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Here is a CNBC interview by Becky Quick of CNBC with the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett. No doubt, Warren is a brilliant guy and legendary investor, etc. etc. But near the end of this interview, he makes an amazing statement on why it's impossible for John McCain to capture his vote and support in the upcoming Presidential election. Because McCain doesn't share Buffett's belief that America's tax-burden should be shifted significantly toward the wealthiest Americans, Warren Buffett can't consider him.

Think about this: of all the issues facing America today, the deciding one for Warren Buffett is "who promises to stick-it most to the wealthiest Americans the most on taxes"? And as everyone knows (and history has shown), jacking up tax rates even selectively has awful consequences for the economy, for jobs, AND for government revenues.

1 posted on 05/05/2008 7:35:06 AM PDT by ReleaseTheHounds
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To: ReleaseTheHounds
It's been pretty amazing to me that Buffett and Gates both are seemingly business and financial geniuses, but babes in the woods about politics and what really makes our economy work.

Buffett is the proof that one can be both an idiot and an genius at the same time.

And of course, Buffett's income is sheltered and structured so that if the tax burden shifts more to the upper brackets than today, he will not have to pay one penny more. Methinks he's a hypocrite, too.

2 posted on 05/05/2008 7:38:49 AM PDT by WarEagle (Can America survive a President named Hussein?)
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To: ReleaseTheHounds

It’s about control.


3 posted on 05/05/2008 7:41:29 AM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote.)
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To: ReleaseTheHounds

here’s the most compelling argument for lowering taxes on the rich:

if it cost you 600 to move money into a tax shelter to save 1000 in taxes would you?

if it cost you 600 to move money into a tax shelter to save 500 in taxes would you?


4 posted on 05/05/2008 7:42:32 AM PDT by camle (keep an open mind and someone will fill it full of something for you)
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To: ReleaseTheHounds

The top 5% pay what percentage of the total income taxes?


6 posted on 05/05/2008 7:43:55 AM PDT by Spouting Horn (Terrorism is a tactic. The battle's against Shariah and Jihad.)
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To: ReleaseTheHounds

If you are extremely wealthy, and you can manipulate the government into destroying your competitors, your wealth becomes more valuable..............


9 posted on 05/05/2008 7:49:04 AM PDT by Red Badger ( We don't have science, but we do have consensus.......)
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To: ReleaseTheHounds

The frumpy and grumpy billionaire living in Omaha, has done a fantastic PR job of appearing to be anything but an elitist. But politics do not lie, living in Omaha and dining at Dairy Queen does not make one immune from being an elitist.He is in an elitist just like Barry and makes Obama’a sugar mama billionaire Oprah look like a populist.


10 posted on 05/05/2008 7:57:08 AM PDT by Biblebelter (Barry, your Uncle Jeremiah is speaking now, Barry can you hear him, Barry what you say now.)
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To: ReleaseTheHounds

He is a red dupe and a dumbass then.

The Marxists seek to eliminate the middle class. EVERYONE above the poverty level will have a tax increase under Clinton-Obama.


11 posted on 05/05/2008 7:57:47 AM PDT by weegee (Vote Obama 2008 for a bitter America.)
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To: ReleaseTheHounds

I didnt hear a thing they said, Liz Claman kept me distracted.


12 posted on 05/05/2008 7:58:10 AM PDT by isom35
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To: ReleaseTheHounds
Buffett's claim that he wants to raise taxes on "the rich" is hollow.

Billionaires like Buffett and multi-millionaires will always be able to strcuture their enormous assets into trsust that avoid tax liability.

What Buffett wants to do is to impose crippling taxes on people whose net worth is between $500,000-$2,000,000 or so.

People who are doing very well, but who are not so wealthy that they are able to retain a team of lawyers to set up and maintain a carefully structured system of trusts.

In other words, Buffett wants to tax his potential competition into penury so he and his tier of the superrich can breathe easier.

16 posted on 05/05/2008 8:01:04 AM PDT by wideawake (Why is it that those who call themselves Constitutionalists know the least about the Constitution?)
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To: ReleaseTheHounds
Because McCain doesn't share Buffett's belief that America's tax-burden should be shifted significantly toward the wealthiest Americans, Warren Buffett can't consider him.

That, among other things, is immoral.

18 posted on 05/05/2008 8:01:49 AM PDT by Crawdad (If you're in a fair fight, your tactics suck.)
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To: ReleaseTheHounds

Buffet makes a big deal that his investment income is given more favorable tax treatment than his secretary’s wages. But the supposed genius misses an important point. When people earn interest, dividends, or capital gains, they typically do so on money that has already been taxed. IOW, the principal usually comes from wages which were already taxed the same way that his secretary’s salary is.

Is this concept that difficult to understand? I have taken a grand total of one elementary economics course in my life and I get it.


19 posted on 05/05/2008 8:04:29 AM PDT by freespirited
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To: ReleaseTheHounds
Warren Buffett is big on abortion. How much do you want to bet that's the real motive behind his political choice?
21 posted on 05/05/2008 8:15:14 AM PDT by Question_Assumptions
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To: ReleaseTheHounds
Buffet used to stay out of view for the most part, but the last year or 2 he has made himself somewhat of a celebrity.

I think he is jockeying for a power position in a Rat administration and wants to help them win.

A certain percentage of the mushy middle will think "Wow - if the genius Warren Buffet thinks the Rats are better, they must be. He knows what he's talking about. Look how successful he is." In other words, he is trying to sway the election.

Another stupid commie parasite that doesn't understand that killing the host will ruin him in the long run. What a maroon.

22 posted on 05/05/2008 8:15:34 AM PDT by bankwalker (In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.)
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To: ReleaseTheHounds

Did he pop-the-question to Becky?


24 posted on 05/05/2008 8:17:10 AM PDT by devane617
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To: ReleaseTheHounds

How many jobs has Buffett created? My guess is a lot less than zero, probably negative thousands.


25 posted on 05/05/2008 8:17:54 AM PDT by palmer
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To: ReleaseTheHounds

Self-made rich people often have the delusion that because they know how to make money, they know how to rule. In truth, there is a point of diminishing returns with wealth.

Becoming a millionaire or multi-millionaire shows that you know how create wealth, at least for yourself, and maybe for others. But becoming a billionaire or multi-billionaire shows that you have that skill to the exclusion of other skills. That is, you are *less* capable. In some cases, approaching the gift of the idiot-savant: the *only* thing you can do is make money. Otherwise, walking and chewing gum at the same time are a challenge.

This is self-evident because there is likewise a law of diminishing returns with what you can *do* with your money. This is because, beyond a certain point, about the only thing you can do with your money is reinvest it.

Someone with more ability will achieve a level of wealth at which point they will have earned “enough”, by their own standards, to enable them to do other things, unrelated to wealth. For them, money becomes a tool, not an end in itself. This shows a higher level of ability.

In the case of Warren Buffet, he has made a realization that for him, and he imagines his peers as well, money is starting to actually impede his path in doing other things. In some weird way, he probably thinks it will help other rich people if the government takes away a lot of their money.

Another billionaire, Michael Bloomberg, is even worse off, as wealth has trained him that he can be like a dictator. People do what he says, because he has money. But see how this has turned ugly when he achieved democratic power.

He does not like guns, and smoking, and whatever, so he think he can just order it to stop, and people have to do what he says, because they always do what he says. And to some extent he does get what he wants. But eventually, the public will say a loud and resounding “No!” to his whims, because that is not how things are normally done in a democracy.

In won’t matter that he is a billionaire. His job is not to order people around, but to do what they want.


29 posted on 05/05/2008 8:30:18 AM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy
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To: ReleaseTheHounds

Buffett hasn’t met a tax he doesn’t like...amazing! Both he and Gates are giving their inheritances away...sticking it to the kids! Kind of an adult abortion family plan! My guess is senility has set in, but what ever it is it’s contagious, Gates has it as well!


30 posted on 05/05/2008 8:42:42 AM PDT by CRBDeuce (an armed society is a polite society)
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To: ReleaseTheHounds
And as everyone knows (and history has shown), jacking up tax rates even selectively has awful consequences for the economy, for jobs, AND for government revenues.

"The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the large financial centers has owned the government of the U.S. since the days of Andrew Jackson." - Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945), from a letter to Colonel Edward Mandell House, 1933

31 posted on 05/05/2008 8:44:18 AM PDT by Hebrewbrother (Dissent - The Highest Form Of Patriotism.....source unknown...BTDMIAS!)
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To: ReleaseTheHounds
As a result of specialized intelligence, dogged determination, and a good deal of luck; the likes of Ford, Buffett, and Soros eventually elevate their fortunes to the point where they come to believe that they have also elevated their understanding of how the world should be run. It's an old story and may have its roots in the desire to manipulate the system for even more wealth; or it may be merely an illusion of grandeur. Buffett has everything that our system can provide in the way of the material; but common sense is only bestowed by nature—a system which cannot ultimately be manipulated.

Here is a sampling of Buffett the buffoon's political stupidity.
33 posted on 05/05/2008 8:57:49 AM PDT by PerConPat (A politician is an animal which can sit on a fence and yet keep both ears to the ground.-- Mencken)
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To: ReleaseTheHounds
why it's impossible for John McCain to capture his vote

Warren Buffett's lack of wisdom serves to illustrate the wisdom of Thomas Sowell's observation.

"Senator John McCain could never convince me to vote for him. Only Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama can cause me to vote for McCain."

35 posted on 05/05/2008 9:56:52 AM PDT by MosesKnows (Love many, Trust few, and always paddle your own canoe)
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