I agree with Warren Buffett…
Stop coddling the super-rich: Buffett
I agree with Warren Buffett and I agree with David Cameron; but that’s another story! Warren Buffet actually wants to see tax increases for the super-rich in the United States; he is rich and a patriot, putting his country first. I think the UK can learn something from this. How about tax increases for everyone earning over £100,000 a year; at least temporarily until the deficit is paid off.
“My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice,” The 80-year-old wrote in an opinion article in The New York Times.
Buffett, one of the world’s richest men and chairman of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc , said his federal tax bill last year was $6,938,744.
“That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income – and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent,” he said.
It is the fact that people who can’t afford it are ‘sharing the sacrifice’ in the UK and that makes people angry. It may even have contributed to the riots. It wouldn’t hurt the rich or the economy for the tax burden of the rich to be more of a burden for the foreseeable future. If the less well off can be thrifty and frugal for a while, why can’t the rich? I am also thinking about those bosses like Bob Diamond, CEO of Barclay’s on his 6 figure salary and 7 figure bonus. Many chief executives of councils around the country earn 6 figure salaries too, like the chief executive of Richmond upon Thames council. Isn’t it fair that they should help with the countries debt? They after all help to spend a lot of public money!
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Mike10613's Blog 
I wholly agree that the rich should have to pay a fairer share in taxes to help deal with the deficit. The economic lie that taxing the rich strangles the economy is a fallacy propagated by those who it benefits. Warren Buffett did a great thing this week and I hope that it does make a difference.
I think the fact that the rich expect the poor to be ‘thrifty’ and ‘frugal’ as you rightly said is ridiculous, considering that many of them resist paying a share of taxes even equal to the middle or lower classes.
The riots weren’t wholly caused by this kind of unfairness in our society but I think it is one of the major factors in creating the anger and hatred towards the state and thus made people more likely to commit crimes such as those we witnessed last week. People won’t respect a system, or a country, that doesn’t respect them.
16, August 2011 at 9:58 am
Thanks for such an excellent comment. The causes of the riots are complex, but it was kids from poorer areas and so wealth had something to do with it. I think boredom played a part too, If Allo Allo had been on TV or Only Fools and Horses, they would have probably all stayed in! 😛
16, August 2011 at 10:05 am
Yeah, boredom and showing off. many teenagers are always looking for an adrenaline rush and the riots would hav provided this!
The worrying this is that they seem either so oblivious to the damage and pain they caused or simply don’t care. A situation in which a large part of our population have that mindset is rather worrying!
Good article!
16, August 2011 at 10:25 am
Imagine what they will be like when they are a little older and have had a drink… it doesn’t bear thinking about!
16, August 2011 at 10:31 am
Buffett has made this argument before, and the congress of my country has ignored it then and continues to ignore it.
We need to get our house in order fiscally. for example we have the hoghest corporate tax rate in the world. American corporations do not bring their profits back to the USA, so they can be taxed. Others have loopholes so wide they pay almost no taxes at all. We can lower our corporate tax rate in the USA close all the loopholes and bring moeny back here to revitalize what was once the greatest economy in the world.
12, September 2011 at 3:59 am
Hi Stan,
We have the same problem in the UK, of UK companies paying tax overseas in countries with low tax rates. I think tax rates and exchange rates being distorted makes goods from overseas cheaper than they would otherwise be, too.
Thanks for visiting and commenting.
12, September 2011 at 8:26 am
very nice post
8, November 2011 at 1:22 pm
Hi John,
Thanks for the comment. I think even if the rich pay their fair share we need more to get out of this crisis. Perhaps a ‘Robin Hood’ style financial transactions tax?
8, November 2011 at 2:37 pm