Sunday, September 4, 2011
Stop Fondling The Super Rich
After reading Warren Buffett's short article "Stop Coddling the Super Rich" I have determined that I agree with him only to a certain extent. Buffett claims that since him and his billionaire friends make hundreds of times more than the average American, then they should be taxed a larger percent of their income. This way we could cut back on the taxes of the impoverished, or even use the extra money to help them. This idea is great at face value simply because at the end of the day, you could cut most of these people's income in half, and they'd still have enough to live more then comfortably. Buffett claims that America has a "billionaire-friendly Congress" but I'd argue that this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Many Billionaires are the largest philanthropists in our country, donating huge sums of money. It's important that we not anger these touchy rich people. If they feel betrayed and we as a country lose their trust, they may lose their want to donate. All in all I'd say Buffett has a pretty solid plan and it seems pretty fair, but I think that it shouldn't come at the expense of angering these people too much.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree, Noah. I think this country absolutely has a "billionaire-friendly" congress because of how much they give back. But I don't think it's fair to let the little people suffer and cater to the rich just so they don't get upset. I think that what warren really means is that if one person should suffer, we all should..it's only fair.
ReplyDeleteNoah, thats a good point. Most of these billionaires do donate and invest a lot of money and to frustrate them may cause more problems than it would solve.
ReplyDeleteI'd say the ability to spend excess tax money on important issues such as education, poverty, and health care is a bit more important than a wealthy philanthropist donating money to a museum or art institute. That should be the government's job anyway.
ReplyDelete