Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich • Hacker News Board

Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich

#111

Post by hans00 » Mon, Aug 15, 2011, 5:34 AM UTC

netmau5 wrote: post #26

drblast wrote: post #14

Voluntary gifts of money can be sent to the U.S. Treasury at this address: http://www.fms.treas.gov/faq/moretopics_gifts.html One has to ask, if any super rich person really considered the U.S. Government a worthwhile investment, why are they donating to various charities instead of to the Treasury?

Most decent charities deliver far more per unit donated than the US government could ever wish to achieve. If you're interested in pure charity, you're not going to get much bang for your buck at the federal level.

[citation needed]

Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich

#112

Post by hans00 » Mon, Aug 15, 2011, 5:36 AM UTC

mmorett wrote: post #75

aj700 wrote: post #39

Taxing the money that moves - as it is earned - will only produce so much revenue. The rich need to be taxed, not beccause it will allow lots of lovely spending, because the gov will inevitably do a bad job of spending it. Though you could put it towards debt reduction first. You have to tax the money that doesn't move. The millions of unneeded unspent $ that the rich are sitting on, with a wealth tax. You may not ev…

> You may not even make the poor richer, but you will make the rich poorer. Good. "Unneeded, unspent money" is none of your business. It's not your money.

Right. It's all of our money, because we all share the same society. Sorry, "it's mine, all mine" doesn't cut it outside an Ayn Rand fantasy novel or a Ron Paul forum.

Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich

#113

Post by reader2000 » Mon, Aug 15, 2011, 5:37 AM UTC

chailatte wrote: post #106

The combined wealth of American's billionaires is only $1.5 trillion. [1] If we taxed them 100%, it would only pay off our budget deficit for one year. We still have around 54 trillion total debt to pay down. Not to mention 115 trillion unfunded liabilities. And which entrepreneurs would be stupid enough to work 14 hours a day and hire workers, knowing that the government will tax them 90%? They would all flee the co…

Stop fabricating numbers. The US National debt is about $14.5 trillion, not anywhere close to 54 trillion.

Btw, the Bush tax cuts — costing $1.8 trillion from 2002 to 2009 — are a big reason we got into this deep hole.

Buffet: I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation.

Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich

#114

Post by turar » Mon, Aug 15, 2011, 5:37 AM UTC

MikeCapone wrote: post #107

turar wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buffett is working for his shareholders to increase the value of their investment in Berkshire Hathaway in the best possible way. Personally though, he already gave away most of his wealth to philanthropy via Gates Foundation.

99%+ of his wealth is in Berkshire, though, so the better Berkshire does, the more billions will go to Gates and a few other foundations (mostly run by his kids).

Yes. Gates Foundation works on various philanthropic causes, notably global health issues.

Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich

#115

Post by VT_Hokie » Mon, Aug 15, 2011, 5:38 AM UTC

If Warren feels so guilty, then he should write a check to the US Treasury for his entire net worth.

Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich

#116

Post by danenania » Mon, Aug 15, 2011, 5:41 AM UTC

MikeCapone wrote: post #102

danenania wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The whole financial system and everybody that depends on it was a beneficiary of the bailouts. If everything collapsed, everybody would have suffered." A narrative convenient for powerful banks that was created by powerful banks and allied politicians. People have suffered and continue to suffer because of the crimes these institutions have committed. Propping up their corpses only helps the criminals who created th…

That all sounds very good, but I'm sorry to say that without a banking system, everything in our society stops working, and the small guy would get hurt a lot more than billionaires.

Without a banking system? The idea is to have a banking system that works and follows the law and doesn't require trillions in handouts to stay solvent, not no banking system.

Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich

#117

Post by reader2000 » Mon, Aug 15, 2011, 5:42 AM UTC

aneth wrote: post #30

Could everyone make sure every Republican and Tea Partier they know reads this? Republican concerns are critical to this country, but the current incarnation is deeply harmful.

It's pointless: for them their belief trumps facts.

Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich

#118

Post by webXL » Mon, Aug 15, 2011, 5:42 AM UTC

reader2000 wrote: post #113

chailatte wrote: post #106

The combined wealth of American's billionaires is only $1.5 trillion. [1] If we taxed them 100%, it would only pay off our budget deficit for one year. We still have around 54 trillion total debt to pay down. Not to mention 115 trillion unfunded liabilities. And which entrepreneurs would be stupid enough to work 14 hours a day and hire workers, knowing that the government will tax them 90%? They would all flee the co…

Stop fabricating numbers. The US National debt is about $14.5 trillion, not anywhere close to 54 trillion. Btw, the Bush tax cuts — costing $1.8 trillion from 2002 to 2009 — are a big reason we got into this deep hole. Buffet: I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation.

Buffet who should know better: correlation doesn't imply causation

Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich

#119

Post by SoftwareMaven » Mon, Aug 15, 2011, 5:42 AM UTC

rhizome wrote: post #82

MikeCapone wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole financial system and everybody that depends on it was a beneficiary of the bailouts. If everything collapsed, everybody would have suffered. Buffett just happens to own a bigger slice of the market than almost anyone, so of course he benefited significantly. But singling him out, especially since he's stayed away from wall street's games and made extraordinary efforts to keep things above board for decades,…

If everything collapsed, everybody would have suffered. Citation needed. There would still be demand that needed supplying, no? Some non-criminal companies would have happily stepped up to fill that void.

Given how much of everything moves based on short-term credit, it is unlikely anybody would have been able to step in before the economy imploded. The credit crunch was not about being able to get funds to build a new building, it was about being able to get funds to ensure the shipment of raw parts was sent (taken recursively through the entire supply chain all the way to your local retail outlet).

If that had seized, it would have been far worse than the bailouts.

Unfortunately, there should have been at least civil penalties (and probably criminal pentalies) associated with building and hiding enough toxic assets to tank the banking system. The real travesty was not the bailout, it was that there were no negative consequences (relatively speaking) to the people who caused it (which is a tough question to answer, but not enough effort was made, IMO).

Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich

#120

Post by tomjen3 » Mon, Aug 15, 2011, 5:43 AM UTC

If Buffet finds it so wrong that he pays so little tax, I am sure the IRS wouldn't mind if he paid more.

Personally I would adjust Social Security to the expected life time (and re-adjust it every year); get out of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya; half the army (you got nukes, you don't need that big an Army to defend yourself) and stop the war on drugs.