Webloggin » So……What’s Stopping Warren Buffett?

Warren Buffett, the billionaire who has not yet found a way to enjoy his wealth, complains that he does not pay enough income taxes and states that he pays less than his employees who make far less money. Buffett indicated that he does not have accountants, (I find that hard to believe), and that he just follows the government’s tax rules and he ends up paying less in taxes than he feels he should. I have news for Mr. Buffett; the treasury will accept money from citizens who want to pay more.

If Buffett feels so terribly guilty about not paying enough in taxes then I suggest he ease that guilt by going to Treasury Direct and following the instructions on how to reduce the debt through voluntary donation. This should ease whatever guilt Mr. Buffett feels.

I sincerely doubt he pays too little in taxes and I think his method of determining this was purely unscientific. In any event, he should not worry about the tax code and get out his checkbook. Over 2.5 million dollars was donated in 2007. Mr. Buffett could easily afford to donate 1000 times that amount and not feel it at all.

That being said, the US Chamber of Commerce agrees that Mr. Buffett does not know what he is talking about:

Meanwhile, Mr Buffett’s remarks drew a robust response from the US Chamber of Commerce, which said the top 1% of US earners accounted for 39% of tax revenue - and the highest earning 25% of the population delivered 86% of the tax-take.

The chamber’s chief economist, Martin Regalia, said: “Mr Buffett has made an awful lot of money and if he wants to pay more taxes, I think that’s fine. But I think he should get his facts straight.” Guardian UK

1% of earners pay 39% of the taxes and the “highest earning” 25% of pay 86% of the taxes. How is it that the government can say that the rich pay less than the poor? How is it that the government can say that tax cuts hurt the poor and only help the rich without acknowledging that the rich should be affected by and benefit from tax cuts because the rich pay nearly all the taxes?

Warren Buffett is a doddering old fool with too much time on his hands. He can spend some of that time writing a check to the treasury to ease his conscience. Of course, he could send me 10 million dollars. I promise I will pay every penny of taxes due on that amount of money and not complain a bit.

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