tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post1098354022706818382..comments2023-09-15T04:27:57.129-04:00Comments on Commentarama: Is Warren Buffett A Hypocrite?AndrewPricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-36041051403924997492011-08-27T00:41:55.073-04:002011-08-27T00:41:55.073-04:00Stan: He also uses his capital gains as his incom...Stan: He also uses his capital gains as his income instead of drawing a salary. That already puts him in a lower tax category, so I have my doubts that he thinks "the mega-rich should pay more" applies to him. But as I said in the article, that may make him a scoundrel or even a legal tax-dodger, but I'm not sure it makes him a hypocrite. On the other hand, since I have no intention of defending him, "hypocrite" will do as well as "fool."LawHawkRFDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17800255923675295515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-34698358085500783412011-08-26T22:28:42.403-04:002011-08-26T22:28:42.403-04:00Warren Buffet is the worst kind of scoundrel in my...Warren Buffet is the worst kind of scoundrel in my opinion. His tax plea is a straw-man, a way to increase taxes on the regular guy, you know the rich people who make $250K or more. What would that entail 80-90% of all small business, S-Corps, or LLC’s. They’ll say, “see Warren Buffet is willing to pay higher taxes.” …but he won’t and say he did. He’s the king of Venture (vultures) Capitalist, swooping in for the rescue –wink-wink- Wachovia Bank, BoA, and countless other corporations. The Oracle of Omaha is the poster child of crony-capitalism. I don’t begrudge anybody their success, but don’t begrudge me mine. I know he and Gates (The Gates Foundation) are going to give away 99% of their money, but just like J.D. Rockefeller and the Rockefeller Foundation, it’ll be around long after they are dead, affecting our country for good or ill, usually swerving hard left. Though his magnanimity sounds gracious, call me skeptical.StanHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07395708786509590321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-29968525515588907522011-08-26T15:05:38.777-04:002011-08-26T15:05:38.777-04:00WriterX: I had a toy car when I was little that w...WriterX: I had a toy car when I was little that was that color. I blew it up with a cherry bomb.LawHawkRFDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17800255923675295515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-3785465729734964832011-08-26T14:43:48.729-04:002011-08-26T14:43:48.729-04:00Agreed! Walk the talk, Buffett! And buy yourself a...Agreed! Walk the talk, Buffett! And buy yourself a new shirt. I think he's trying to channel Jimmy Buffett with that shirt. My eyes hurt.Writer Xnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-77317579079556742562011-08-26T12:01:36.811-04:002011-08-26T12:01:36.811-04:00Andrew: I don't think we actually disagree by...Andrew: I don't think we actually disagree by much. Crony capitalists need love too. I don't think it's hypocritical to take advantage of the obnoxiously complicated tax codes to benefit your own companies and investments. But I will concede that it's a bit hypocritical to crow about it while you're doing it.<br /><br />As John Huston said in <i>Chinatown</i>, every great fortune started with a great crime. Buffet avoided that by staying within the law, however cleverly. But since I have no firm opinion either way on hypocrisy versus enlightened self-interest, I made it clear that it was my <i>opinion</i> that Buffet was more misguided than hypocritical. Your conclusion is just as valid as mine absent provable fact that he is acting purely on hypocritical grounds.<br /><br />As for giving fundraisers for Obama, that could be a short-sighted attempt to gain temporary personal advantage. But it ignores the fact that in the long run, it will hurt him as much as it will hurt us. But as you've said, it could also be just plain hypocrisy.<br /><br />I guess I'll just have to say we have [slightly] differing opinions on Buffet's statements, but until I can actually get inside his head, I'll lean more toward "misguided" than toward "hypocritical."LawHawkRFDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17800255923675295515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-32792835062454619262011-08-26T11:46:38.611-04:002011-08-26T11:46:38.611-04:00Bev: I can't really argue with your assessmen...Bev: I can't really argue with your assessment. It addresses why I want to see corporate tax rates and inheritance tax rates lowered while closing the tax loopholes. That actually encourages domestic hiring and production while at the same time blunting the argument that the left (and Buffet) are beating Republicans over the head with about "corporate jets."LawHawkRFDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17800255923675295515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-47068883874816296142011-08-26T11:40:55.136-04:002011-08-26T11:40:55.136-04:00T-Rav: And I never wear white after Labor Day. L...T-Rav: And I never wear white after Labor Day. LOL<br /><br />Giving your liberal friends the address of the OCD (appropriate name, huh?) was an excellent idea. I'm still trying to figure out how punishing Americans for their success is "fair."LawHawkRFDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17800255923675295515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-43421664623402522772011-08-26T11:36:35.618-04:002011-08-26T11:36:35.618-04:00Tennessee: Well said. From the practical side, g...Tennessee: Well said. From the practical side, government should be efficient. We know that it's a human institution, so it will never be perfect. But the progressive income tax is so complicated that the IRS's own agents can't decipher it, and that's a guarantee of inefficiency.<br /><br />On the philosophical side, too many people think that the government should be benevolent. That's a fallacy. The government should be neither benevolent nor malevolent. It's supposed to be neutral. When it takes sides, that's when you get socialist redistribution.LawHawkRFDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17800255923675295515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-82752681111257545402011-08-26T10:46:06.541-04:002011-08-26T10:46:06.541-04:00Sorry Lawhawk, I gotta disagree.
Buffett is a cro...Sorry Lawhawk, I gotta disagree.<br /><br />Buffett is a crony capitalist of the worst kind. He hides behind talk of “free markets” and then shoves his hand into our pockets to pay for his investments. And he only advocates policy changes in Washington from which his ventures will benefit.<br /><br />What he’s trying to do is raise taxes on Americans (not himself) so that he can keep getting benefits from Uncle Sam, like the windfarm in Texas where he wants Congress to pay for the infrastructure to make it work. Or the $5 billion dirty deal with Goldman Sachs that the Treasury underwrote with TARP funds. And now he’s bought $5 billion worth of Bank of America. . . another company underwritten by the Treasury.<br /><br />Plus, he’s hosting a massive Wall Street fundraiser ($35k a plate) for Obama. . . the most anti-free market President this country has ever had.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-57877290759390679362011-08-26T10:35:38.423-04:002011-08-26T10:35:38.423-04:00Great article. My issue is that probably at the s...Great article. My issue is that probably at the same time that Buffet and Gates are giving huge somes of money to charities, their accountants are deducting that from their income taxes. If they were really serious, then they should just make it clear to their accountants to NOT take any deductions? <br /><br />Gates to me is the real hypocrite. He made his vast fortune (and Steve Jobs too) by the enslavement of others. Not here of course because slavery has been abolished. But in countries where slavery is much more acceptable.<br /><br />The misguideness also links to this. If Gates, Buffet, and all the other megawealthy who are so willing to pay higher taxes were REALLY serious, they would move all those manufacturing and customer service jobs that they shipped off shore (for which they made their vast wealth) back to this country. <br /><br />Creating more taxpayers is much more beneficial than Buffet and Gates paying more taxes OR dispensing their vast wealth after their deaths.BevfromNYChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14953050916932306270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-5371146123211285952011-08-26T10:31:43.773-04:002011-08-26T10:31:43.773-04:00LawHawkRFD, fashion critic.
Some liberal friends ...LawHawkRFD, fashion critic.<br /><br />Some liberal friends posted this on their Facebook page the other day and were talking about how the rich don't pay their fair share in taxes or something. My response was to post the mailing address for the IRS's Office of Charitable Donations--that pretty much killed the conversation.T-Ravhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10861218035729479354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-74485321322825510552011-08-26T09:08:39.798-04:002011-08-26T09:08:39.798-04:00excellent, Hawk and so right on target. There have...excellent, Hawk and so right on target. There have always been two "tracks" for criticizing the leftist tax and spend policy, the philosophical and the practical.<br /><br />First, it is an infringement of individual liberty and freedom that punishes achievement and stifles individual achievement; and second, even if one ignores the philosophical argument, it is clear that there are FAR more efficient ways to help the needy. The government creates buracracy and waste, even if one agrees with what they are theoretically trying to do.Tennessee Jedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10604275115906776992noreply@blogger.com