Politics and religion.

[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?

[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.

[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.

[RICHARD]

I wonder if the U.S. can recoup some of the 1.1 M we paid for the new Obama bus by renting it out to Buffett, Gates or some of the other bigwig millionaires.

[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.

[Bonny]

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.

But then isn't your gain taxed? Isn't that also considered income?

[Bonny]

I wonder if the U.S. can recoup some of the 1.1 M we paid for the new Obama bus by renting it out to Buffett, Gates or some of the other bigwig millionaires.

I have seen THOSE buses up close. There are two of them. They closed our road & came through yesterday & stopped up the road at the neighbors. They are fancy buses believe me. I also had to pull over at Pizza Hut while they came through today & really saw them up close. Really fancy! One is black & the other is Red shiny & new.

[Lady's Human]

Capital gains are taxed, but the capital gains tax rate is determined in large part by your non-capital gains income tax rate.

Depending on your "regular" income tax bracket, you could wind up paying 0% on those long term shares of Apple stock you got as compensation in lieu of salary last year, as you have to hold stock shares for one year to get the much lower "long term" capital gains rate.

[Grace]

I wonder if the U.S. can recoup some of the 1.1 M we paid for the new Obama bus by renting it out to Buffett, Gates or some of the other bigwig millionaires.

Richard, the new bus belongs to the Secret Service. When the Republicans get their nominee figured out s/he will also have the use of one exactly the same.

[Karen]

I wonder if the U.S. can recoup some of the 1.1 M we paid for the new Obama bus by renting it out to Buffett, Gates or some of the other bigwig millionaires.

I read an article that explained that before now, they would spend lots of money reoutfitting busses each month to be bullet-proof, etc. For once, this seems like a smart investment, a purpose-built vehicle, rather than slapping armor on something else. It would be cooler if it had solar panels on the top to help power it, though!

[Lady's Human]

I read an article that explained that before now, they would spend lots of money reoutfitting busses each month to be bullet-proof, etc. For once, this seems like a smart investment, a purpose-built vehicle, rather than slapping armor on something else. It would be cooler if it had solar panels on the top to help power it, though!

Even with the surface area of the bus, the solar panels might be useful to power the interior accassories, but would do bubkus to help power the monsters.

Would have been a nice tech demonstrator for the BAE commercial hybrid drive systems they're using on the buses around here, though.