Warren Buffet and Bill Gates have each publicly stated that the rich should pay more in taxes. Buffet has gone so far as to say that the rich have never had it better than now.
Quote:
"I think that people at the high end, people like myself, should be paying a lot more in taxes. We have it better than we've ever had it," he told ABC's Christiane Amanpour in a clip played on "This Week" on Sunday.
When Amanpour pointed to critics' claims that the very wealthy need tax cuts to spur business and capitalism, Buffett replied, "The rich are always going to say that, you know, 'Just give us more money, and we'll go out and spend more, and then it will all trickle down to the rest of you.' But that has not worked the last 10 years, and I hope the American public is catching on."
|
Quote:
|
Buffett isn't the only billionaire who has argued for higher taxes. Both Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his father, Bill Gates, Sr., recently came out in support of a Washington state measure to "create a 5 percent tax rate on annual income exceeding $200,000 for individuals and $400,000 for couples, and a 9 percent tax rate on income that tops $500,000 for individuals and $1 million for couples."
|
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/1..._n_786516.html
Yes, go ahead and say that Buffet is a lapdog of Obama, but the man has only ever paid attention to one thing: his money. Even the help he offered during the financial crisis was to better himself. His public comments, if reported enough, could very well put the spotlight on the taxation of the rich, jeopardizing his own low tax rate, which is something he wouldn't do unless he truly believed both he and others are underpaying.