Watch: Warren Buffett Calls For Tax Reform

Warren Buffett sat down with Tom Brokaw on "NBC Nightly News" last night to discuss his problems with the US tax structure. He described an informal poll of his office, where the average tax rate was 32.9 percent, compared to his 17.7 percent, citing that as evidence that "the tax system has titled toward the rich in the last 10 years." He also talked about hedge fund managers and the lower tax rates they enjoy. Watch:

From NBC, 10/29

Buffett prefers a progressive consumption tax system. Share your thoughts on that in the comments.

Comments

[TXfemmom]

With the value of the dollar as it is now, if some of the tax reform doesn't take place soon, and some decrease in spending, as in war expenditures, it won't matter what is done.

Bush has dug a hole which is so deep it is burying us alive, and if Cheney has his way and starts it with Iran, it will be the fall of the American Empire.

[GTrollPatrol]

boo

[GTrollPatrol]

funny how editors here have become MSM gatekeepers too

must be that new girl that came in

[vippy]

Flat Tax - I rather pay 17% flat tax than my
current tax rate. And no deductions for anyone. That would be fair! Those who make nothing, will pay next to nothing. But I see
where most people have a problem with math!
And of course Fox News and the elite are against it, they benefit from this current mess.

[DanBest]

Well atleast you're honest. Those who make nothing (those that don't pay any income tax now) will pay next to nothing. I see. I'd rather pay next to nothing than nothing. Is my math right?

[Annette]

Your math is confusing at best. First you should define your terms. Then you might take a logic course which would enable you to decide what you mean.

[GTrollPatrol]

lol

how very very uninformed u all are and sad

Buffet is nothing more than a high profile CIA asset from the 50s why u think he owns so much CocaCola stock??? where there's Coke there is CIA. u think he made all his dirty money the hard way? lol

As for taxes, pray tell me how the private trust from Puerto Rico called the IRS tricks you all into volunteering each year to pay taxes as a Virgin Island Resident funneling that river of fiat money not to the GOV (corporate and excise taxes pays GOV expenses) but to that other Private Trust called the Federal Reserve and it's very private owners

WAKE UP PEOPLE

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

This mindset borders on the psychotic rather akin to those people who slump in front of the White House, good weather or foul, acclaiming/declaiming some unseen tormentor.

[GTrollPatrol]

sure keep drinking the Kool-aide

this is how dumbed down Americans have become

they actually defend their own serfdom

sad

[Jimmyboyo]

Ugh a no income tax fool who will end up in jail eventually by not paying Income tax.

[GTrollPatrol]

pray tell me

how i can go to jail for not paying a voluntary tax that has been unlawfully foisted onto dumb unthinking americans like yourself???

America: Freedom to Fascism ---- see it on video.google.com

oh and to the poster way above the 16th amendment was NOT ratified and even if it was the Supremes along ago that concluded that NO new taxing powers where given to the Congress

do the research

[olephart]

There's not much to add to those statements, except its worse than Mr. Buffett is projecting. Most people only think of the income tax and possibly Social Security when talking about who pays what. All the supply side dunderheads that point to the upper this % pays that % of taxes and the bottom half doesn't pay and they get a free ride blah, blah, blah. Well they never mention all the sales taxes and property taxes (renters pay their landlord's property taxes) and gas taxes etc. It's just income tax this or that. They also don't mention that State and Local taxes have increased to make up for cuts in Federal spending at those levels. They don't mention that dividends and capital gains are taxed at 15% while middle class couples pay almost 33% including Social Security contributions. Remember, there's no Social Security taken out of UNEARNED income. Since the Reagan tax overhaul, the Social Security payments that were suppose to be put away for the baby boom generation were, as you prefer, either spent in lieu of income tax receipts or rebated to the upper 1% as tax cuts. Despite more money coming from the bottom 90% of the income earners the Government has fallen 9 trillion dollars in debt. All of this has been foisted upon those who have the most to lose, those who work for a living and believed that the tax cuts included them.

[mrcontinental]

That about sums it up olephart, well done.

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

Yes, the neocons drone on and on about job creating power of the Reagan/Bush tax cuts. All the same, whatever properity the U.S. ENJOYS(?) is based on BORROWED MONEY, the 9 trillion mentioned. However, the neocons knew that next to no Americans understand PUBLIC FINANCE--much less its implications for the future. They knew, however, the effectively apotropaic power of the words "tax cut"--and the Bush adm. actually handed out cash to many, stupid Americans.

Ross Perot tried to raise the awareness of the American public to its increasing indebtedness. All the same, the something-for-nothing pledge of the neocons that tax cuts would create jobs has the irresistable appeal of IMMEDIATE GRATIFICATION!

[JohnCitizen]

THE SUPPLY-SIDE SCAM

The George Bush $3 trillion dollar tax giveaway to the rich over the past 6 years has been a disaster for average Americans. Supply-side (trickle-down) economics is a bogus theory promoted by those who benefit from it. In a mature capitalist system, supply side never rules, it is always the demand side of the equation that governs growth and well-being. Think about the 1930s Depression, General Motors had plenty of supply, but demand evaporated.

Previous U.S. economic downturns have been cured with only $200 billion in tax cuts targeted to the middle class, because the consumer (the great middle class and 2/3rds of the economy) spends that tax cut and primes the economic pump. But George Bush has raised the debt that our children and grandchildren will have to pay from almost $6 trillion to over $9 trillion for current economic growth (i.e. we all get trickled on, as the rich spend some small fraction of their gains). Unfortunately, this supply-side growth has been largely and uniquely without wage gains, and so has shrunk the middle class that makes America strong and great. Also, this growth has already ended ($3 trillion flushed down the toilet and gone!), as the FED has had to cut interest rates because recession looms.

Corporations (the supply side) are now loaded with cash, but there is no place to spend it because they do not see any demand. So many corporations are using that cash to buy back their stock - WOW, supply side is wonderful in how it fulfills our needs (NOT)?? Meanwhile, no demand indicates that the middle class is slowly being tapped out, as home values (most of their net worth and the credit card of last resort) are stagnant or falling in price, and a considerable number of homeowners are heading for foreclosure. With the rich-poor divide increasing, we are headed toward previous shining examples of trickle-down economics: South America of the recent past and feudalism in the Middle Ages (South America and feudalism also had no wage gains!).

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

Yes, the trickle down lie only transfers more WEALTH to those with high incomes: Either they bid up domestic assets or invest in mfg. outside the U.S.

The Democrats must overcome their fear of being tagged with "raising taxes"--rather than transferring via overseas borrowing wealth accumulated by the middle class.

[olivia]

If Verizon joins Google I will have to boycott Google too --- and I will.

I do no business with companies that eagerly violate my privacy on behalf of BushCo.

[WorkingClass]

Warren Buffett is both knowledgeable and honest. A rare combination. That said - is he really calling for "a progressive consumption tax system"? How do you make a sales tax progressive? Why would you intentionally create a black market for EVERYTHING? Somebody?

[apogee2perogee]

Basing it on 'value added'. When a product is a simple supply, say flour, most of the price is raw materials, shipping, etc. The tax is on the markup only, so the tax is small. Conversely, luxury goods have a large profit margin and that results in a large tax.

[DRaymond]

Still that does not make the tax progresive because the rich spenc a smaller percentage of their wealth on purhases.

The other problem is that when taxes of any form start to get into double digits there will be creatve minds put behind how to avoid it...barter, complex leases, service agreements, whatever.

It is very easy to create a better tax system on paper. Making one in the real world is the challenge.

[mrcontinental]

You should have thought of that while the greedy were to busy screwing the worker bees out of trillions. Now with crippling inflation inevitable once interest rates have to go up, and sooner or later they must go up to attract foreign investors, "The Great Depression: The Sequel" will make 1930 look down right rosy in comparision.

Buffet is trying to give the rest of the 1% a wake up call but they will tell him to take a hike and demand MORE tax cuts so they can "trickle" them overseas to try and hoard every damn cent of their bilions.

The rest of you better get ready for life that will make mexico look attractive as a relocation option because it's coming folks.

[Prakosh]

Buffett paying 17.7 percent. Cheney paying just over 11 percent on nearly $11 Million in income last year. The rich paying minimal rates while the poor and middle class are paying around 30 percent. And generally that doesn't count the social security that takes a much greater chunk out of those who make less than $50,000 than it does out of those who make millions. The poor and the middle class pay more as a percentage than the rich as a result of the Bush tax breaks. As far as these statements showing up anywhere else I'm not surprised. Most of the people working in television are making enough money that a reduction in the tax cuts for the rich will directly affect their rate. They are not going to increase their own taxes if they can help it. So I wouldn't imagine they will be showing Buffett's responses any time soon or at all.

[SaviourMachine]

Buffett(Forbes listed him second richest person in the world,Gates being first richest person,2007)gave 83% of his fortune to charity,the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,which approximately amounts to $30 billion dollars.

And here he is speaking about the injustice of the tax cuts that favor him.

He is a king among men.

[joebaggadonuts]

reminds me of the 15th Century philosopher Erasmus, who claimed that "In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."

I don't know why, but I wanted to share that.

[mrcontinental]

One of my favorite quotes.

[localman]

He's also staunchly in favor of population reduction and eugenics. gotta love those elites who think that OUR lives and OUR childrens lives need to be ended to bring balance to the world. This guy's rotten elite just like the Gates', the Murdoch's, the Rockefellers, et al.

[Annette]

He is not in favor of eugenics. He is an advocate of birth control availability and has been since the 1950's. He is also in favor of a womans right to choose and has been since the 1950s. That isn't eugenics. Get your facts.

[goldgoose]

Warren Buffet is a liberal democrat posing as a Neocon, when it comes to taxation. He also opposes California’s inequitable Proposition 13 real estate tax assessment which robs from the poor and gives to the rich and is a detriment to public schools, police protection, and fire protection. He turns out to be an intelligent, humble, and compassionate person and to whom no one listens. The rich hear him and try to drown him out and the poor are too busy trying to put bread on the table to hear what he has to say.
He embarrassed Governor Schwarzenegger when he justly blamed Proposition 13 for California’s budget woes and Scwarzenegger had the audacity to tell Buffet to shut up, after the Terminator asked Buffet to be his financial advisor.
It is a crazy world and Buffet is a sheep in wolf’s clothing.

[kfdan]

Buffett is one of the smartest guys around and a rare home boy among the rich!

[JDBishop5]

Obvious, honest, and inevitable. Also, too late. The 'middle class' has sat around, bought into Reagan's smiles and the Bush/Bush/Cheney bullshit, and let the GOP distract them with Clinton's BJ until the game is over and the good guys lost.