Quote Originally Posted by Centurion1 View Post
Now lets address the glaring inaccuracies which Buffet is bringing up. His characterization of payroll taxes is absurd. Those taxes are capped for the very reason of avoiding a huge retirement payout to the wealthy later on. So obviously he does not have as high a burden. Every capped tax in the Us meant to protect the payout service later on is obviously going to have a higher burden on the less wealthy. And Romney's comment regarding corporate taxes, let alone where Buffet made the majority of his money last fiscal year is highly relevant and conveniently avoided by buffet in his op-ed.


Buffets constant griping about taxes are all self serving. If he really wants to give more money to the federal government he should just donate it, which is totally legal and doesn't garner him any benefits.
Why should there be a retirement payout based on taxes?

Surely retirement should be up to the individual with a pension for those who haven't saved enough (which should be above the poverty line). In Australia we are a social democracy, but we do not pay back anyone more then the pension... those who are wealthy do not get an extra handout... instead for the last twenty years we have had superannuation... very similar to a tax, but ultimately it functions more like a private pension fund... so the government doesn't have to fund retirement to the same degree.

Warren Buffet has already pledged most of his wealth to charities, the statements he has made are consistent with this and with one of the greater American tradition of philanthropy. How is it self-serving to serve ones nation?

I find it distasteful that after all the corporate bailouts that the rich and the corporations are not ready to help dig the US out of it's collective hole... one that was dug by those avoiding their duties. As modern nations we admire our young who join the military and serve their nations in their time of need. But for some reason we think it is fine for our old to be Scrooges and not serve their nation with their wealth. There is a logical inconsistency in this, it seems to me that we are expecting the poor to die for the wealth of the rich, but the rich aren't expected to do anything for the poor.