Politics and religion.

[Grace]

I think a minute or two of high voltage electricity would be cheaper than feeding the Bast*** for 119 years ???

Considering the trial is in Texas, that sentence would not be outside the realm of possibility.

[lizbud]

A refreshing point of view.

http://www.theindychannel.com/money/...66/detail.html

[Lady's Human]

That's all well and good, but Buffet would be relatively immune from those taxes. He makes relatively little in "income", only $100,000 per year, which doesn't even put him in the top bracket.

You could raise income taxes to 50% and it wouldn't affect him one bit.

If Buffet thinks his taxes are too low, why doesn't he write a check to the IRS?

[lizbud]

That's all well and good, but Buffet would be relatively immune from those taxes. He makes relatively little in "income", only $100,000 per year, which doesn't even put him in the top bracket.

You could raise income taxes to 50% and it wouldn't affect him one bit.

If Buffet thinks his taxes are too low, why doesn't he write a check to the IRS?

Quote: "The philanthropist said that his 2010 federal tax bill, including income and payroll taxes, was $6,938,744.


"That sounds like a lot of money," wrote the Omaha, Neb.-based billionaire. "But what I paid was only 17.4% of my taxable income - and that's actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office."

He added that some investment managers were taxed only 15% on billions of dollars in income. He compared that to the middle class, with its income tax bracket of up to 25%."

[Puckstop31]

Liz, do you know the difference between an income tax and a capital gains tax? Do you know why the difference is significant? Do you even care?

[Bonny]

Liz, do you know the difference between an income tax and a capital gains tax? Do you know why the difference is significant? Do you even care?

I care! Please explain in laymens language so a person can understand what you are saying.

[Lady's Human]

To put it in a nutshell, the reason CEOs take $1 salaries and other stunts is because their salaries affect their capital gains tax rate.

If your ordinary income tax (prior to capital gains and other income) is 10%, (as in you took a $1 salary for running Apple) your short term cap gains rate would be 10%, and your long term cap gains tax would be 0%.

It's rather disingenuous for Mr. Buffet to pay the taxes he does, in part based on his "meager" $100,000 salary, which is structured to take advantage of a loophole in the tax code, and then claim he isn't paying enough in taxes.

Again, if he doesn't think he pays enough in taxes, write a check to D.C..

It's all P.R. stunts, and people are taking the bait, hook, line and sinker.

[Puckstop31]

I care! Please explain in laymens language so a person can understand what you are saying.

Just to add a little to what LH said....


Income tax = What working stiffs understand. A tax paid on money you earn in the traditional way, generally a salary paid by an employer to an employee.

Capital Gains tax = You buy something (stocks, buildings, companies, etc....) and sell it for a profit. You invested capital and made a gain on that investment by selling it for a higher price than you paid.

[Puckstop31]

I think Mr. Buffet is missing the point....

There is plenty of liquidity out there. The big evil bankers are sitting on a lot of cash, most of it from the "stimulus". The question that should be asked, in relation to job creation is WHY are companies not willing to spend that cash on hiring new employees. Or perhaps ask why the banks are they not willing to loan that money to companies to spend? What happens when those trillions of dolllars actually get put into circulation, when there is already a lack of faith in the value of the dollar?

Taxing all the millionaries at 100% would barely put a dent in the debt, which, IMO, is what they are afraid of.