I know it's Buffett, but this is great stuff.

[NCVol]

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/01/warren-buffett-and-his-secretary-talk-taxes/

“The question is what is fair when you have to raise multi-trillions to fund the United States of America,” said Buffett.  �“If this is a war, my side has the nuclear bomb,” Buffett said. “We have K Street. … We have Wall Street. Debbie doesn’t have anybody. I want a government that is responsive to the people who got the short straw in life.”

If you guys could forget who said it, that last part is just fact, the way our system operates.  There is a class war, and by any known metric, based on every piece of evidence, the rich have won, and are just piling on at this point. 

[Shimmy]

Socialism doesn't work.  It's been tried.

[Jeremy Roenick]

I don't disagree with the point Mr. Berkshire Hathaway is making, but Debbie is far from the poster child of this "downtrodden generation".  Unlike most administrative assistants, she makes somewhere north of $250k per year.  So yes, I agree, the Plutocrats have robbed and pillaged the nation (with the ample help of government officials) but Debbie is no "Jane Somebody" secretary. 

I'd say that's pretty far from a short straw.  In fact, it's people like her that will bear a big burden in the new, coming tax structure (austerity).

[Sasquatch]

The person that sat in the "special" box for the State of the Union address used to be only heroes. Reagan started it with the guy who jumped into the Hudson River to save some folks when that plane crashed in DC.

Now we have a multi-billionaire's secretary making a six figure income in NEBRASKA who is being portrayed as the lastest in the dems long line of "victims". Bless Debbie's heart. I think we should take up a collection.  

Despite Unfair Tax Burden, Warren Buffett's Secretary Was Just Able To Buy A Second Home

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/warren-buffett-secretary-homes-654812

Notice the dems NEVER propose lowering Debbie's tax rate.  

If Buffett paid her the way he gets his pay, in capital gains, she would be ok.  

[NCVol]

Socialism doesn't work.  It's been tried.

Nice talking point, meaningless, but it sounds good to fellow right wingers I suppose. 

And otherwise, I see no one wants to address the fundamental point about if there is a CLASS WAR going on, the rich have won, evidence of which is the falling wages and wealth for the bottom 90% or so and the skyrocketing income and wealth for the plutocrats.... 

Easier to focus on the flawed messenger, and ignore the big picture, I guess.

Fact is whether she made 200k or 40k, she'd STILL pay a higher tax rate on her earnings than Warren Buffett.  And since the communists have won, the GOP proposes to make Warren's tax rate ZERO, while gutting SS and Medicare for Debbie and the many millions who aren't as fortunate as her, because it's a class war, and the communists have won, and evidence of that is the CEO class have lobbyists and $billions in special interest money going to Washington to get more wealth for the plutocrats.  And they win every major battle, because it's a class war, and the wealthy elites are armed with nuclear weapons.

[Sasquatch]

Fact is whether she made 200k or 40k, she'd STILL pay a higher tax rate on her earnings than Warren Buffett.  

Not if Buffett took pay as income. He could then pay more in taxes and wouldn't have to bitch and whine so much.

Solution: lower HER taxes to a 15% base. Then she could buy even more real estate.

[NCVol]

Not if Buffett took pay as income. He could then pay more in taxes and wouldn't have to bitch and whine so much.

Buffett owns the stock.  I'm not sure what your point is.  He could, I suppose, pay himself a huge salary, and pay taxes on that, but why is that a solution to the problem of him being able to sell his appreciated stock and pay only 15% on the gain.

Solution: lower HER taxes to a 15% base. Then she could buy even more real estate.

Well, that would be great - a tax cut all around!  And in GOP Fairy Land, the Laffer Curve and Magic Pigmy Dust that directs us to where the gold is buried at the end of the rainbow generate the taxes needed to finance government. 

Seriously, what is your point.  Buffett could pay her in stock, and GM could pay all its workers in stock, your employer could pay you in stock.  And.... what?  We'd collect zero in payroll taxes and bankrupt Medicare and SS overnight and balloon the defict and then what? 

[Sasquatch]

Buffett owns the stock.  I'm not sure what your point is.  He could, I suppose, pay himself a huge salary, and pay taxes on that, but why is that a solution to the problem of him being able to sell his appreciated stock and pay only 15% on the gain.

What did he pay on the basis?

[Sasquatch]

BTW, he does have the option to pay more of a rate than his secretary. And again, if he got paid the same way as his secretary, his rate would be AT LEAST the same rate as his secretary.

If his secretary makes over $200k per year, isn't she considered "rich". Wouldn't we want her paying more in taxes, per the democrat(ic) mantra? Her "fair share" and all that jazz.

[Flummoxed Lummox]

Socialism doesn't work.  It's been tried.

More silly bromides from the right.

Norway has the highest quality of life (using life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living as criteria) in the world. It is a socialist country. European socialist countries make up the largest percentage of the top 15 countries.

 1. Norway 0.938
 2. Australia 0.937
 3. New Zealand 0.907
 4. United States 0.902
5.  Ireland 0.895
 6. Liechtenstein 0.891
 7. Netherlands 0.890
 8. Canada 0.888
 9. Sweden 0.885
 10. Germany 0.885
 11. Japan 0.884
 12. South Korea 0.877
13.  Switzerland 0.874
14.  France 0.872
15. Israel 0.872

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index

Once again, FACTS simply don't matter to wingnuts.

[Sasquatch]

It is a socialist country.

Do you just make up and call it "facts"?

From your wiki link:

officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy

Since we are using wikipedia, here is a list of socialist countries. FYI, Norway is NOT listed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_socialist_countries

I cannot wait for more liberal "facts". 

[MRM]

Let's get back to the original topic.

First of all, I have no sympathy for his secretary. She makes a lot more money than I do and is apparently having no financial troubles in her life. Let's feel sorry for the people making $30k that have to pay out so much of their salary to taxes and are in a bind. Those are the people they should make showing as an example, not an executive secretary making $250k a year.

It is time to make the tax rate the same for everyone, cut out these 0% tax rates on capital gains, etc. If you make money off something, you pay a tax on it regardless of how you made the money. That would keep the rich from moving their money around to avoid paying taxes on it.

Lastly, the problem in this country is greed. This is one example of the moral decay that is taking place in this country. Just look at most commercials on TV. Most are about having something bigger and better than the next guy, even though you may already have something pretty nice yourself. Look at how the oil companies operate. These people are the worst when it comes to greed at the expense of the everyday person. They could care less if the average person is having trouble and they still continually raise the price of gasoline. As long as the CEO and the stockholders are raking in billions of dollars, that is all they care about.

Nothing will ever change with any of these because those that are in charge of the laws are rich themselves. Many are not going to take money from their own pockets to help the people they represent.