax bill: $31,066.

    State income taxes, taken alone, are just $10,557. But factor in the gas tax ($2,679), property tax ($15,222), phone service taxes and surcharges ($350), and sales tax ($2,260), and the picture looks far different. Their total tax bill, including the AMT and payroll taxes: $78,276.

    "When most people think about taxes, they think first about federal income taxes, then maybe about sales taxes, but there are a lot of taxes out there," says Mark Robyn, an economist with the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit tax research group in Washington, D.C. "It's eye-opening to step back and take a look at the whole picture."


    http://money.msn.com/tax-planning/down-and-out-on-250000-dollars-a-year-fiscal-times.aspx
     
  10. P. Lotor

    P. Lotor Banned Past Donor

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    lol, well the part about donating was a joke response to a joke OP. the rest of my post was very serious though.
     
  11. saintmichaeldefendthem

    saintmichaeldefendthem New Member Past Donor

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    What I find amazing is that the richest people on wallstreet, like Warren Buffet, are socialists.

    It's like that scene in The Aviator with Leonardo Decaprio, when he's visiting his girlfriend's family.

    The mother says, "Oh, we're good communists. We don't care about money."

    To which Leonardy replies, "Because you have it!"

    If the Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil, then many people on wallstreet are smitten with it. Making money, even loads of money, is not in itself evil, but when one abandons themselves to the love of making money, then they become capable of all manner of evil.

    So let's take Warren Buffet. "The Oracle" as people call him. He makes billions of dollars and then repeatedly calls for socialism, a system that has regimented poverty for millions during the 20th century. So Buffet doesn't mind getting rich, he just doesn't want YOU getting rich too.
     
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  12. freakonature

    freakonature Well-Known Member

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    Foundations....Foundations....Foundations.....Warren Buffet is benefiting from these statements.
     
  13. Blackrook

    Blackrook Banned

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    The thing is, Warren Buffet knows that his taxes won't go up no matter what he says. What he wants is for MY taxes to go up. So I consider Warren Buffet to be my personal enemy, which he is.
     
  14. fiddlerdave

    fiddlerdave Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Oh, puhl-leeeeas!!! :puke:

    ALL Buffet is saying is that the wealthy should pay the SAME tax rate as a secretary!

    That is not "CLASS WARFARE", for pity's sake!

    That is NOT "asking to pay 90%"!

    That is NOT asking for YOUR taxes to go up!

    He is simply asking for a fair tax system that charges millionaires and billionaires the same as the middle class.

    All this whining from the Right is pathetic.
     
  15. Blackrook

    Blackrook Banned

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    Warren Buffett has a million ways to avoid the higher taxes he proposes. I don't. Buffett's demand for higher taxes is a personal attack on me and my children. He and his kind are my mortal enemy.
     
  16. MissJonelyn

    MissJonelyn New Member

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    He's paying a lot more in taxes. He just doesn't want to admit it.
     
  17. Blackrook

    Blackrook Banned

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    Warren Buffett is obviously a slimeball who is just trying to get in good with Obama and the Democrats. He plans to gain something out of this, probably more $$$.
     
  18. akphidelt

    akphidelt Banned

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    Corporations pay their own taxes. Warren Buffet does not pay Berkshire Hathaway taxes... It is a publicly owned company.
     
  19. cassandrabandra

    cassandrabandra New Member

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    that sounds about right.
     
  20. MissJonelyn

    MissJonelyn New Member

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    You're right, because it's not like he doesn't own stocks in other companies.

    And corporations aren't living people. Corporations don't pay taxes, people do. Dividends are taxes taken from the stock holders.
     
  21. cassandrabandra

    cassandrabandra New Member

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    based on what I have seen of the US tax system, if you are worried about your taxes going up, you can afford them to and its not going to make a huge difference to you.

    on the other hand, if your govt doesn't raise suffieicent revenue, you will probably end up losing out in some other way - along with most people.
     
  22. akphidelt

    akphidelt Banned

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    Lol, actually corporations are treated as living people
     
  23. MissJonelyn

    MissJonelyn New Member

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    All businesses are. That's why corporate taxes exist in the first place.
     
  24. Roy L

    Roy L Banned

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    ?? Dividends are profits distributed TO shareholders. Duh.
     
  25. MissJonelyn

    MissJonelyn New Member

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    Dividends are taxed also. Duh.
     

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