NEWS: Warren Buffett Is Not An Asshole

POLITICS: Warren Buffett Is Not An Asshole

Warren Buffett is one right motherfucker. The man is worth an estimated $52 billion. That is approximately $52 billion more than I am worth, give or take eight dollars. And he didn't become a really rich guy by being a moron, turns out he understands how business works, it is something he was born to do.



When he was six years old, he bought six-packs of Coke from his grandfather's store and sold them for five cents each, making a five-cent profit. When I was six, I was staring at the television and playing with Hot Wheels. By the time Buffett was 11 he was buying stock and turning a profit. I'm pretty sure I was still playing with Hot Wheels. Buffett went on to be a stock market genius, amassing an incredible fortune.



Now he says Bush's tax cuts are bullshit and should be altered. Buffett thinks he should be paying more taxes and that the tax structure in America is wrong.

Oh, it is definitely not appreciated, especially when the rich are benefiting economically from the war, while the middle class and poor suffer.



Buffett conducted a survey of his employees and found that he pays 17.7% in payroll income tax, while his employees pay 32.9%.

Buffett believes the difference comes down to lobbyists.

That is one way of looking at it, but I prefer a completely different theory. If you have a moral code and some sort of humanity, then you wouldn't need a lobbyist to tell you what to do. Our politicians have no conscience, which allows them to fuck over the working class with ease. Plus, they are all millionaires themselves, so why not give themselves a break?



The debate over tax cuts is still raging in Congress. Democrat Charlie Rangel wants to give a tax break to 90 million lower income families. That would mean raising taxes on the rich. Republicans want to continue Bush's tax cuts that are due to expire in 2010 and say any increase would hurt "small businesses and farmers."



Because if there are two things Republicans care about it is small businesses and farmers. They do not care about big businesses and agribusinesses.



I'm going to take the word of the really rich genius over the asshole Republicans, thanks.

Warren Buffet is a man of the people. He even wears tighty whiteys and plays the ukulele.



God bless him.

Don't believe the hype. That's not a photo op - that's what he makes his employees do for Casual Fridays.

Genius not withstanding, I'm sure his opinion will be given the same due consideration as any opinion that is counter to the administration's thinking. (Did that parse right?). In any case, great article FTR.

"I'm going to take the word of the really rich genius over the asshole Republicans, thanks."

Me too!

I read about this a few days back and was totally amazed. I agree with him on the taxes and on the fact that they won't change, just like white collar crime will never get the same sentences that street crime does even though it costs over ten times as much to the public/government.

Since Buffet is supposed to be in the 35% bracket, it sounds like he's lying.... UNLESS he makes all his money from dividends or capital gains, where the tax rates are low. I can see the reasoning for the low capital gains tax rate (which does hit a lot of middle class people, when they sell real estate for more than they paid) but there's no reason for dividends to be taxed differently. If you want to encourage investment with low rates on dividend income, cut the top rate on all taxes and pay for it by getting rid of the deductions that are skewed to the wealthy, which is most of them. But that would make too much sense, and piss off too many lobbyists and tax attorneys.
Lately, I've been shaking my head over the administration's treatment of the estate tax. The "official" reasoning is that it keeps family farms and family businesses "in the family". Okay, that's an issue, but it can be fixed without throwing the whole thing out the window. And cutting the estate tax is a cipher in terms of its effect on the economy: cutting income and investment taxes stimulates the economy by encouraging work and investment - in other words, by changing the behavior of the people who earn the money, but the estate tax isn't paid by the people who actually earned the money, so cutting it does nothing for the economy but add to the deficit.
And the Iraq War, in my opinion, has been a net drag on the economy.
That's Bush in a nutshell: even if he starts off with a sound idea (e.g. cut taxes for economic growth), he fucks it up. The man has a reverse Midas Touch: everything he touches turns to shit.

FTR, is there a link to Buffet's remarks?

Yup, you nailed it there.

here's a popular article about income tax>>
Man Vs Income Tax. Man Wins.

Oh here's two more.

The Uncertainties of Income Tax

The Law That Never Was

I'm not entirely sure what to believe, but there's all the info for ya'll to decide for yourselves.

Me too... but don't trust the Dems either. if it was up to them... they'd raise the taxes for the for the middle class.... give more BS programs to the "poor" and to "minorities" and because raising taxes on the rich would me THEY too would have to pay more... they'd quietly fail to put Mr. Buffet into a higher tax bracket!

fuck'm all!

Stock market? Hello?

Not more of this "the income tax is fascist" bullshit.

Apparently. I wish I could say I was surprised.

shit, i pay a higher rate of tax than y'awl. try this for size. 41% tax + 4% national insurance, and wait for it another 2% for a health levy. so thats a total 47% tax after a tiny exemption. so at this stage of the year for every €1 i earn i get 53 cent. its bullshit.

I believe he's been saying this for a while now. I could be wrong though.

I watched him on this show with Bill Gates once and he seemed like a really cool dude. Totally unpretentious, Bill Gates was all dressed up in a suit (par for the course) and Tommy Bahama was in like jeans and a windbreaker. He doesn't seem to take himself or his money to seriously (i.e. thinks it makes him better than everyone else). He's got a good head on his shoulders.

Also they were comparing their board of directors and there was something Buffett said that really made me like him, but it was so long ago I can't remember exactly what it was.

Anyway, he's a cool dude, and other rich people should follow his lead.

And Bush should really listen to him.

Fixed/

Honestly? I'd pay that if I got nationalized health care.

My mom was a nurse at hospital. The doctors there used to secretly sterilize non-taxpaying freeloaders who were trying work the system.

It was a judgment call.
True fact.

That's a hysterically inaccurate description of the court case.

For an actual recap of this case, go here.

This makes complete sense if you've followed Buffett at all. Most of his investment advice comes down to buying good companies, and one of the key indicators of what he considers a good company is management being personally invested in the company. It's all about incentive. Management that has a personal stake in the company they run will be inclined to take better care of it.

Overtaxing of the masses again comes down to the same incentive control. Each person creates wealth. If the masses don't care about creating wealth, they stop. And if people lose the incentive to creeate wealth because they're not allowed to keep what they make, there you go. Buffett has always been a long term investor, and long term, growing the pie rather than snaking the bigger piece is the winning strategy.

For the greater good, my friend.

Thanks. I was wondering about that - that Shreveport Times article reeked of fish.

Damn Red Herring. Gets you every time.