Like all collectivists, he’s very generous — with other peoples’ money.
16 thoughts on “Warren Buffett”
I’ve been having an ongoing exchange with other people on another blog about this. They can’t seem to understand that if the guy isn’t walking the walk, he might not really mean the talk. Obviously he isn’t THAT wedded to the idea of tax “fairness”, not enough to part with his own money anyway.
If Buffet were serious about wanting to be taxed more, all he has to do is write a check to the government. Since he hasn’t written a check, he isn’t to be taken seriously.
In America, we tax income, not assets. He already has his assets. Raising the tax rates will have little impact on him. However, it’ll have a big impact on those who’re working to acquire assets of their own.
Buffet is also a major owner of life insurance companies. They make a lot of their money from very expensive policies that help people avoid the consequences of the estate tax. When he calls for increasing the estate tax, he’s far from an impartial observer on the matter. The greater the number of people impacted by the estate tax, the greater the money Buffet makes.
So if you favor tax rates that would personally cost you more money, the corporation you run (on behalf of many shareholders besides yourself) must forfeit its right to dispute IRS rulings?
The one thing has nothing to do with the other.
Nice try Jim, but if you actually READ the details of the case, this isn’t just about a few IRS rulings, this is about long term ongoing misbehavior by Buffett and his corporation.
And by the way, since the corporation is run by him, why shouldn’t his judgement and choices in running it (which do, after all, reflect his values) be above criticism? I am quite sure that if the Kochs (for instance) were involved in some equally dubious behavior you wouldn’t be sparing THEM from criticism.
this is about long term ongoing misbehavior by Buffett and his corporation.
Alleged misbehavior, in the opinion of “Americans for Limited Government,” i.e. a group trying to discredit Buffett. The IRS has not filed, much less won, a criminal complaint against Berkshire Hathaway in this matter.
Again: the argument Rand and TaxProf Blog are making is that if a citizen takes a certain public position on tax policy, he revokes his right to lawfully dispute IRS findings, on behalf of himself or his corporation’s shareholders. Instead, unlike other citizens, he’s expected to immediately agree to everything the IRS says.
And this is coming from people who moan and groan about the abuse of power by government bureaucracies, and trumpet the value of liberty, particularly the liberty of political expression? The hypocrisy here isn’t Mr. Buffett’s.
the argument Rand and TaxProf Blog are making is that if a citizen takes a certain public position on tax policy, he revokes his right to lawfully dispute IRS findings, on behalf of himself or his corporation’s shareholders.
No one is making that argument. He has a right to do anything he wants with his and his company’s taxes. And we have a right to call him out as a hypocritical fraud. It’s a free country that way.
Shorter Jim: Buffet can be a hypocrite because he’s on my side; you all can not because you aren’t.
Jim,
How much money has the government spent in investigating this tax cheatand his company? Don’t you think it’s “Fair” that his company repay all these expendatures as well? After all insn’t this an unnessarry drain on our government which he could easily remedy by paying the fair share the IRS has assesed?
Shorter Jim: Buffet can be a hypocrite because he’s on my side; you all can not because you aren’t.
That’s a truism that always works for Jim.
It’s a free country that way.
Oh, now you’re just trying to make Jim’s head explode.
For Warren Buffett all raising taxes does is provide a job stimulus to his army of accountants and lawyers.
How much money has the government spent in investigating this tax cheat and his company?
So if you disagree with the IRS about how much tax a corporation owes, you are automatically 1) a tax cheat, and 2) ineligible to express an opinion on tax policy without being labeled a “hypocritical fraud”?
Do you really want to give the IRS that power?
Yeah Josh — but look at the downside, from Buffett’s point of view: having people like Jim defending him.
{{{shudder}}}
No, we don’t Jim. Warren Buffett does though……
Revising Rand’s statement, “Like all collectivists, Jim is very generous with other people’s money.”
You have to wonder about the self-esteem of people whose philosophy ios essentially legalized looting.
I’ve been having an ongoing exchange with other people on another blog about this. They can’t seem to understand that if the guy isn’t walking the walk, he might not really mean the talk. Obviously he isn’t THAT wedded to the idea of tax “fairness”, not enough to part with his own money anyway.
If Buffet were serious about wanting to be taxed more, all he has to do is write a check to the government. Since he hasn’t written a check, he isn’t to be taken seriously.
In America, we tax income, not assets. He already has his assets. Raising the tax rates will have little impact on him. However, it’ll have a big impact on those who’re working to acquire assets of their own.
Buffet is also a major owner of life insurance companies. They make a lot of their money from very expensive policies that help people avoid the consequences of the estate tax. When he calls for increasing the estate tax, he’s far from an impartial observer on the matter. The greater the number of people impacted by the estate tax, the greater the money Buffet makes.
So if you favor tax rates that would personally cost you more money, the corporation you run (on behalf of many shareholders besides yourself) must forfeit its right to dispute IRS rulings?
The one thing has nothing to do with the other.
Nice try Jim, but if you actually READ the details of the case, this isn’t just about a few IRS rulings, this is about long term ongoing misbehavior by Buffett and his corporation.
And by the way, since the corporation is run by him, why shouldn’t his judgement and choices in running it (which do, after all, reflect his values) be above criticism? I am quite sure that if the Kochs (for instance) were involved in some equally dubious behavior you wouldn’t be sparing THEM from criticism.
this is about long term ongoing misbehavior by Buffett and his corporation.
Alleged misbehavior, in the opinion of “Americans for Limited Government,” i.e. a group trying to discredit Buffett. The IRS has not filed, much less won, a criminal complaint against Berkshire Hathaway in this matter.
Again: the argument Rand and TaxProf Blog are making is that if a citizen takes a certain public position on tax policy, he revokes his right to lawfully dispute IRS findings, on behalf of himself or his corporation’s shareholders. Instead, unlike other citizens, he’s expected to immediately agree to everything the IRS says.
And this is coming from people who moan and groan about the abuse of power by government bureaucracies, and trumpet the value of liberty, particularly the liberty of political expression? The hypocrisy here isn’t Mr. Buffett’s.
the argument Rand and TaxProf Blog are making is that if a citizen takes a certain public position on tax policy, he revokes his right to lawfully dispute IRS findings, on behalf of himself or his corporation’s shareholders.
No one is making that argument. He has a right to do anything he wants with his and his company’s taxes. And we have a right to call him out as a hypocritical fraud. It’s a free country that way.
Shorter Jim: Buffet can be a hypocrite because he’s on my side; you all can not because you aren’t.
Jim,
How much money has the government spent in investigating this tax cheatand his company? Don’t you think it’s “Fair” that his company repay all these expendatures as well? After all insn’t this an unnessarry drain on our government which he could easily remedy by paying the fair share the IRS has assesed?
Shorter Jim: Buffet can be a hypocrite because he’s on my side; you all can not because you aren’t.
That’s a truism that always works for Jim.
Oh, now you’re just trying to make Jim’s head explode.
For Warren Buffett all raising taxes does is provide a job stimulus to his army of accountants and lawyers.
How much money has the government spent in investigating this tax cheat and his company?
So if you disagree with the IRS about how much tax a corporation owes, you are automatically 1) a tax cheat, and 2) ineligible to express an opinion on tax policy without being labeled a “hypocritical fraud”?
Do you really want to give the IRS that power?
Yeah Josh — but look at the downside, from Buffett’s point of view: having people like Jim defending him.
{{{shudder}}}
No, we don’t Jim. Warren Buffett does though……
Revising Rand’s statement, “Like all collectivists, Jim is very generous with other people’s money.”
You have to wonder about the self-esteem of people whose philosophy ios essentially legalized looting.
McGehee “…just trying…”
We have a winner.