Warren Buffett - "Stop Coddling the Super-Rich" - Page 2

On August 17 2011 06:46 FoeHamr wrote:
don't richest people in this country pay the most taxes already?

On August 17 2011 06:41 Megatronn wrote:
If he's so concerned why doesn't he just give his money away to some poor families? o.o

On August 17 2011 06:44 Megatronn wrote:

He's basically saying the rich should be taxed, the debt will go down and jobs will be made, right? If he cares so much why doesn't he give his money away to people that he thinks need/deserve it?

On August 17 2011 06:49 xXFireandIceXx wrote:


Number wise yes, but not percentage wise. I think he mentions it in his article. He pays around 17% while his coworkers pay around 30? HE did mention it.

On August 17 2011 06:48 Kaitlin wrote:


According to his statements that the rich should pay more taxes to the government, the fact that he's donating 99% of his wealth to charity when he dies is hypocritical. By donating to charities that HE favors, he denies the government about 60% of his wealth that would have been paid in estate taxes had he not made that selfish decision himself and left it to the government's better judgment.

On August 17 2011 06:50 canikizu wrote:

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
It doesn't matter how much money he gives away, if it's not distributed right (ie via tax to infrastructure, education,v.v..v.), it's a waste of money.

Buffet has always been my hero.

On August 17 2011 06:53 Bigpet wrote:
Him and gates have been saying that for a long time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVOwaMWewGY

but now it's suddenly important for some reason

On August 17 2011 06:49 xXFireandIceXx wrote:


Number wise yes, but not percentage wise. I think he mentions it in his article. He pays around 17% while his coworkers pay around 30? HE did mention it.

On August 17 2011 06:50 BuddhaMonk wrote:


He has pledged to give away roughly $30 billion dollars when he dies. Do a little research before you talk please.

On August 17 2011 06:53 Megatronn wrote:

So we should get rid of wellfare because that's basically giving someone their fish, right?

I am gonna get hated so much in this thread ^^. Brb popcorn.

On August 17 2011 06:57 Kaitlin wrote:


What a crock of crap. I don't mean you, as I know Buffett said it, but first, his tax records are not public, so he can claim whatever the fuck he wants and nobody can verify it. Not even the IRS can come out and call him a liar, as they are bound by disclosure laws. Second, payroll taxes are capped at a certain amount, so his fellow employees pay payroll taxes on their entire income where he does not. He pays the same taxes as they do, and more, up to the cap that applies to social security taxes. Third, he said a lot of his income is from capital gains, which when compared to the wages his employees are making, it's apples and oranges. Fourth, he most certainly has dividend income, which is taxed at a lower rate these days, but that income is being double taxed anyways, as the corporation paying the dividend has already paid tax on that, a rate that you can be sure Mr. Buffett is not including in his 17% calcuation. Fifth, I'm sure Mr. Buffett has plenty of private foundations in his name that he contributes to annually, which he determines how the money is to be spent in charitable ways. These contributions are deducted from his income before calculating his taxes, even though he dictates how the money is spent, instead of the government. Sixth, it's safe to say that his 17% number is based on his total income before all these deductions that he is taking and not based on his taxable income, whereas his "coworkers" do not have deductions to that extent.

Misleading at best.

On August 17 2011 06:57 hacpee wrote:


Most of that will be tax free. That means he is cheating the government in billions of dollars in estate taxes by giving it to a charity. The proper question is, if Buffet feels that his taxes are too low, why doesn't he just donate the proper amount to the IRS?

On August 17 2011 06:57 Kaitlin wrote:


What a crock of crap. I don't mean you, as I know Buffett said it, but first, his tax records are not public, so he can claim whatever the fuck he wants and nobody can verify it. Not even the IRS can come out and call him a liar, as they are bound by disclosure laws. Second, payroll taxes are capped at a certain amount, so his fellow employees pay payroll taxes on their entire income where he does not. He pays the same taxes as they do, and more, up to the cap that applies to social security taxes. Third, he said a lot of his income is from capital gains, which when compared to the wages his employees are making, it's apples and oranges. Fourth, he most certainly has dividend income, which is taxed at a lower rate these days, but that income is being double taxed anyways, as the corporation paying the dividend has already paid tax on that, a rate that you can be sure Mr. Buffett is not including in his 17% calcuation. Fifth, I'm sure Mr. Buffett has plenty of private foundations in his name that he contributes to annually, which he determines how the money is to be spent in charitable ways. These contributions are deducted from his income before calculating his taxes, even though he dictates how the money is spent, instead of the government. Sixth, it's safe to say that his 17% number is based on his total income before all these deductions that he is taking and not based on his taxable income, whereas his "coworkers" do not have deductions to that extent.

Misleading at best.

On August 17 2011 06:53 BuddhaMonk wrote:


So your argument is that he's selfish because he's giving away 99% of his wealth?

LOL