“OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.
While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks.” (NY Times – Warren Buffett)There’s an easy solution to that one!
Expropriate the property of Buffett and his fellow billionaires, put guns in their hands and send them to Afghanistan. Turn their property over to the returning working class soldiers and their families. Problem solved.
But seriously, he raises some valid criticisms of our tax system...
“To understand why, you need to examine the sources of government revenue. Last year about 80 percent of these revenues came from personal income taxes and payroll taxes.” (NY Times – Warren Buffett)Workaday people cannot escape such taxes, the rich routinely do, especially those who “make money from money” as Buffett explains. These are people who make money on trading, commission and dividends from investments. They don’t have to pay the payroll taxes working people do.
The El Lay Times editorial board chimes in on Buffett’s side…
Under the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which was signed by President Reagan, the number of tax brackets was reduced, loopholes were closed, the top tax rate was lowered and capital gains were taxed at the same rate as ordinary income. Yet in the years since, Congress has steadily drilled loopholes back into the code while lowering the tax burden for wealthy people who make money through investments rather than labor. That was the source of Buffett's complaint. (El Lay Times)Some kind of a flat tax or national sales tax that exempted basic food staples would put an end to this class warfare rhetoric. And we need get it done so we can focus on real solutions that start by taking a crowbar to the Washington DC-Big Business pornographic embrace.
