Warren Buffet is an idiot

[gjn23]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...fet-tax,0,2591757.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout

Here's an idea....take your own money, that you made, that you invest, that you've been taxed on already.....and give 45% of it to the government..... WHILE YOU"RE ALIVE.

or

Put it in your will/trust that you would like to donate 45% of your estate to the US Government's IRS department when you die.

How the govt has the nerve and the "right" to take estate money once someone dies is beyond me...and for idiots like buffet to agree?????

:shrug:

 

[Ravenous]

He may be an idiot, but he does slightly better than me at picking stocks.

 

[Chadman]

That's a first...analyzing that Warren Buffett is an idiot.

On the contrary, I think it's refreshing to see someone who makes so much money be realistic and objective about economic principles and not only think of themselves first. I think Buffett, as much as anyone I can think of, has a pretty basic and mainline understanding of economic principles and how they work.

Finally someone who makes so much money - who has used his smarts and worked hard - understands that he of all people can afford to pay more to maintain a country that affords and protects his interests and allows him to succeed. And he is one of the few outspoken honest wealthy people that says out loud that he pays a lower percentage of his income than most earners in the upper-middle and middle class when all of his opportunities to reduce reponsibilities are added in. Most are not honest about this, and claim hardship, when in many cases, it's just not there. People at his level are EXPLODING with extra income and opportunity, and more creative ways to alleviate their payouts. Nobody else will really talk about that, but plenty will complain about it. You never see any of the upper 1% talking about how much more money they are making these days, despite how penalizing they claim our system to be. The same system that has afforded them those luxuries.

Kudos to a realist, who has the courage to speak out.

 

[DOGS THAT BARK]

Not an idiot by any means --but not a tax wiz either

Maybe he should tell us how he manages to pay taxes on $75,000 and his secretary $350,000
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Warren Buffet's Tax Knowledge is Questionable
Or is the agenda more important?
Sadly, the media published this all as if it were true.
Shouldn't they be fact-checking like IBD did...
Investors Business Daily did some math:
"Billionaire Warren Buffet, sage of Omaha, is a man we admire as an investor. He's done a brilliant job of ferreting out value from stocks that are out of favor. He's made many people rich, and that's a noble thing. But when he mounts a political dais at a $4,600-a-plate fundraiser for Sen. Hillary Clinton, and begins saying things that just can't be true, we start to wonder why.

Buffett told Clinton's supporters he makes $46 million a year in income, but is taxed only at 17.7%. Meanwhile, he claims, his secretary pays 30% in taxes, and the rates for others who work for him are as high as 39.7%.

...

Sounds unjust, if true. But we don't know what tax system Buffett is looking at. It certainly isn't the one we use here in the U.S. We went to the IRS' Web site and used its tax calculator. We put in various incomes, from $50,000 to $350,000 a year ? the latter being quite a bit for a secretary to make in Omaha.

...

Here's what we found: At $50,000, the IRS asks for 13.5% of your income. At $75,000, it's 17.3%. You can keep going all the way to about $350,000 before you're in spitting distance (28.4%) of what Buffett's secretary supposedly pays."

 

[gjn23]

That's a first...analyzing that Warren Buffett is an idiot.

On the contrary, I think it's refreshing to see someone who makes so much money be realistic and objective about economic principles and not only think of themselves first. I think Buffett, as much as anyone I can think of, has a pretty basic and mainline understanding of economic principles and how they work.

Finally someone who makes so much money - who has used his smarts and worked hard - understands that he of all people can afford to pay more to maintain a country that affords and protects his interests and allows him to succeed. And he is one of the few outspoken honest wealthy people that says out loud that he pays a lower percentage of his income than most earners in the upper-middle and middle class when all of his opportunities to reduce reponsibilities are added in. Most are not honest about this, and claim hardship, when in many cases, it's just not there. People at his level are EXPLODING with extra income and opportunity, and more creative ways to alleviate their payouts. Nobody else will really talk about that, but plenty will complain about it. You never see any of the upper 1% talking about how much more money they are making these days, despite how penalizing they claim our system to be. The same system that has afforded them those luxuries.

Kudos to a realist, who has the courage to speak out.

nothing is stopping him from sending in an additional 10 million dollars a year on his annual income tax filing......does he????? or do any other "rich" that "claim" they arent taxed enough?????

 

[Toledo Prophet]

I might be paraphrasing here.....but I believe Buffett was on w/ Lou Dobbs a while back and declared that there is class wareafre going on in America, and that unfortuneatly, his class was winning......interesting perspective, for sure.


How many Americans would really have paid the Estate Tax, anyway....something like .0001%.....it was a very minute amount.......while you can debate if it is fair that such a tax be imposed on such a small part of the population, the notion that people everywhere are going to be taxed to death, after death is nothing more that P.R. spin......for example, they played on people's fears that their family farms would be taken away from them because of the tax burden.

I own family farm land in Aberdeen, South Dakota.....been in the family since the late 1880s.....we have had no such problem passing it off from generation to generation and have not been
hit ever with the so called death tax.....we have, though, been hit with bad crops and drought from time to time.

 

[AR182]

nothing is stopping him from sending in an additional 10 million dollars a year on his annual income tax filing......does he????? or do any other "rich" that "claim" they arent taxed enough?????

i definitely agree with this....all of these people who think they are not paying their fair share of taxes can certainly send extra money if they want to...nobody will stop them....that is of course, if they are sincere....which they may not be...

 

[Chadman]

I understand what you guys are saying, but certainly one must allow that the wealthiest of the wealthy have far more opportunities to reduce their outlay in many ways. The old, "it takes money to make money" is certainly at play in this scenario, and there never is a mention by anyone advocating how penalizing the current tax system is on this particular group - the richest of the rich - just how much more money these people are making. Yeah, they pay more, but they also make more - a lot more, and in an ever increasing amount/percentage.

I am still waiting for someone advocating lower taxes to name a fair rate, and to say that they would agree to an across the board cut in every area of what the government pays for, to make up for it. They simply want to pay less, and take money from other things they don't agree with to pay for that. At least I haven't seen anyone say they would agree to that, in principle.

I am still saying that I could see a flat tax rate with no deductions, spiffs, or tax paying avoidances being the most fair way to conduct our government business. It may be naive, but if you're looking for across the board fairness, what could be more fair than that? I don't pretend to understand the ramifications of the plan, but I'm willing to look at it. Somehow, I don't think many advocating the lowering of their taxes would be so excited for that, if they had to give up everything else they are accustomed to.

 

[AR182]

I understand what you guys are saying, but certainly one must allow that the wealthiest of the wealthy have far more opportunities to reduce their outlay in many ways. The old, "it takes money to make money" is certainly at play in this scenario, and there never is a mention by anyone advocating how penalizing the current tax system is on this particular group - the richest of the rich - just how much more money these people are making. Yeah, they pay more, but they also make more - a lot more, and in an ever increasing amount/percentage.

I am still waiting for someone advocating lower taxes to name a fair rate, and to say that they would agree to an across the board cut in every area of what the government pays for, to make up for it. They simply want to pay less, and take money from other things they don't agree with to pay for that. At least I haven't seen anyone say they would agree to that, in principle.

I am still saying that I could see a flat tax rate with no deductions, spiffs, or tax paying avoidances being the most fair way to conduct our government business. It may be naive, but if you're looking for across the board fairness, what could be more fair than that? I don't pretend to understand the ramifications of the plan, but I'm willing to look at it. Somehow, I don't think many advocating the lowering of their taxes would be so excited for that, if they had to give up everything else they are accustomed to.

chad...

having an in depth converstion about taxes is above my pay grade...but i do believe in a flat tax & a special tax for the military & homeland security...

 

[Jabberwocky]

"Maybe he should tell us how he manages to pay taxes on $75,000 and his secretary $350,000"

DTB, are you being serious? He has explained it many times. The vast majority of his "income" is in the form of non-taxable dividend yields.

As for gjn, yeah, Warren is the idiot. That is why he makes more in one second of any day than you make all year.

 

[marine]

I think there is one big item that is consistently overlooked with the "super-rich" and their lower tax burdens and lower taxable income compared to their nosebleed level income amount....


When you hear fellas like Warren and the boys make "40 million dollars a year"... that isn't really $40 million dollars going right into their pocket like you, me, and joe next door making on our paychecks. That $40 gabillion is considering all the business/investment related earnings as well. Which is a whole separate category and certainly shouldn't be brought into his personal tax income.

Flat tax - across the board... I was onboard for something like this awhile back, but there are a lot of detractors from it once you get past the initial sexiness of it. Namely, a lot of your non-profit groups that run on donations are going to dry up and take a hit.
I know if faced with a choice between two donations... I am giving money to the one I can deduct on my taxes at teh end of the year. If I can't deduct it? They aren't going to get as big of a donation.

 

[hedgehog]

I think death taxes are legalized robbery. They should raise the minimum exemption to what number I do not know. Rich people can set up trusts that help with death taxes at least an exemption one million dollars one time.

How about a consumption tax instead of a flat tax. Every drug dealer, bookie, etc that is laundering money will have to pay.

Buffett is not an idiot by any stretch of the imagination, he just does not know how to spend money the right way, on himself. If he thinks he is not paying enough taxes, just send the amount in he thinks he should pay, I am guessing he does not do that.

 

[smurphy]

The estate tax was created nearly 100 years because of our belief in rejecting European hereditary aristocracy. It has served a great purpose - only collecting from very wealthy inheritances and being used for a healthy national budget and help raise opportunities for everyone - not just the wealthy.

Despite the fact that this tax denies no one wealth and really only serves good purposes, we would now rather damage our budget and promote inequality of wealth and inherited aristocracies. Fantastic. Repealing the Estate tax is great news for Paris Hilton, but sucks for almost everyone else and our overall fiscal health - whether you realize that or not.

Bush and his people have done a great job screwing up things that have been working well for the country for a century.

 

[hedgehog]

The estate tax was created nearly 100 years because of our belief in rejecting European hereditary aristocracy. It has served a great purpose - only collecting from very wealthy inheritances and being used for a healthy national budget and help raise opportunities for everyone - not just the wealthy.

Despite the fact that this tax denies no one wealth and really only serves good purposes, we would now rather damage our budget and promote inequality of wealth and inherited aristocracies. Fantastic. Repealing the Estate tax is great news for Paris Hilton, but sucks for almost everyone else and our overall fiscal health - whether you realize that or not.

Bush and his people have done a great job screwing up things that have been working well for the country for a century.

You must be on welfare with all the other people who do not work. Taxing people after they die is theft any way you slice it.

 

[BobbyBlueChip]

You must be on welfare with all the other people who do not work. Taxing people after they die is theft any way you slice it.

Dead people aren't taxed - they're dead.

 

[gjn23]

Dead people aren't taxed - they're dead.

they're money is still taxed so in essence they are actually taxed when they are dead.

 

[smurphy]

I just wish people would learn history instead of clinging to kneejerk rhetoric. ...Impossible dream, I understand.

 

[DOGS THAT BARK]

"Maybe he should tell us how he manages to pay taxes on $75,000 and his secretary $350,000"

DTB, are you being serious? He has explained it many times. The vast majority of his "income" is in the form of non-taxable dividend yields.

As for gjn, yeah, Warren is the idiot. That is why he makes more in one second of any day than you make all year.

I am well aware of why he only pays 17%--you might add (to his credit) that charitable donations are deductible. He is smart enough to know he can divvy his fortune out much more efficiently than the gov

He was #1 in 2006

Warren E. Buffett?$1.9 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, the Susan A. Buffett Foundation, and the NoVo Foundation. Buffett, 76, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, an insurance and investment company in Omaha, Neb., paid $1.6 billion of his record $36.1 billion pledge to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He said he would continue to pay the foundation 5 percent of the remaining balance of the earmarked shares every year until his death. In addition, Buffett paid $151.3 million of his $3 billion pledge to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, in Omaha. The foundation supports education, medical research, and efforts to curb population growth. It was named for Buffett's first wife, Susan, who was president of the foundation until her death in 2004. Buffett also paid $52.9 million each to the foundations run by his three children: the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, in Decatur, Ill.; the Susan A. Buffett Foundation, in Omaha; and the NoVo Foundation, Peter Buffett's foundation in New York. As he did with his pledge to the Gates Foundation, Buffett said he would pay the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and the three foundations run by his children 5 percent of the remaining balance of the shares every year until his death.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Now after we know why he only paid 17% my question is how credible or deceptive is his statement "we don't pay our fair share"

 

[BobbyBlueChip]

they're money is still taxed so in essence they are actually taxed when they are dead.

ummmm....no. it's not their money. They're dead.

 

[THE KOD]

He was #1 in 2006

Warren E. Buffett?$1.9 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, the Susan A. Buffett Foundation, and the NoVo Foundation. Buffett, 76, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, an insurance and investment company in Omaha, Neb., paid $1.6 billion of his record $36.1 billion pledge to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He said he would continue to pay the foundation 5 percent of the remaining balance of the earmarked shares every year until his death. In addition, Buffett paid $151.3 million of his $3 billion pledge to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, in Omaha. The foundation supports education, medical research, and efforts to curb population growth. It was named for Buffett's first wife, Susan, who was president of the foundation until her death in 2004. Buffett also paid $52.9 million each to the foundations run by his three children: the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, in Decatur, Ill.; the Susan A. Buffett Foundation, in Omaha; and the NoVo Foundation, Peter Buffett's foundation in New York. As he did with his pledge to the Gates Foundation, Buffett said he would pay the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and the three foundations run by his children 5 percent of the remaining balance of the shares every year until his death.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Now after we know why he only paid 17% my question is how credible or deceptive is his statement "we don't pay our fair share"

...............................................................

How do we really know that the money he puts into charitable foundations isnt washed around and given back to him in some way.

That would be pretty low, but I would not put it past the billionaires.