So, it’s only OK for devote Republicans to take advantage of the loopholes for the rich?
I think one of the first of many loopholes and write offs that are only beneficial for the rich they need to get rid of is allowing rich people to write off their private airplane expenses.
What he said is similar to Robert Kiyosaki. There’s nothing wrong with following the system. The question is why is it that way? Why don’t we change toward the tax system after World War II, when the corporations were under control, and the poor didn’t worship wealth like Calvin Coolidge.
I have an idea: Let’s go ahead and concede that the usual liberal commentators on these sites are going to blame Trump, Republicans, and billionaires for all the evils in the world. That way, they can stop posting the same inane drivel I see here every day and actually do something productive instead.
(And here is where they all accuse me of doing the same thing in 3…2…1.)
The problem is not that wealthy people employ accountants and lawyers to ensure they pay their taxes legally. The problem is that it is perfectly legal that they pay lower -much lower – tax rates than working people do. Republicans legislators and Republican voters are the ones who keep it that way.
In the past a Democrat President reduced taxes and revenue increased because deductions were also decreased. Republicans never seem to understand how that works. They reduce taxes and there is a slight increase in revenue for a few months and then revenue drops. Thinking this shows tax reductions work, they reduce taxes again. This brought on, in part, Bush2’s great recession. It also contributed to #45’s huge increase in deficit and national debt.
Both sides, actually. Dems and Repubs are equally guilty of tax manipulation for their $olvent friend$. Back when Ted Kennedy was alive, he quietly sent the bulk of his family’s fortune to the Bahamas to avoid paying the “fair share” of taxes he demanded we pay, using rules and legislation he, himself, wrote or sponsored to reduce taxes and protect assets by storing them overseas. Besides, Buffet is a staunch Democrat supporter, as are Bezos, Gates, Zuckerman, etc. Then let us not forget how Soros became a US citizen even though he was found guilty in absentia in France of currency fraud.
Don’t blame billionaires for using the tax loopholes politicians wrote for themselves. Get congress to fair up the tax codes, such as a flat tax rate that must be applied equally to all citizens above the poverty line, regardless of wealth. Say, ten percent with zero deductions. Then if congress wants to raise taxes they have to raise everyone’s taxes by an equal percentage. No “fees” which are merely disguised taxes.
I’m no wealthy person, but even I have a deep distaste for our current tax codes. I will take any discount or dodge the politicians put in the law, although at my level of income that is laughably small. Many of the tax breaks are designed only for millionaires on up, those who have the most money to spend on political campaigns.
Politicians are ultimately corrupt. The only ones who are not, decline to run for a second term out of disgust. By the time they get to national politics level, they have sold their souls so many times even Satan isn’t sure who owns them.
I believe now that citizens united was decided as it was etc. that it is not known how much money from the rich is donated to republicans (or democrats for that matter, but republicans seem to perform most of the legislative tricks for their masters )
The fact that its cheaper to keep a staff of lawyers and accountants to work on the taxes and that the tax system is set up such that this works says much.
So… what kind of point are you trying to make Bok? Hey? That rich people should pay more taxes? Or are you just trying to discredit Buffet because he is a registered Democrat… and you don’t care or even think about the actual political message you are making.
He will pay tax when he sells or leaves his assets to relatives. He possibly will donate it to charity which may be better for the world than giving it to Republicans to spend on weapons and walls.
I am more concerned about the money launderers and crooks with offshore accounts who will never pay any taxes! What happened to the Panama Papers?
He would probably pay less overall if he just paid taxes like the rest of us, instead of paying for all of those accountants and lawyers… and politicians…
David Cay Johnston who spent years as American’s top tax journalist just wrote this: “This leak of Internal Revenue Service records is by far the biggest and most important tax news in the 55 years that I’ve reported on taxes. Thanks to the leaker, we now know beyond any doubt that the endless claims America has a progressive income tax system are bunk. … Whoever dared to do this should be hailed as a national hero on a par with Darnella Frazier, the fearless teenage girl with a steady hand who last summer recorded the slow, agonizing murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.” https://www.dcreport.org/2021/06/09/how-congress-and-you-subsidize-the-richest-americans/
ProPublica fails to note that these billionaires own vast amounts of stock in companies that pay large corporate income taxes. In a recent year, Berkshire Hathaway paid $6 billion in corporate income taxes, and Warren Buffett owns one-third of Berkshire Hathaway. So, didn’t he pay $2 billion of that corporate tax bill? Chip should not have been fooled by the ProPublica ‘exposé.’ Instead of exposing misdeeds on the part of the wealthy, ProPublica exposed the lengths to which some are willing to go to deceive the public in service of the grand progressive campaign for higher taxes.
I remember when Buffett released a summary of his taxes claiming a lower rate on gross income after writing of half of it including a salary he paid to himself.
Not to mention, timid politicians who allow the loopholes to continue. Genuine reform on the part of politicians may put a stop to it but then the donations would dry up , wouldn’t they? Oh, wait a minute…………I see it now…..not timid, merely self interest in keeping their shiny butts on congressional and senate leather seats. Of course. How silly of me.
I am a baby boomer. When I was a kid there was a saying “Don`t trust anyone over 30” (years old). That’s for a lot of reasons not the least of which was drafting teenagers to fill the ranks for combat in Indochina. Why? To keep the communists out of the US. With LBJs Civil Rights Act Jim Crow collapsed. MLK leading the Civil rights charge was murdered by a fanatic convinced the Reverend was a communist. Well, now we have septuagenerarians lining up to make repeated runs to ride the desk in the Oval Office. Not a bright eye or a bright idea of US’s young talent anywhere in the wind. It’s sick. The GOP is numerically inferior. GOP can’t win anywhere without enforcement of voter suppression measuress. Not that Dems are blameless. The Dems were the party of racial segregation and organized injustice. Why? Communists! I don’t believe America’s top leadership should exclude visionary youth from the policymaking and the power of our great and solid people to make a better future than the past ever was. And I don’t mean the mean, new extremist QAnon theorists- their disgraceful toxic rhetorical monkeyshines is a national disgrace.. simply stupid and vile. Youth being a relative term, I would recommend Georgia Governor Brian Kemp for president in 2024. He is solid and trustworthy. I believe Mr. Kemp would represent the people in a rational, dignified manner. Word.
GiantShetlandPony almost 3 years ago
So, it’s only OK for devote Republicans to take advantage of the loopholes for the rich?
I think one of the first of many loopholes and write offs that are only beneficial for the rich they need to get rid of is allowing rich people to write off their private airplane expenses.
William Bednar Premium Member almost 3 years ago
Look at this way; his layers and accounts make a lot of money, the same amount he would actually pay in taxes.
walfishj almost 3 years ago
Look at it this way: HE SAID IT WAS WRONG!
brit-ed almost 3 years ago
Buffet didn’t say they. He said the rich don’t need a tax cut.
VegaAlopex almost 3 years ago
What he said is similar to Robert Kiyosaki. There’s nothing wrong with following the system. The question is why is it that way? Why don’t we change toward the tax system after World War II, when the corporations were under control, and the poor didn’t worship wealth like Calvin Coolidge.
piper_gilbert almost 3 years ago
An army of lawyers, accountants, Republicans, and the people voting Republican.
artegal almost 3 years ago
I have an idea: Let’s go ahead and concede that the usual liberal commentators on these sites are going to blame Trump, Republicans, and billionaires for all the evils in the world. That way, they can stop posting the same inane drivel I see here every day and actually do something productive instead.
(And here is where they all accuse me of doing the same thing in 3…2…1.)
nodjt almost 3 years ago
Don’t blame the lawyers and accountants. Blame the Republicon congress that put all of those special exemptions in the tax code.
IAMTHELAW Premium Member almost 3 years ago
The problem is not that wealthy people employ accountants and lawyers to ensure they pay their taxes legally. The problem is that it is perfectly legal that they pay lower -much lower – tax rates than working people do. Republicans legislators and Republican voters are the ones who keep it that way.
Frankfreak almost 3 years ago
In the past a Democrat President reduced taxes and revenue increased because deductions were also decreased. Republicans never seem to understand how that works. They reduce taxes and there is a slight increase in revenue for a few months and then revenue drops. Thinking this shows tax reductions work, they reduce taxes again. This brought on, in part, Bush2’s great recession. It also contributed to #45’s huge increase in deficit and national debt.
mourdac Premium Member almost 3 years ago
Chip Bok is just jealous that he’s not in that category of wealth.
Flatlander, purveyor of fine covfefe almost 3 years ago
How come they leaked everyones but Donalds?
hawgowar almost 3 years ago
Both sides, actually. Dems and Repubs are equally guilty of tax manipulation for their $olvent friend$. Back when Ted Kennedy was alive, he quietly sent the bulk of his family’s fortune to the Bahamas to avoid paying the “fair share” of taxes he demanded we pay, using rules and legislation he, himself, wrote or sponsored to reduce taxes and protect assets by storing them overseas. Besides, Buffet is a staunch Democrat supporter, as are Bezos, Gates, Zuckerman, etc. Then let us not forget how Soros became a US citizen even though he was found guilty in absentia in France of currency fraud.
Don’t blame billionaires for using the tax loopholes politicians wrote for themselves. Get congress to fair up the tax codes, such as a flat tax rate that must be applied equally to all citizens above the poverty line, regardless of wealth. Say, ten percent with zero deductions. Then if congress wants to raise taxes they have to raise everyone’s taxes by an equal percentage. No “fees” which are merely disguised taxes.
I’m no wealthy person, but even I have a deep distaste for our current tax codes. I will take any discount or dodge the politicians put in the law, although at my level of income that is laughably small. Many of the tax breaks are designed only for millionaires on up, those who have the most money to spend on political campaigns.
Politicians are ultimately corrupt. The only ones who are not, decline to run for a second term out of disgust. By the time they get to national politics level, they have sold their souls so many times even Satan isn’t sure who owns them.
codak almost 3 years ago
I believe now that citizens united was decided as it was etc. that it is not known how much money from the rich is donated to republicans (or democrats for that matter, but republicans seem to perform most of the legislative tricks for their masters )
Carl Premium Member almost 3 years ago
The fact that its cheaper to keep a staff of lawyers and accountants to work on the taxes and that the tax system is set up such that this works says much.
Aliquid almost 3 years ago
So… what kind of point are you trying to make Bok? Hey? That rich people should pay more taxes? Or are you just trying to discredit Buffet because he is a registered Democrat… and you don’t care or even think about the actual political message you are making.
Woodstock Generation Premium Member almost 3 years ago
He will pay tax when he sells or leaves his assets to relatives. He possibly will donate it to charity which may be better for the world than giving it to Republicans to spend on weapons and walls.
I am more concerned about the money launderers and crooks with offshore accounts who will never pay any taxes! What happened to the Panama Papers?
ferddo almost 3 years ago
He would probably pay less overall if he just paid taxes like the rest of us, instead of paying for all of those accountants and lawyers… and politicians…
Red Zinger almost 3 years ago
David Cay Johnston who spent years as American’s top tax journalist just wrote this: “This leak of Internal Revenue Service records is by far the biggest and most important tax news in the 55 years that I’ve reported on taxes. Thanks to the leaker, we now know beyond any doubt that the endless claims America has a progressive income tax system are bunk. … Whoever dared to do this should be hailed as a national hero on a par with Darnella Frazier, the fearless teenage girl with a steady hand who last summer recorded the slow, agonizing murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.” https://www.dcreport.org/2021/06/09/how-congress-and-you-subsidize-the-richest-americans/
Walter Parmantie Premium Member almost 3 years ago
Plus, I own most of Congress…
AndrewSihler almost 3 years ago
Misquote. In one way or another, Buffet pays lots more than his secretary, but his tax rate is very small.
mikeaht almost 3 years ago
ProPublica fails to note that these billionaires own vast amounts of stock in companies that pay large corporate income taxes. In a recent year, Berkshire Hathaway paid $6 billion in corporate income taxes, and Warren Buffett owns one-third of Berkshire Hathaway. So, didn’t he pay $2 billion of that corporate tax bill? Chip should not have been fooled by the ProPublica ‘exposé.’ Instead of exposing misdeeds on the part of the wealthy, ProPublica exposed the lengths to which some are willing to go to deceive the public in service of the grand progressive campaign for higher taxes.
dafydd liam almost 3 years ago
I remember when Buffett released a summary of his taxes claiming a lower rate on gross income after writing of half of it including a salary he paid to himself.
Concretionist almost 3 years ago
At some point, rich people adopt the idea that it’s correct to maximize their retained income. Gawdnose everyone ELSE is doing it.
grumpypophobart almost 3 years ago
Not to mention, timid politicians who allow the loopholes to continue. Genuine reform on the part of politicians may put a stop to it but then the donations would dry up , wouldn’t they? Oh, wait a minute…………I see it now…..not timid, merely self interest in keeping their shiny butts on congressional and senate leather seats. Of course. How silly of me.
radpeckham almost 3 years ago
I am a baby boomer. When I was a kid there was a saying “Don`t trust anyone over 30” (years old). That’s for a lot of reasons not the least of which was drafting teenagers to fill the ranks for combat in Indochina. Why? To keep the communists out of the US. With LBJs Civil Rights Act Jim Crow collapsed. MLK leading the Civil rights charge was murdered by a fanatic convinced the Reverend was a communist. Well, now we have septuagenerarians lining up to make repeated runs to ride the desk in the Oval Office. Not a bright eye or a bright idea of US’s young talent anywhere in the wind. It’s sick. The GOP is numerically inferior. GOP can’t win anywhere without enforcement of voter suppression measuress. Not that Dems are blameless. The Dems were the party of racial segregation and organized injustice. Why? Communists! I don’t believe America’s top leadership should exclude visionary youth from the policymaking and the power of our great and solid people to make a better future than the past ever was. And I don’t mean the mean, new extremist QAnon theorists- their disgraceful toxic rhetorical monkeyshines is a national disgrace.. simply stupid and vile. Youth being a relative term, I would recommend Georgia Governor Brian Kemp for president in 2024. He is solid and trustworthy. I believe Mr. Kemp would represent the people in a rational, dignified manner. Word.
ElJorro almost 3 years ago
Vote Progressive people.
grange almost 3 years ago
Buffet has been saying for decades that the rich should pay more taxes.