Buffet isn't this economically illiterate. The super rich must wish to hose the only sort of rich.
Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich
171–180 of 354 posts
Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich
#172The problem is getting low to middle income people to stop voting against themselves. Good luck with that, they all seem to think they are going to be billionaires someday so better keep those billionaire taxes low. Either that or by bribing the wealthy with low taxes they might only ship out half the jobs overseas instead of all of them. It's just dumbfounding. Election after election, over and over.
They don't. Google 'rich state poor state red state blue state'
Amen to that. Why is it so hard for leftists to understand people voting for small government are voting in their own interest?
Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich
#173Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've come to the conclusion that the logic becomes "well if I can't have it, no-one will". People basically trying to take away assistance/help to others by trying to vote it away from everyone, since they somehow perceive themselves as better than others suffering on the lower rungs on society. This also explains why people try to vote away unions and benefits for teachers/schools, the very foundation of society, wh…
There is a another process that takes place "I am not poor, I am just pre-wealthy". The biggest scam is that the wealthy have managed to convince even the poorest that they are just a "little hard work" away from being a successful owner of family business or the next Donald Trump. It is the American Dream. So ... they should vote accordingly and just get their future selves those nice tax cuts for when they become w…
Steinbeck: “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”
Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich
#174Earlier quoted context omitted.
No. This thread is a font of misinformation. The Federal Reserve lent $16 trillion in total transactions at the primary credit interest rate to banks over years worth of time. This number is clearly cited to provoke populist rage but is completely ridiculous when analyzed intellectually. Look, consider this analogous situation. You're having trouble meeting your short term debts but had a solid line of income so you…
What on earth are you talking about? Where did I or the article claim anything about amounts lent at any given time? A total of ~$16 trillion was secretly lent to failing financial institutions at extremely low rates over 3 years. That's just a fact and it's an enormous sum that dwarfs programs like TARP regardless of how the transactions were divided. If it provokes populist rage, maybe that's because it should.
Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
They don't. Google 'rich state poor state red state blue state'
Amen to that. Why is it so hard for leftists to understand people voting for small government are voting in their own interest?
I didn't know the PATRIOT Act, all those porn scanners, Homeland Security, and decade-long wars were small government.
Refresh for me again under what leadership all those started?
Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich
#176All of the comments here attacking Warren Buffett's authenticity, suggesting that he should put his money where his mouth is and write the Treasury a big fat check, are missing the whole point.
Services provided by the government are public goods. It's blindingly obvious that a single person cannot pay for those public goods. Just Buffett's own contributions, no matter how much he donates, will not be enough to solve our budget issue. It's called shared sacrifice because it's meaningless unless everyone participates.
It's like the neighborhood park (i.e. medicare/social security): Everyone wants one, but nobody wants to pay for it. In steps the neighborhood's rich kid (Buffett), who suggests that all the rich kids pitch in to pay for the park. If that happened, everyone would be made better off, but one kid alone isn't enough.
This is a very canonical problem of public services provisioning and funding. It's completely naive to sit back and suggest Buffett tackle the issue himself, because we all know that's ridiculous.
Open your eyes. The problem is not Buffett's to solve. But he recognizes that there is a problem.
Apologies for the harsh tone, but it baffles me how members of Hacker News can think so naively. The attacks on Buffett are utterly unfair and unjustified. We should all have an open mind and try to understand the proposal.
Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich
#177The problem is getting low to middle income people to stop voting against themselves. Good luck with that, they all seem to think they are going to be billionaires someday so better keep those billionaire taxes low. Either that or by bribing the wealthy with low taxes they might only ship out half the jobs overseas instead of all of them. It's just dumbfounding. Election after election, over and over.
They don't. Google 'rich state poor state red state blue state'
The top result being a study by Gelman? I skimmed it, I don't see how it supports your point. Care to elaborate?
Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich
#178Who pays income taxes? The rich mostly.
Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good, he practices what he preaches. The point remains, paying higher taxes is not an efficient way to help your fellow man. You'll get much better bang for your buck donating to a worthy charity. Thought of this way, it's a simple question of utility.
> The point remains, paying higher taxes is not an efficient way to help your fellow man. Maybe true, maybe not, but totally irrelevant. Taxes solve the free rider problem. Individual charity can't.
True, but what solves the forced rider problem and why presume that it is more benign a problem than free riding? One man's public good is another man's public bad.
Re: Warren Buffett: Stop coddling the super rich
#180Earlier quoted context omitted.
living standards have improved despite the rich getting richer. Citation needed. Please explain how the living standard in the US can have improved if real wages have fallen. Oh wait, the answer is an incredible increase in consumer debt. That seems to be working out. Keep calm and carry on.
"Please explain how the living standard in the US can have improved if real wages have fallen." I cannot believe the ignorance of Ycombinator at times. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP) http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&#... Keep calm. Carry on.
I can't believe it either. Some even believe in the economists' equivalent of a cosmological constant: PPP, which when employed miraculously turns Louisiana into a richer place than Switzerland.