Posted on 01/04/2020 8:27:49 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates rejected the idea of voluntarily donating to the U.S. Treasury after calling for the U.S. government to raise taxes on the wealthy.
"When I say the government needs to raise more money, some people ask why Melinda and I dont voluntarily pay more in taxes than the law requires," Gates, the second-richest person in the world, wrote in a recent blog post. "The answer is that simply leaving it up to people to give more than the government asks for is not a scalable solution. People pay taxes as an obligation of law and citizenship, not out of charity. Additional voluntary giving will never raise enough money for everything the government needs to do."
In June, PJM had asked Gates if he plans to voluntarily donate to the federal government in the absence of tax increases but he did not respond to the question.
Gates argued that "Americans in the top one percent can afford to pay a lot more before they stop going to work or creating jobs." He referred to the creation of Microsoft to support his position on taxes.
"In the 1970s, when Paul Allen and I were starting Microsoft, marginal tax rates were almost twice the top rate today. It didnt hurt our incentive to build a great company," he said.
Gates called for increasing the capital gains tax, "probably to the same level as taxes on labor" as well as raising the estate or "death" tax.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a Democratic presidential candidate, has called for the implementation of a "wealth tax." Gates explained that he supports "taxing large fortunes that have been held for a long time," perhaps "ten years or more."
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
So much for putting his money where is mouth is.
Note to Gates: Talk is cheaper, eh?
In fairness, they are awesome hot dogs.
Howie Carr,a great Boston talk host and columnist,regularly points out the fact that in this state of about 6 million people only a few hundred check that box each year.
“and one of the purposes of that is to sell you something.”
No, YOU are the product.
The people whose incomes are almost entirely Capital Gains demand higher taxes on ordinary income.
That is: secretly and anonymously give away all but $10 million of his net worth to *real* charities...ones that send food to Africa rather than ones that fund art galleries...and to,furthermore, give all but $250,000 of his gross income to those same charities every year.
Of course he'll never do that because he's every bit as phony as Zuckerberg,Steyer,Doomberg,DiCaprio,DiNiro,Lard A$$ Michael Moore,Rosie O'Donuts,Ellen Degenerate...
That’s disgusting. Politicians are bargaining for votes using the fruits of your labor as their bargaining chip.
“Additional voluntary giving will never raise enough money for everything the government needs to do.”
What the government “needs to do” is stopping finding reasons why it needs to extract more money from the taxpayers. Our government’s role has steadily increased over time (with ever more bureaucrats on the payroll). This is where the “needs” usually arise.
Read: most rich people wont so im not gonna.
Bill Gates is a POS that complains American IT workers make too much money and thus worked ( bribed politicians ) tirelessly to undercut wages through H-1B WHILE SITTING ON BILLIONS THAT HE WILL DIE WITH.
How about MicroSoft stop hiring H-1B scabs and let Americans work for a change? There’s a thought.
Higher taxes for Thee but not for me.
It might not be a “scalable solution” for tax policy but it works wonders on eliminating the perception of hypocrisy.
Hey, Bill! How about we eliminate tax-free foundations, where rich people tie up their money for decades, and then live off it in luxury, like the Clintoons? How about that for a first step? You can have your foundation, but it pays taxes. Sound good?
I said it was only one of the purposes. People being the product is another purpose.
Flaming hypocrite. The world will be better off when Bill Gates is dead.
The tax code was built to allow politicians to extort who they want to extort and to promote who they want to promote.
Those who are promoted pay. Those who are extorted don’t understand the game. If they do, then they’ll be promoted too.
I know a US Senator that paid Mr. Gates a visit one day. This was a day in which the entire lobbying effort by MSFT was a single guy who worked in Olympia to look after MSFTs interests in WA State.
The Senator, who was married to someone who grew up in WA State, came to visit him during a time where he was visiting her family.
He recalled first-hand the conversation, where in Gates was explained how it all worked. Gates became incensed, and threw the Senator out of his office, hurling a string of expletives at the man’s back as he left.
Not long after the Clinton Admin threatened to break MSFT up into six companies. Not long after that MSFT had the most extensive lobbying effort in DC. They averted the break up.
Put this a$$holes latest statement about taxation in that context.
Gates needs to put his money where his mouth is or STFU...
The rich will just end up moving the wealth into non-taxable charitable trusts like Gates so raising the tax on the rich will not affect them.
I say do away with non-taxable charitable trusts or make them taxable at certain percent.
Businesses move to Delaware as a tax haven. The rich will find a way to keep their money, period.
Gates is a walking phallus seeking to buy redemption with his massive wealth.
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