Posted on 11/13/2007 12:41:13 PM PST by republicpictures
Warren Buffett has said it before and he's likely to say it again to Congress on Wednesday: He thinks the heirs of the wealthy should be taxed on their inheritance.
Buffett, one of the world's richest men and now its biggest philanthropist, has been an outspoken critic of efforts to repeal the estate tax and is scheduled to testify at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on how current law affects estate tax planning.
[snip]"Without the estate tax, you in effect will have an aristocracy of wealth, which means you pass down the ability to command the resources of the nation based on heredity rather than merit," Buffett told the New York Times in 2001. "[Repeal would be like] choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the eldest sons of the gold-medal winners in the 2000 Olympics."
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Great wealth generally falls apart after 2 or 3 generations. Remember Onasis’s one daughter. Poof.. one of the biggest fortunes in history, gone.
The exception to this rule is pouring money into Foundations (a special extra, mega rich tax dodge for the truly wealthy). The Kennedy Foundation is one example and means all their properties are owned by the foundation — yep, no taxes. No taxes on earnings, either and family members may be paid for administering them.
The sad thing about foundations is that the money is not abiding by free market rules so often it is wasted. And foundations often after several generations get taken over by ‘progressives’. Many of the original donors from the Gilded age would be turning over... and over... and over.
Many small newspapers closed because the profit margin was really slim and presses were really expensive. When the dad dies, the business is bought by the mega paper and closed.
Warren lives in Omaha, Nebraska. We had a quarter of a billion dollar bond issue before the public to fix the older schools. Of course, the bond issue included glass facades and circle drives and a lot of other fluff that could have been cut. So some lone dissenters (yeah.. me included) were passing out single sheets of paper asking for the alternative plan.
So Warren spends $56,000 on the bond issue.
Did he give it the schools for repairs?
He gave it to the school district to print glossy flyers for mailing and yard signs that said, ‘Vote Yes .. For the Kids’
The sad thing is it works over and over and over.. cuz they are so dumbed down!
WARREN BUFFETT RAISED MY TAXES.. so I got cagey.. I moved to Bellevue Nebraska which is even in a different county and guess what? The state legislature just put us all in a ‘learning community’ to help those poor inner city schools by giving them our tax money, too.
They all do it. That’s how the second and third generation airheads can go around the country messing with everyone else’s money. Their grandparents used the loopholes to protect it (as I would have). And they others to pay.
Well Warren, why don’t you start donating your wealth to government, instead of “charity”, if you really believe this BS? Nobody’s stopping you.
The problem with his theory is that the tax goes to government. How does that spread the wealth around or do anybody any good? It will probably end up in the hands of a multibillion dollar agriculture conglomerate or build a bridge to nowhere.
His wife died in 2004.
The market will be the judge of that. If they choose to leave the inheritance idle or make poor investments, they won't have their fortunes for long. If they make good decisions, the market will reward them. The government will surely make worse decisions. Just because he doesn't trust his heirs with an inheritance, doesn't mean there aren't some who are deserving. Using his logic however, a large inheritance tax will enforce an aristocracy of wealth. Tax a $1,000,000 estate at 55%, and you don't leave much to start a business (or keep one), or buy influence. Tax a $100,000,000 estate at 55%, and there is still enough money there to buy more than a few politicians. The least wealthy among the wealthy will be kept down, but the super rich will still be super rich. When you look at it that way, what he says doesn't even make sense.
I wish this idiot would just shut-up. If he wants to enrich the government coffers I’m sure they’ll take all his wealth as a donation.
If he won’t do that he’s simply an attention whore.
Inheritance taxes are practically a pure tax on capital. The long run effect is to reduce the accumulation of capital by reducing the building of estates in the first place. They reduce the demand for labor. They reduce the economic system's overall degree of capital intensiveness. They reduce the demand for capital goods relative to the demand for consumer's goods. They divert funds from capital to consumption.
Notice he isn't volunteering to pay taxes himself before he dies,
....he wants his heirs to pay taxes after he is dead so he doesn't feel the sting.
That's real liberal of him.
welcome to the club.
Thank you. I did not know that. I hope they did an autopsy on her. I know that they were seperated, but not divorced for a long time so the old skin flint would not have to split his money.
BTW he needs some new glasses. Probably too cheap to buy them.
Gotta make sure it adjusts for inflation...
What does he think the government is? It's becoming more and more like the Kremlin every day.
Why doesn’t Congress just pass a tax law that applies to Buffett and others like him. Problem solved.
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