Nice!

Wow… If Newt had said this Tommy would be going ape-$hit right now.

The thing that irks me is, fine raise the taxes on millionaires-that is cool with me, but everyone pretends that that is the answer to all our deficit problems. No matter how much you tax them it won’t come close to closing the budget deficit. I would be happier if the President and Congress actually put out a budget which they haven’t done in 3 years. I can’t understand how they get away with this, and rich people are our enemies for being successful.

Hey Warren , Berswhire Hathaway owes $ 1,000,000,000 in back taxes . How about you start with paying those .

Seeing the extreme-right nutbars bash Buffett = Comedy on an EPIC scale

Thank God for Buffett. He’s able to make the case for more fairness and reality in the tax code in ways that Obama simply cannot. No one can realistically accuse the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway of being a socialist or a tool of Saul Alinsky.

Guess what. Any tax that his company will ultimately pay will be subject to an interest accrual in the same way that a loan would.

This is one of my favorite Warren Buffet quotes:

“‘Without the estate tax, you in effect will have an aristocracy of wealth, which means you pass down the ability to command the resources of the nation based on heredity rather than merit”

It was charming to have Ms. Bosanek at the SOU and to see Böner go all red.

The old argument of don’t ask the rich to pay the right taxes, ‘because one day, maybe, perhaps, perchance you might join them’ argument is not working anymore. All of the folks hiding money abroad should be exposed and their patriotism questioned. They love America so much, they had to hide their wealth somewhere else. Who is buying these crap? 

Well the useful idiots. 

I love that Barrack Obama gives a huge tax break to the rich – and then complains that the rich don’t pay enough taxes. 

That would be just as rediculous as if he were to complain about health insurance companies, and then pass a law which guarentees those same companies 50 million new customers, making it the most powerful industry after banks.

Or complaining about banks, and then giving them trillions of dollars in bailouts.

Oh, wait . . . . . . .

The average person? $200K+/year is not average, Debbie. She may very well be a 1%er. If not, she’s in the top 1.5%.

http://tinyurl.com/7cvbwym

To summarise, Warren Buffet can pay as much taxes as he wants RIGHT NOW. The fact that he is not doing it is just blatant hypocrisy. It seems his argument is, I am not doing it unless big brother forces me to do so, until then I would shed crocodile tears about how much I love the poor.
One more example of libturds’ ” Some animals are more than equal” philosophy.

What he is advocating is raising the capital gains tax in a down economy. How does that make any sense at all? Historical data (1960 – 2000) shows that when the capital gains tax is lowered, federal revenues skyrocket. Conversely, when they are raised, federal revenues go down.

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2004/06/~/media/Images/Reports/2004/bg1765/figure11.ashx

I’m all for the ultra rich paying more, but this is not the way to do it.

Good article: “Top Dem Offshoring Expert Smells Something Fishy In Romney’s Tax Code”

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/top-dem-offshoring-expert-smells-something-fishy-in-romneys-tax-code.php?ref=fpa

The only class warfare being waged in America today is by the super-rich and their Republican and Tea Party allies that constantly push policies that grow the wealth of the rich and assault the middle-class and working poor. Real Americans are struggling through a withering recession while the richest in this country are getting even richer off of massive government tax breaks and tax cuts. This needs to end. An overwhelming majority of Americans favor making the rich pay their fair share. Republicans are going to lose if they fight this. http://www.sunstateactivist.org

Two Patriots. Period.

Buffet has claimed that she makes $60K. But:

Mr. Buffett
also wrote that his secretary, who makes $60,000 a year, pays over 30
percent of her income in taxes. The Internal Revenue Service reports the
average tax rate for someone making that amount is 11.6 percent. Even
adding on payroll taxes, she isn’t paying anywhere near 30 percent.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/13/buffetts-rebuff/

Somebody is lying here. Why?

It’s none of your business what other people choose to do with their money.

If Buffet and his administrative assistant are going to talk about their taxes to try and change national tax policy, they should at least make their tax records available. 

Maybe the press will even call on them like to do so as they called on Romney. . 

You mean like our $15 trillion debt?

You do understand that that people invest in order to make a greater return on their investment, and if you can make only 1-2% in the bank or T-Bills, you don’t need a huge break in the tax on capital gains to spur investment.

P.S. Heritage is a right wing organization, so I don’t care what they say.

If he’s making the case for more reality, why is he lying? And why isn’t he paying his taxes?

Read Frederic Bastiat on taxes and socialism (every tax should be eliminated). But as a compromise to fund the Government, let’s have a capitation tax (Margaret Thatcher made the case in her book Statecraft), or a proportional flat tax (with no exemption nor deduction). Or another alternative : let’s abolish income tax (and replace it with a V.A.T.). This is an interesting debate, and fresh new ideas. But progressives would block it, just like they killed the balanced-budget amendment, Cut Cap and Balance, Bowles-Simpsons, the Ryan Budget,… It’s time to have a new Senate and another White House, to move forward.

A real patriot would pay his taxes.

Buffetts/Obamas Rule
 
All animals are equal.

Buffets/Obamas New Rule

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Mo Fokker blindly chants
Four legs good, two legs better !

It is if creating aristocracies of wealth is not in the best interest of this country.

I’m conservative and support a TRUE BUFFETT tax.  Anyone that has a net wealth of 30 Billion or More has a tax rate of 99%.

For a guy going around talking about fairness, he certainly isn’t very fair, is he? He makes billions, and pays his assistant only $60k a year? Something sounds fishy.

But in this economy, you do want to spur investment, right? (and thereby increasing the amount of taxes paid on the gains on those investments)

PS. The cap gains rate and federal tax revenues aren’t opinions. They are facts. Are you really so blinded by your ideology that you believe these can be made up? Wow. Just wow…. smh

They attributed the increase in tax revenues to the lower capital gains tax. Only a bonehead believes that there aren’t slew of other factors that could result in additional tax revenues.

No it isn’t. Confiscation is not in the best interest of this country. It’s anti-liberty.

Warren. Tell Obama to clean up his own house first.

“36 Obama aides owe $833,000 in back taxes”

http://news.investors.com/Article/599002/201201260818/obama-white-house-staff-back-taxes.htm

Both of his claims cannot be true, unless she’s married to a rich guy, which deflates the whole argument, as it would be his income that drives the tax rate, not hers.

That has to be just about the stupidest or most dishonest thing I’ve heard since a Joe Biden speech. ‘
Deb does not have a lobbyist. She doesn’t have anybody remotely that’s representing her ’ – right, The entire Democratic part has gotten behind Obama’s socialist agenda and has been pushing this crap big time for the past 3yrs.

Not to repeat myself, but raising taxes on the rich is fine, but only if you also increase taxes on those who pay no tax (but can afford to) and reduce spending.   Cut my taxes by 10% and replace it with a 2% national sales tax (food, water, gas, medicine, etc excluded).  That way for the first time drug dealers and Democrats who can’t remember to pay their taxes will still contribute.

Buffet’s larger point here is well taken. Anyone who thinks they’re going to eat the rich is going to be in for a rude awakening. Your ass is gonna get blown up.

The “fair share” administration owes over $800,000 in back taxes

36 people in the Obama admin owes back taxes.

When is the selfish Obama going to donate 15% of his income to charity like Romney?
Kind of ironic isn’t it that Obama only gave 1% of his income to charity…1% That number sounds familiar.

The graph I showed you reflected taxes paid on capital gains. It’s hard to believe there were other significant factors.

Besides that, it’s not really the rate that matters as much as the act of changing it (and the anticipation thereof). Personally, I wish the rate was about 40% right now, so that it could be lowered to 30% (double what it is now). It would have much more of an effect than going from 15% to 12%.

What I don’t think you can argue (backed with data) is that raising it will not do more harm than good.

You mean the way your man Cain lied repeatedly by denying that his 9-9-9 tax scheme wasn’t going to enrich the wealthy and shift the tax burden to the middle class?

Why doesn’t Warren tell his lobbyist to stop lobbying for him.  Second, direct Berkshire Hathaway to pay up the $1,000,000,000 in back taxes.  Third, write a big fat check to the IRS.  While he’s at it, ask the president to remove the cap on Social Security contributions. 

What a fantastic interview and a decent man and woman they both her. You can see how simple she is, doesn’t want to get into the political mud battle, all she wants is basic fairness. Some of the right wingers here who are protecting the 1% , I think might be Lobbyist or just plain dumb. 

Pablo and other Republicans:

The tax rate on a $60,000 salary is exactly: 0.283616% to 0.28254%

Go to http://www.Paycheckcity.com and enter in the salary

That’s how much an assistant get’s paid: check Salary.com for the Average which is between 30 and 75 K

Yes, we know. This is how John McCain lost in 2008. Pushing the Joe the Plumber tax issue.

So why try to protect them (from paying decent taxes) when they are capable of taking care (paying more)of themselves ?

He can’t be serious! He needs all his wealth and influence to create jobs! He should know that trickledown economics works like a charm and that taxing rich people less and keeping loopholes that allow people who earn millions to avoid paying and ship their wealth overseas doesn’t lead to deficits! I mean, those were the policies of the Bush era and they left America in amazing shape!

Seriously, good for him for being brave enough to come out and admit there is a problem as he can exploit the system to blatantly and for trying to help educate people that there’s a real need for  reform.

You are right. Warren Buffet is a hypocrite.  He has given away millions upon millions of dollars to charities and has planned to give away 99% of all his money to charities, but only complains about the Superrich having to give 30% to taxes.

He should be honest and say that we all have a responsibility to each other and we all should help those who are in need and struggling to get ahead.

Obama is not against war, he is against a dumb war.

Obama is not against business and capitalism, he is against abusive business and vulture capitalism.

Obama is not against lowering taxes, he is against lowering taxes for people who ship jobs overseas.

Obama is not against Healthcare companies, he is against Healthcare companies making their products unaffordable or inaccessible to people who need to see a doctor.

Obama is not against banks, he is against banks firing people through no fault of their own just because the banks decided to gamble the payrolls on the Las Vegas Strip of the stock market.

When are you gonna get the clue that Obama is not against you, he is against the person trying to rob you, steal from you, abuse you and foreclose on you because they are greedy.

That never happened to me before, because I have something that has served mankind well for thousands of years – self reliance and intuition. 

I purchased a home I could afford, a car I could afford, healthcare I researched and could afford, went to an affordable college, and pay my taxes on time.  President Obama had nothing to do with any of that, and I was doing just fine without him.   

>> Warren Buffett: “Believe me, plenty of rich families have lobbyists that are working
like crazy to get rid of estate taxes, lower capital gain taxes,
whatever it may be. So, if there has been a war going on, the war has
been waged by the people who are very well to do, who are trying to shift
the burden onto people like that and away from themselves.”

My whole problem with Buffet’s argument is that…well, let’s be honest, he’s full of sh*t.

First, it’s a total CROCK that the guy who’s publicly arguing that the
“rich aren’t paying enough in taxes” is the same guy whose company (as
Susan Stephenson correctly noted in this thread) currently owes ONE
FREAKING BILLION in back taxes that have (to date) gone unpaid. Hey,
here’s a friendly tip for Buffett. If he’s so interested in telling the
“rich” that they’re not paying their fair share of taxes, why doesn’t he
start by looking in a mirror and whipping out his OWN check book first?

Second, if he’s so left-leaning (which Buffett clearly is) and he feels
the “rich” need to pay more…so that Liberals can balloon government
even larger in size and create even more useless social engineering
programs, here’s another tip for Buffett. Anyone can DONATE money to the
government via their tax returns. Yes, believe it or not, you can
actually OVERPAY on your yearly taxes and check off a little box on the
tax returns and essentially tell the government “Here’s a little
something extra to help you guys out.” But, gee, what a shock!  Once
again Buffett…for all his whining…isn’t man enough to put his money
where his mouth is. Which puts him on par with most rich liberals who
love to shoot off their mouths, but then never ACTUALLY take action.

And finally, even if we are going to talk taxes and rates and what
not…and have a discussion about what’s “fair”…what makes me grit my
teeth the MOST is that f*cking Liberal idiots like Buffett or an Obama
or a Pelosi always REVEAL their diehard, big government, liberal roots
via a quote like the one I excerpted above. Because it’s one thing to
talk about INCOME tax and those rates. The average American “gets it”
that as you get paid, and for being a citizen in our great nation, you
need to give a little something back. Hence the incredibly basic and
easy to understand notion of income tax.

But that’s where Liberals — like Buffett in the quote above — go off
the rails and start dragging in things like estate taxes or capital
gains…truth be told, they want to drag in every cent possible.
Seriously, if you found and picked up a dime off the ground, you can bet
that a liberal like Pelosi would love to be instantly standing next to
you…with a belt changer, like an old style Good Humor ice cream truck
driver…just so she could TAKE the dime and give you back change. All
while declaring “Hey, you don’t get to keep ALL of that dime. Remember
your first civic duty!  We have to spread the wealth around! So I’ll
just take that dime…and here, you can keep 3 cents of it.”

It’s like Liberals and the “death tax.” For crying out loud, as an
example, if my Dad dies and leaves me his house…leaves me whatever
money he has in the bank…where the f*ck do Liberals come off believing
that they deserve a piece of it? Case in point, to buy the house,
initially my Dad worked and PAID TAXES on whatever he earned. He buys
the house and PAID SALES TAXES.  To keep the house, for ages he paid
PROPERTY TAXES. The freaking thing has been paid for EVERY STEP OF THE
WAY.

Yet even from the grave, Liberals think they’re STILL owed money, all
because — once again being moron Liberals — they actually believe “We
deserve YOUR estate money because we have social engineering plans in
mind. Which means we need more government, so we need more operating
capital. Hey, why should you get to keep money in the family? That’s
money we could be giving to some poor person in Harlem! Remember your
first civic duty!  We need to make life more fair!  It’s not that person
in Harlem’s fault that they’re not inheriting anything! So we need to
find a way to LET them inherit something…even if it means taking
someone else’s money and handing it to them. Remember, we’re liberals! 
We need to spread everything around!”

She doesn’t want to get into the political mud battle – yet she goes on ABC to give a national interview.  not sure i follow your logic. 

Perhaps you should watch the video first.

Buffet: ‘If This Is
A War, My Side Has The Nuclear Bomb’

That is
true Buffet, ‘YOUR SIDE’  does have the nuclear
bomb, and your metaphor indeed demonstrates that image of the destructive power
‘YOUR SIDE ‘has to figuratively and literally kill people.

 ‘YOUR SIDE’ that being the rich and affluent
 who control the flow of material good,
food, banking and governments and ‘YOUR SIDE’ will cause a race war between
groups because of real or perceived shortage of goods and food , and they will compete over the same
limited resources.

‘YOUR SIDE’
controls the Abundance Bomb and with a press’ YOUR SIDE’S’ finger can ignite
that bomb and send the world into a depression so deep that people would starve
to death

 ‘YOUR SIDE’ Buffet will fuel the fire for the Third World War and bring on
the destruction of mankind by its own human hands. 

‘YOUR SIDE’
indeed has the Nuclear (Abundance) Bomb and as history has taught mankind, when
tyrants try to manipulate, control and suppress the people, an uprising turns
into a Revolution and the destruction of the ‘MY SIDE’ covert dictators.

Almost every opening sentence of every paragraph is about LIBRULS. Nobody worth listening to does that, so OK.

Hey warren, she is now a public figure. Have her produce her tax return showing she is a 1%er.

Come on, produce it. She is “middle-class?” Not quite:

”
Warren Buffett’s Secretary Likely Makes Between $200,000 And $500,000/Year”

“The IRS publishes detailed tax tables by income level. The latest results are for 2009. They show that taxpayers earning an adjusted gross income between $100,000 and $200,000 pay an average rate of twelve percent. This is below Buffett’s rate; so she must earn more than that. Taxpayers earning adjusted gross incomes of $200,000 to $500,000, pay an average tax rate of nineteen percent. Therefore Buffett must pay Debbie Bosanke a salary above two hundred thousand.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2012/01/25/warren-buffetts-secretary-likely-makes-between-200000-and-500000year/

It’s not a good argument. It’s better to compare someone within the same job who works extra hours. The problem with a progressive taxation is that the more you work, the more you pay. Let’s say I work x hours and earn 100, tax is 30 ; but if I work 2x hours and earn 200 I’m in higher bracket and will pay more than 60 : it’s not good policy, because it is an intrusion of the Government in my decision to arbitrate between work and free time (the Government punishing the work). Is it fair and good policy to tax more the people who work more. Shouldn’t taxation be neutral ? That’s why it is better to have a capitation tax, a proportional tax or no tax on income at all (a V.A.T. is more efficient and neutral).

47% of you losers pay no Fed taxes skyfart.

The cons don’t want VAT. It’s refereed to another European/socialistic taxation.

Warren talk to the WH about paying taxes:

“36 Obama aides owe $833,000 in back taxes”

http://news.investors.com/Article/599002/201201260818/obama-white-house-staff-back-taxes.htm

Indeed, it will take us a couple of generations to pay for the Bush Tax Cuts.

Time for Warren to grab his secretary and get their butts back to Omaha, pay their taxes and STFU

So, you’re saying it’s fine when a Vulture Capitalist like Willard lies?

… and we’ll be as filled with nitwits as the British aristocracy. A very good point Mr. Buffet has.

You never tire of simplistic formulae, do you?

Well put.

How long you think it will take till the main stream media reports that his secretary is part of the 1%?

I bet right after the 2012 election you might see a story on it…LOL

You certainly know nothing of American salaries, do you?

I know….a couple other big donors to charity are Romney, Obama, and Biden….

err…scratch the last two….my mistake.

In fairness, Chuck, we only got behind “Deb” because she is driving your extreme rightist friends like Paulie, Big Petty and Sarah N. Italy nuts. Böner too. Did you see his face when “Deb” was introduced. Looked like his colon had been impacted for a couple of weeks.

How nice you are, Nutsofast, to so disparage a hard-working, decent American woman. Why do you hate America? Why do you hate women?

Of course not…lets just take him at his word since he is hedging Obama and the DNC’s narrative…

In that case, Buffet’s wealth the following year will be exactly $29,999,999,999.99,,,,and he will still be spinning this “I’m not taxed enough” garbage.

By the way, does any of his business ventures stand to gain from Obama’s refusal to allow the keystone pipline?…..just curious.

Well, it is our business if they are people or corporations who make millions or billions in America,  then spend millions lobbying to write their own laws and tax codes allowing them to pay no taxes as corporations, pay less than 15% as corporate officers getting compensation that is structured as investment capital,  offshore profits and often get a payout in corporate welfare.    And it is our business when the same people lobby for, and fund front groups of useful idiots (see: Tea Party) to rapidly demand that the shortfall in revenue caused by all this be balanced out on the backs of the middle class, working class and poor via more taxation of the middle class and the gutting of any social safety net for the poor, elderly or infirm.

Guess what. Any tax that his company will ultimately pay will be subject to an interest accrual in the same way that a loan would.

Yeah…..or…you know ….they could just pay . 

Warren I’m sorry but you lost all credibility as a rational thinker. You are being used as a pawn and you don’t know it. Or maybe you do which is really worrisome.

Thank you for posting a link to the nonpartisant Heritage Foundation. I always rel on them for unbiased information regarding policy. I particularly liked their idea of a mandated health care system, until of course the Kenyan adopted it in his health care plan.

Weapons are confiscated.  Drugs and contraband are confiscated.  Taxes are taxed.  Nice try though. 

Yes facts, unlike that silly stuff scientists say about global warming & climate change.

I agree, we should hold Warren Buffet accountable for al his investments, unlike Mitt Romnwy who could only be held accountable for the successes of his businesses like Staples.

Did you want to answer the question?

It is pronounced “Obama Tax Cuts.”

Buffet is not Romney.

Is that *fair* that one of the richest men in the world pays his secretary a below average salary? She is the Secretary to a CEO, 3rd richest man in the world.

I know personal/CEO secretaries who were paid a lot more than that. 

Shouldn’t he be “spreading the wealth around” a little bit? 

So, they are lying when they say she pays 35%?

True Jim, I enjoy spending my money on funding terrorist cells, drug cartels, and even donating to Iran’s nuclear weapons program. So sick of people telling me I can’t do that.

The first three paragraphs talk about everything they don’t know about her, and the rest of the calculations are based on assumptions and estimations.  The headline reads:  “Likely Makes Between $200,000-$500,000.”  That’s a pretty wide statistical gap based on many assumptions to be throwing around the word “likely.”  Nice try Forbes. 

Why doesn’t he just give all that money to the government? Why doesn’t he just pay his taxes?

True true I hate it when I don’t pay my taxes and the government puts holds on my bank accounts. This is why I prefer to bank with the Swiss. Never has those problems over there.

Warren Buffet’s assistant is not the average assistant, and you’re not addressing the discrepancy between the claimed income and the claimed rate.

I know people making $60K don’t pay 30%.

If her tax rate is that high, she must have significant income.  Depending on her filing status, from the IRS tables:

Married Filing Jointly          taxable income over $212,300 pays 33%

Head of household              taxable income over $193,350 pays 33%

Married filing single            taxable income over $174,400 pays 33%

Married Filing separately   taxable income over $106,150 pays 33%

Married Filing Jointly          taxable income over $379,150 pays 35%

Head of household              taxable income over $379,150 pays 35%

Married filing single            taxable income over $379,150 pays 35%

Married Filing separately   taxable income over $189,575 pays 35%

Remember: taxable income is after exemptions and itemized deduction reduce your adjusted gross income.

I agree, we should have a regressive tax system where the less you work the more you are taxed.

Because increasing captial gains tax would have no impact whatsoever on guys like Warren Buffet.

They will impact the small time investors whom we need to get this economy going again.   They are the only ones that will create private sector jobs.

Besides, this whole arguement in the big picture is irrelevant.

Why are we talking about it?  We talk about it under the false premise that increasing these taxes on the “super rich” strawman will some how help our predicament with both the current economy, and our long term debt.
 
It will do neither…it will only distract us from the 800 pound gorilla and the 600 pound gorilla sitting next to him.   Those being deficit spending as a whole, and then the ever growing non-discretionary spending requirements in our annual budget.
 
When it gets down to the cold hard numbers, increasing capital gain tax will give us a short bump in revenue…potentially harm recovery, and still leave us with a big pile of debt.  We need to focus on real solutions…

If your salary is $60,000, your AGI, which you pay taxes on, is lower.

deleted

Socialism is for the people, not the socialists.

True true air, the fact he’s giving his entire wealth away to charitable organizations proves this. I wish we had less Warren Buffets and more people such as yourself. Then this world would be much better off.

The last I checked, Buffet owns five Life Insurance companies- which are a way to pass down wealth to your children without being hit by an estate tax.  His advocacy for an estate tax is just a way for him to make more money.  

Now if only he’d pay his billion dollar tax bill.

I agree, Buffet deserves more scrutiny than Romney. After all, Buffet is a private citizen & Romney is running for president.

True true, the fact he’s giving away all his wealth to charity proves Buffet doesn’t care about the poor. Oh how the world would be better off if we had less Warren Buffets in this world and more people like you.

True true, just like how every billion dollar corporation pays its employees billions in salary.

Yes Sara he should be paying his secretary as much as he gets paid. That seems like a very smart business model.

Can someone please ask Debbie what percentage of her income is from Berkshire stock and how much Berkshire stock (or options) she owns?

lol, he often looks that way.

I could tell you’re an astute accountant. Your knowledge of the tax schedules are staggering. Maybe eventually you will figure out the age old mystery of how much a person who makes 60k a year pays in taxes. It would be more helpful if someone would post this information on th world wide web or something. Maybe when you figure out this mystery you could be the first!

I believe Pablo said it was 30% & he’s an accountant of the highest degree.

I’m sure he will when he and other similarly rich people are legally obliged to do so, he isn’t, which is kind of his point. The fact he isn’t and can avoid it is something he’s trying to draw attention to and change to level the playing field somewhat. Not saying his tax status is right or justifying it, still I’d rather have someone like Buffet who admits to what he’s doing and is trying to change things for the better than have people like the Koch brothers who want to keep the system firmly tilted in their favour.

Yes, he should make his tax records available. Any citizen who expresses their opinion should be forced to make their tax records available. After all, Mitt Romney was all too ready to make his tax records available from the second he thought about influencing public policy.

True, the president should be held accountable for the personal finances of ALL his employees. This seems very realistic & practical.

That’s unfortunate. I heard the rich were delicious.

Uhm, that’s not what the IRS says.  According to our own IRS, the tax rate on a $60,000 salary is just 25%.  This is according to our own IRS, anyway, which is the official source.  Also, the average taxes paid will actually be much lower than that.  25% is just the marginal rate.  Of course, you can continue to go by paycheckcity.com.  I just choose to go by who actually sets the tax rates.  That happens to be the IRS.

Do you skip the scrutiny requirement for presidential candidates every other election?

Correct RW.  This is all a phony game or she makes well over six figures making her the highest paid secretary in the universe.  Sadly, looks like Warren has eaten too many of the Marxist muffins in the corporate cafeteria.  Or he is just incredibly guilty for his sins of amassing such a large fortune.  Nothing stopping him from giving it all away.   I for one would not to give it to the government to give away.  They don’t spend it wisely.  They spend it wildly.

I think they caught him in a phase of dementia.  He’s definitely not rational.

It’s called the Tim Geitner Finance Club.

Pay his taxes? He does pay his taxes, all 15%. The problem is that the 15% is not fair for a multi-billionaire to pay.

The “Warren Buffet” point is to change the law.

Exactly…just ask the Kennedys…

Right ON Tom.  This story is all Bull and Barry set Warren up in exchange for his killing the Keystone Project.  Warren will gain big on this trains, the same as Soros gained on Brazilian oil.   Funny aren’t both of this products now going to China.   

Why don’t we defer it to people who actually have capital to invest. And if you heard Warren Buffett then you would know that capital gains doesn’t come into his calculations when investing – because I suppose he rather have the 70% than nothing at all..

A $300,000 secretary?  There’s no such thing in America.

It is sad, Buffet doesn’t know the difference between Capital Gains taxes and regular earned income taxes.  Or is he, and Mr. Obama, stupid enough to think we won’t know the difference.

Germany’s VAT is up around 16-19% right now, its a ton of fun paying that…..THINK OF THE POOR!

Surprised she didn’t talk about the second home she just bought in Arizona.  Snowbunny Secretary.

Yes. They are lying as far as I know. They are lying by 5%. However, I heard 30% from Obama. and Warren Buffet. So they are off by about 1.1%.

I have not heard anyone say 35%, but that’s just me.

I heard Romney say he pays about 15%, which is correct because he paid about 13/14%.

Fail.. he has pledged 90%+ of his wealth to Gates Foundation.. unlike many, he is a doer.. 

“Is that *fair* that one of the richest men in the world pays his secretary a below average salary?”

This is a salary discussion. What is ‘fair’ is what she agrees to when she is hired. She determines what is ‘fair’. If it’s not ‘fair’ to her she can quit.

This has nothing to do with the conversation.

However, if you want to talk fair, 30% is ‘fair’ to pay if you are a millionaire. Fair is a progressive tax rate where the more the government does for you the more you have to give back. Nothing is free.

If I give a poor white women foodstamps worth $2,000. and I give Mitt Romney access to 2 billion dollars in access to credit through a government program called the Small Business Association – tell me, who has used government more??

Really?  The 2008 presidential election can be peeled down to that as the cause of the outcome?

I thought the reason was Bushalburtonchenyoceansnotrising give me some change….

“I hate that data! Bad data! Me no looky!”

Can’t you actually formulate an argument and post some evidence to back it up, or are you just here to be a partisan hack agitator?

I think we should hold them both accountable for paying their taxes. Romney’s good, Buffet owes us a billion.

Yes, I tire of you constantly.

Why is he giving it to Bill Gates and not the government?

It’s based on what people who pay 30% make. We’re told she’s one of them, and it’s simple math from there.

No, he’s got a billion dollar tax bill he’s suing over.

 
 OK, I have been convinced. Let’s be fair and lower Warren Buffetts secretary’s taxes.
 

The one that doesn’t pay it back.

No, I’m not an accountant. But you’re a moron. http://www.irs.gov/

Do you like lead?

Yes he is. But he’s trying to sue his way out of it.

You’re really not supposed to call them secretaries anymore. It’s Executive Assistant now.

Where is your IRS link? Also, does that include all the other tax deductions? City, state, local, ss, medicaid?

Paycheckcity uses the actual complete numbers, not just one tax.

Also, what is the difference between your number, 25% on $60,000 and Mitt Romney’s number of 13.9% on 47 million.

Please explain to me how that is fair.

Now you’re an accountant? I already sent you the link and the number has even bee confirmed to an extent by your Republican right-wing counterparts. Yet you are still arguing about her 30% tax rate?

You are not addressing the issue and the question.

She pays more in percentage of taxes that a billionaire.

Question: Is that fair.

Democrats and Independents say no. Republicans say yes.

That’s all that needs to be said. Now let the voters decide.

Pay it back? Where do food stamps go? In the trash? They are a direct injection into the economy, you know, the one the government gets income from and taxes from.

Same argument for unemployment insurance. It’s the only real, direct, and measurable boost to the economy, and therefore the receipts from our GDP.

A secretary gets your coffee. An Executive Assistant gets your work done for you, but cheaper.

She is no joe the plumber though!  The media and Obama does not tell you is she makes over $200K a year and in bonuses up to half a million dollars a year.

Why do we forget that half the country pays no taxes at all. These are the people who vote for Obama …They are the ones who want the rich to pay more and more even though the top percentage pays 70% of this countries taxes already.

This is the only thing Obama has to stand on…”.Class warfare”  this is what the media wont tell you and they relay on stupid people to vote for Obama.

She is no joe the plumber though!  The media and Obama does not tell you is she makes over $200K a year and in bonuses up to half a million dollars a year.

Why do we forget that half the country pays no taxes at all. These are the people who vote for Obama …They are the ones who want the rich to pay more and more even though the top percentage pays 70% of this countries taxes already.

This is the only thing Obama has to stand on…”.Class warfare”  this is what the media wont tell you and they relay on stupid people to vote for Obama.

It sounds like you don’t know the difference.  

It sounds like you don’t know the difference.  

He didn’t get this rich by being stupid. He’s just buying political cover. I’m certain that his internal dialogue( and that of his lawyers) is quite different from the PR front he is putting out there. 

Yes, because we all know that is what I said… *eyeroll*

There is a loooooooooooooooong road to go from $60K to $60B my friend. 

If he wants to travel around and talk about *fairness* seems to me he might be *spreading that wealth around* a little more, no? Maybe pay her a little more so she isn’t in that lower tax bracket? Can’t he give the lady a break? Be *fair*.

hahah

“This is a salary discussion. What is ‘fair’ is what she agrees to when she is hired. She determines what is ‘fair’. If it’s not ‘fair’ to her she can quit.”

Exactly. And all those OWS’ers who are screaming for fairness agreed to their salaries when they were hired. They determine what is fair when they take a job. If they don’t like it, they can quit.

 Ladies and Gentlemen! RR King: Keeping it simple since 1959.

And therein lies Obama’s lack of credibility on taxes. His own staff is filled with those who do not pay their “fair share” now. How can anyone be expected to listen when his own staff puts the lie to his words?

He accepted a Treasury Secretary who could not use a software program used by millions of Americans who are not former Fed presidents. His economic team consists of those who have spent years manipulating the tax code to the disaster it is now. Who can possibly think they are serious about fixing it?

I agree 100%, if you talk about fairness you should pay your employees the same amount of money you make. That’s standard practice for all businesses.

I agree 100%, if you talk about fairness you should pay your employees the same amount of money you make. That’s standard practice for all businesses.

You’re not an accountant? I’m shocked!

What do you mean? I was agreeing with you. The Heritage Foundation is a good source for objective policy analysis.

“However, if you want to talk fair, 30% is ‘fair’ to pay if you are a millionaire. Fair is a progressive tax rate where the more the government does for you the more you have to give back. Nothing is free.”

The more the government does for you, the  more you have to give back? ha

So….poor people should give back the most? 

Very good question. Since being an accountant didn’t work out for you, stand up comedy should be your calling. I’m sure you could pack the house with your witty commentary.

Very true, this isn’t about the rich this is about the middle class who depend on capital gains for their income.

Actually, the 2008 election can be peeled down to 3 things beyond the backlash at Bush-Cheney:

1) The embrace of Joe the Plumber as an example of anything. He turned out to be a disaster for them – both as an icon of middle class America and as a campaign prop.

2) McCain stopping his campaign during the TARP debate. This created (falsely I think) the impression that McCain could not handle crisis. When coupled with his public opposition and then yes vote it pretty much ended his chances.

3) The overall allure to lots and lots of Americans of breaking a race barrier. I know this one will draw fire, but it is true. For most of the media, this was the appeal of Obama over Clinton.

are they writing op-eds and being used by the POTUS, calling for *fair* treatment?

And did I say she should be paid billions? 

Why does Mr. Buffett not give his secretary $1.00 a year in salary and transfer to her enough shares of Berkshire Hathaway so that she gets $60,000.00 each year in capital gains!

you would think? but poor people don’t soak up millions and millions of government funds. And that’s the problem.

Rich people don’t become rich by themselves. Or didn’t u know that? They are the biggest recipients of welfare in the country.

Who said OWS was complaining about salary? They are complaining about the Lack of a salary. They lack of ability to get a job. For people to hire. If you gave each one of them a job, there would be no complaints.

I wonder who paid for her expenses while she was in Washington for the State of the Union Address?

I also wonder if Herman Cain asked her to dinner at a Georgetown Italian Restaurant?

Did Newt ask her to be the 4th Mrs. Gingrich?

There is a difference between capital gains taxes and income taxes. And I suggest checking out some fact checking sites on the Buffett rule and what millionaires and billionaires really pay.

Mitt’s money came from sources which had already been taxed on the income.  The corporations paid 35% in income taxes and Mitt paid 15% on his capital gains.  No accountant necessary to know that!

That depends on the services she expected to perform!

No, it does not.  That’s part of the point.  The AGI is usually going to be lower than the salary because of deductions.  Also, the average tax paid is NOT the same as the marginal tax rate.  You see, that’s not how taxes work.  The actual taxes paid as a percentage of one’s AGI will usually be much less than that of the marginal tax rate.  If the marginal tax rate of someone making $60,000 a year is 25%, they usually won’t pay any more than that in federal income taxes so paycheckcity.com is dead wrong.  Here’s an about.com link that lists what the marginal tax rates were for 2011 according to the IRS.
http://taxes.about.com/od/Federal-Income-Taxes/qt/Tax-Rates-For-The-2011-Tax-Year.htm 
It also links to a pdf article that comes straight from the IRS.gov website.  I’ll give that link here.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-11-12.pdf 

Now, I shall give an example.  However, before giving said example I will make clear that the AGI will actually likely be either less or more than the actual salary considering what other income the secretary made and what ever deductions she has.

Now, for my example, I have to assume the AGI is $60,000 because I don’t know the additional income or the deductions Buffet’s secretary claims on her statement.  According to the IRS for the year 2011, that would be $4,750 plus 25% of the excess over $34,500.  This comes to a total of $11,125 paid in taxes for 2011.  This means that with an AGI of $60,000, actual taxes paid were 18.54% of AGI.

Now, regarding Romney, his money comes mostly from capital gains, NOT really from a wage or a salary.  There is a major distinction there.  The capital gains rate is NOT the rate applied to an actual salary.  It’s fair because low capital gains rates actually spur economic growth while high capital gains rates slow economic growth.  Also, you lie about Romney making $47 million.  Here’s a link for you?
http://www.nationaljournal.com/2012-presidential-campaign/mitt-romney-s-tax-return-income-in-2010-estimate-for-2011-released-report-20120124 
Now, according to this link, Romney made $20.9 million in 2011 and $21.7 million in 2012.  Where does the $47 million come from?  His 2010 and 2011 earnings combined don’t even equal that.

You clearly don’t differentiate well between capital gains earnings and wage earnings.  You do realize that they are two totally different earnings that are taxed at different rates, don’t you?  Buffet pays capital gains rates.  Romney pays capital gains rates.  Buffet’s secretary does not.

True, if someone writes op-eds and supports the president they should be forced to pay their employees above average salaries, just like how people who give us their opinion on American policies should all live in America.

Oops, when I said America I meant to say Italy.

(Car)

That’s true ONLY if you don’t know the difference between wage earnings and capital gains earnings.  News flash.  They are 2 different things ENTIRELY.

He is no pawn.  He is licensing his name and time to Obama so Obama can call his tax plan the “Buffett Rule”.  In exchange, Obama killed the Keystone XL pipeline, which directly benefits Buffett’s company, Burlington Northern railway.  

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-23/buffett-s-burlington-northern-among-winners-in-obama-rejection-of-pipeline.html

So you advocate twisting the code to the advantage of those who could use the code to avoid taxation?????? Oh and BTW how do you reconcile the fact that the value of those shares needed to generate a $60,000.00 a year income would far exceed the actual value of the work performed????

If you are so far gone down the path of the twisted tax code generated by the RETHUGS since 1995 ( @2000:twitter  page tax code in 1995 is now more than 13,000 pages and the fact that it was RETHUGS who introduced more than 11,000 pages and 10,000% increase in tax scams to the code? ) that you would advocate further abuse of tax laws to get undeserved monetary advantage speaks volumes about your hate of a healthy prosperous United States and lack of patriotism supporting the common good with the common wealth.
 
Real Americans pay taxes and conservative fat cats dont.

Warren Buffett agreed to this interview for three reasons:

1.  He likes to be interviewed by younger women, such as Becky Quick, Liz Clayman and now Bianna Golodryga.

2.  Bianna Golodryga is the weekend anchor of Good Morning America, which is basically Weekend Extra with cooking segments.

2.  She is married to Peter Orszag, who is Obama’s former OMB director.  

There was absolutely no chance that she would ask him a hard-hitting question and he knew it.

Its income jack ass, capital gains are and always have been income and they do not deserve special treatment in the tax code.

Hey dumbass she makes $60,000 A YEAR, so your attempt to confuse the issue by not being aware of that well publicized fact is rather……conservative.

That’s actually a good idea to solve the problem there, Tennessee.  Than Buffett’s secretary would be paying using the same system as Buffett, and there would be no argument at all.

Sounds like Newt had one who he then married, my opinion on this is he was making sure she could not testify against him.

“he one that doesn’t pay it back.”

Didn’t you just say that? Now who is the bigger burden the one who owes for food stamps or the one who owes a billion dollars?

Bain Capital is not paying 35% in taxes and may have in fact not paid any REAL taxes whatsoever by keeping the bulk of their money in secret terrorist funding tax exempt havens beyond US law and tax authority………thanks of to the twisted anti-American tax code as enacted by conservaligious rethuglicans.

You are probably right about Buffett’s secretary. You made a good point, but the rest of what you say is ignorant.

More than half the USA population does not pay Federal income tax, but everyone pays tax. There are real estate taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, etc. Businesses pass on the taxes they pay to the consumer. The wealthy pay a tiny percentage of Social Security and Medicare tax. If you have an open mind and are curious, you can figure out the truth.

Class warfare, Big Brother media, stupid people voting for Obama? Are you in 7th grade, smoking pot, or both?

All this class warfare nonsense is simply neo-Marxism.

Marxism definitionThe doctrines of Karl Marx and his associate Friedrich Engels oneconomics, politics, and society. They include the notion ofeconomic determinism — that political and social structures aredetermined by the economic conditions of people. Marxismcalls for a classless society ( see class), where all means ofproduction are commonly owned, a system to be reached as aninevitable result of the struggle between capitalists andworkers. ( See communism.)

If she’s making $60,000, then her federal taxes are as follows:

Filing single: 18.54%

Married filing jointly: 13.58%

Married filing separately: 18.54%

filing Head of household: 16.28%

If she’s married filing jointly, then she may very well be paying at  a lesser rate than Buffett making this all a big waste of time.

Actually Buffet is marching to Obama’s drum as payback for all the insider info he got from democrats. That is how he got so lucky in his stock picks.

Of course raising taxes on rich will not pay Federal debt, but it is a baby step towards the goal. The size of the national debt is beyond the average American’s comprehension. If interest rates would go up, the interest on the Federal debt would be a disaster.

I would never say ”rich people are our enemies for being successful.” Many rich people inherit their wealth. Media pundits on the left and right become rich doing work that is less valuable than picking fruit, cleaning bathrooms or child care. The “successful” securitization of mortgages and the resulting financial disaster made many people rich, but is that success?

No one has the whole answer to paying the Federal debt. Even if the budget were balanced, the surplus for one year would hardly make a dent in the Federal debt.

Meanwhile, there are signs of “hope and change.” The majority will support “class warfare” tax reform. Obama is cutting military budget. Interest rates are low and stock market is going up. Unemployment was over 11% in 2010; and if it keeps going down, it could be under 8% by the election. More people working means more taxes being paid. The majority will support cutting costs, but whose version?

If she’s paying 38.5% of her income, she makes between 371,000 and 500,000 a year. SO SHE IS THE RICH WE WANT PAYING A HIGHER TAXES–IT MUST WORK NOW. She has to be very wealthy with investments working for Buffet she must have stock in his investments or know where to invest her money??? If you increase the tax on capital gains, the older people living off their investments will suffer and the wealthy will just move their money to where it gets taxed less i.e. John Kerry registering his yacht in another state to pay less etc. The tax system always keeps the poor from getting rich. That’s why they take so much when you win the lottery. They need to have something that’s stable so you can plan. When they keep changing the system, the money moves to the path of least taxes.

How do you know that did you hack into the IRS

to pay 35,8% you would have to be in the top tax bracket or
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/01/how-rich-is-warren-buffetts-secretary/252056/

Let’s demonize anyone that is trying to do the right thing that’s the Republican way.  Do ypou know why the lower 50% pay less than 2% tax rate?

Another 2.6 million people slipped into poverty in the United States last year and the number of Americans living below the official poverty line, 46.2 million people, was the highest number in the 52 years the bureau has been publishing figures on it.

We are becoming like the countries we hate. Our judiical system is that way. If you have money you can get away with murder.  Now even are election are going to be that way.  We’ll buy our politicians.  They will go to the highest bidder.

Think God there still people like Buffett who has not let greed consume him.

Not when your bomb is fake there Warren 
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/01/how-rich-is-warren-buffetts-secretary/252056/

Romney did not want to change public policy by citing his tax records.

Warren wants to change things by saying how silly the tax code is, and his point of reference is his own taxes.  But he will not show them to us.

Sort of like a person claiming to be a great writer but not letting anyone see the writing.

Or a guy who says he really does have a girlfriend…in Canada.

Not sure what your point is.  Buffet advocates for Estate Taxes which leads to more business for Life Insurance companies.  In other words he is advocating for something that makes him money.

Who cares what he gives away?  Are you some type of old school Catholic that is into buying indulgences?

No she’s no Joe the Plumber. She’s some not some racist, disrespectful, dead beat (remember, “Joe” followed up his moment of fame by making reference to the President “dancing”).

She pays income taxes at a higher rate than Buffet, who’s the richest man in the world. 100 million live in poverty. We for get that, too.

This isn’t about class warfare, it’s about people like Mitt Romney paying 14% percent and going on about people who pay no taxes because they’re poor. They’re not evading income taxes, like Romney, using a special tax loophole created esepcially for them, like Romney does. They don’t have the ability to get favorable tax laws enacted on their behlaf, like Romney and his ilk.

Why should I pay 28% while he pays 14%? Is he a better person. Why should he keep more money? Because he has more?

He doesn’t pay her an average salary. CEO secretaries make more than $60K a year. 

He is talking about fairness and people paying their fair share, and then pays his assistant a meager $60k a year? It’s laughable.  

But they get them so what is your point?

If you’re a billionaire, the only effective status-mongering you can engage in is this kind of thing. Kudos! To Warren Buffet! A progressive pirate!

conservatives who know nothing about business or taxes trying to tell warren buffet about business and taxes.

this is why the tea party is less popular than al qaeda.

2012: the year conservatism dies.

say  what ….   u are deceived or ignorant

Did you know that Romney flip flopped on this issue??

Of course not, you must be a Republican.

In Romney’s own tax plan, he cuts capital gains taxes to zero for people who make less then 200,000.

In his own plan he admits that if you make over 200,000, you don’t need those tax deductions, because you are already wealthy.

So you can’t pick both. Either millionaires are wealthy enough to afford capital gains taxes or they are not.

You can’t have it both ways. Unless maybe if your Mitt the switch Romney.

Two facts you note:

“This means that with an AGI of $60,000, actual taxes paid were 18.54% of AGI.”

And one issue to Factcheck:
“Where does the $47 million come from?”

Fine, I will research again and find verifiable undenyable numbers for each.

“This means that with an AGI of $60,000, actual taxes paid were 18.54% of AGI.”

Your statement is not verified. Therefore, I may also make an unverified statement:

“Mr Buffett said that he was taxed at 17.7 per cent on the $46 million he made last year, without trying to avoid paying higher taxes, while his secretary, who earned $60,000, was taxed at 30 per cent.”

http://tusb.stanford.edu/2007/07/warren_buffet_has_a_lower_tax.html

“Where does the $47 million come from?”

The $47 million is reported on http://www.cbsnews.com
The actual number cannot be verified because Romney released an estimate for 2011. However, feel free to look over Romney’s 200+ page return for a more accurate total (link below). To date: Romney released only one filed tax return for 21.7 million and an estimate of 20.6 million, which he has paid 3 million in taxes in the filed. Which is how people come to the other number of 13.9% taxes paid.

http://mittromney.com/learn/mitt/tax-return/main

I agree with the President here:

If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes,” the president said

“The “mega-rich” pay about 15 percent in taxes, while the middle class “fall into the 15 percent and 25 percent income tax brackets, and then are hit with heavy payroll taxes to boot.”

Claimed TRUE by Politifact
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/aug/18/warren-buffett/warren-buffett-says-super-rich-pay-lower-taxes-oth/

Also from Politico:

1)Income Taxes: the income between $17,000 and $69,000 is taxed at 15 percent
2)Payroll Taxes:…bringing total contributions on behalf of an individual to 12.4 percent for Social Security and 2.9 percent for Medicare

Total Taxes Paid by Secretary: 30.3%, less 2% for the payroll tax cut last year.

(link above)

That is true. Are you saying that the Capital Gains tax is unfair to multi-millionaires?

Like this research here?

From Politico:

1)Income Taxes: the income between $17,000 and $69,000 is taxed at 15 percent
2)Payroll Taxes:…bringing total contributions on behalf of an individual to 12.4 percent for Social Security and 2.9 percent for Medicare

Total Taxes Paid by Secretary: 30.3%, less 2% for the payroll tax cut last year.

(link above)

Capital Gains Taxes are 15%, Romney pays 13.82%/13.9%
The Secretary pays 30.3%/28.3%

FAIR? NO

Yes because $100 in food stamps is far lass then $235,000 in tax break welfare to Romney.

Right. Perfect. So what if they are fired because the CEO gambled their paycheck in Vegas. They’ve been working for the company for 20 years and were great employees, now kicked out the front door.

Then when they retrain themselves for another job or go back into their industry, companies are only hiring interns with no benefits and they have to start from the bottom again.

Wow, That is really, really fair. It’s fair to apply for 2000 jobs with no call back only to find you’ve been replaced by Global Expansion into Taiwan.

Yes, that is very very fair.

Obama has it right. You want to use our tax cuts, our grants, loans, and credit – you have to hire American and invest in America. Otherwise, get the F outta the country and take your soon to be bankrupt company with you.

Americans for America. That’s fair. And no longer can you gamble away our payroll checks. We built the company, so we are the company, not just numbers on a spreadsheet. We are living hardworking talented people with families and American Dreams and making you profitable.

Want to use our roads, streets, and bridges to ship your product? Use our government to defend our trade agreements? Use countless corporate welfare tax breaks and policies to give a profit to your CEO’s? Well everything has a price. And the price is this is the AMERICAN ECONOMY not your personal piggy bank!

Be Fair or Get Out!
Hire American
Made in America

I was saying that to inoculate from your talking point that he is suggesting an increase in taxes to make money and not for what he says is a mater of fairness. And I happen to agree with Buffett.

Buffet is a class act.. That young lady has probably always felt respected from this man.

Now if the rich can say its time to pay our share.. why don’t washington agree?

Flat tax across the board.. start low and add a % per 100,000 if ya wish.

Simple code..no holes… no 400,000 workers at the IRS..

But let’s get it fair already..  and move on!

An Alternative to Capitalism (if the people knew about it, they would demand it)

Several decades ago, Margaret Thatcher claimed: “There is no alternative”.
She was referring to capitalism. Today, this negative attitude still persists.

I would like to offer an alternative to capitalism for the American people to consider.
Please click on the following link. It will take you to an essay titled: “Home of the Brave?”
which was published by the Athenaeum Library of Philosophy:

http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/steinsvold.htm

John Steinsvold

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”
~ Albert Einstein