NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, saying he doesn’t want to be “coddled” by Congress, says that wealthier Americans should pay higher taxes, and that higher taxes do not dampen job growth.
Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, Fortune 500), wrote in an op-ed piece published Monday in Le New York Times que taxes should be raised on Americans who make at least $1 million per year.
“While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks,” wrote Buffett, who has mentioned in past interviews that the rich should pay higher taxes.
On the same day it was published, Buffett’s op-ed became an applause line for President Obama, who used it to hammer home his call for higher taxes on the rich.
“You’re paying more than that,” Obama told the crowd at a town hall meeting in Minnesota. “Et — now I may be wrong, but I think you’re a little less wealthy than Warren Buffett. That’s just a guess.”
The philanthropist said that his 2010 federal tax bill, including income and payroll taxes, a été $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%.
He said that 40 million jobs were created between 1980 et 2000, when the tax rate for the rich was higher than it is now. “You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation,” he wrote.
Buffett proposed that Congress impose a higher tax rate on millionaires, and an even higher tax rate on those making at least $10 million per year.
“My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress,” he wrote. “It’s time for our gov
Buffett, a Wall Street guru who has made billions during his 60 years of investing, has pledged to donate 99% of his wealth to charity.
In a recent interview with Fortune, Buffett said he still believes the United States is an AAA-rated nation, en dépit de l' recent Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the credit rating. He said he also continuing to buy stocks, because recent market volatility has created lots of deals.
Source: CNN Money
Août 22, 2011 à 1:53 à la
Je applaudir Waren Buffett, and Bill Gates and who ever joins them in this effort to help. Everybody is blaming the President for the job situation, but what most people forget or are ignorant to the fact is most Corporations are ran by highly conservative CEO’s and are mostly Republicans. Non seulement ils n'aiment pas ne le fait de donner des salaires équitables, mais ils ne veulent pas suport tout ce qui va réduire leur marge de profit. Cela veut dire donner que quelques benifits aux employés posiible, comme les soins de santé, Pensions, Salaires vivables et dans certains cas des congés de maladie. Le président Obama par lui-même ne peut pas créer des emplois, seules les sociétés par actions. Dominque unless there is a mass boycott, or uprising or mass prostest nothing will be done and there will be wide spread voter aphathy in the next election. Everybody dosen’t listen to Front Page in this country and most aren’t educated on the Political process otherwise the Republicans would of never gain control of the House of Repersenitives. Dominque Check out 60 minutes sur le segment 08/14/11