...”Funny thing is, it turns out Buffett was being… shall we say ... disingenuous when he claimed his “leaders” never got around to asking for his “shared sacrifice.” His company, Berkshire Hathaway, has been fighting the IRS tooth and nail to avoid paying its federal tax bill for nearly a decade”...
Is it possible that Buffet is currying favor with the current administration so that he can slide by without paying his taxes? When I think of how the normal person out here jumps through hoops to satisfy the IRS for fear of government retribution, news like this makes me heartsick, though I now realize that, for the most part, in our day, government is just a big corrupt, rob the common folks, game. Only very, very hard times will turn this kind of thing around.
No, I think Buffett's angle is, he wants FedGov to increase the IRS squeeze on ordinary income as an alternative to messing with his capital gains treatment and his similarly-structured comp as a money-runner; many financial advisory types have their comp structured as participation in capital gains of the vehicle and pay cap-gains rates on what we mere mortals would consider ordinary income.
I think that's his game.