Wealthy Tax Rate Half That of Folks Who Work For A Living

I've been telling everyone who will listen that the ultra-rich are not only not sharing the sacrifice, they are engorging themselves in a trove of tax loopholes that is making them grow fatter every day.  For every dollar a working person pays in taxes, a wealthy investor pays only fifty cents.  Now the only ultra-rich person I know who shows any soul, Warren Buffett, has laid it all out for us.   I am posting a short excerpt below but a link to the whole article from the NY Times, August 14, 2011.  Go read the whole piece.

Stop Coddling the Super-Rich

By WARREN E. BUFFETT

Omaha

OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.

While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.

These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.

Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.

If you make money with money, as some of my super-rich friends do, your percentage may be a bit lower than mine. But if you earn money from a job, your percentage will surely exceed mine — most likely by a lot...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/stop-coddling-the-super-rich.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print

THANK UNIONS

THANK UNIONS

If you enjoy a weekend off now and then, you can thank labor unions.

If you had a holiday off this year, you can thank labor unions.

If you take a week or two off to relax in the summer, you can thank labor unions.

If you can afford a place to live and can put food on the table, you can thank  labor unions.

If you have a pension at your job, you can thank labor unions.

If you are not fired when you are out sick, you can thank labor unions.

If you get paid sick time, you can thank labor unions.

If you are home for supper and can tuck your children in bed, you can thank labor unions.

If your employer tries to keep you safe on the job, you can thank labor unions.

If you aren't fired if you get hurt on the job, you can thank labor unions.

If you get paid time off after being hurt on the job, you can thank labor unions.

If you aren't fired when your boss' nephew needs a job, you can thank labor unions.

If you get extra pay or time off for working extra hours, you can thank labor unions.

Most of us don't have to be in a union today to enjoy these benefits. 

We just have to live in the beautiful parts of American life that labor unions built.

Stop Spanking Unions!  

Start Thanking Unions!

Create Jobs - Starting at the IRS

Now even conservative economists agree that creating jobs, rather than reducing federal spending, should be our priority.  At the same time congress won’t raise taxes, close loop holes or borrow money to stimulate job growth. What’s a country to do? 

Here’s an idea:  Double the IRS so it can go after wealthy and corporate tax cheats. 

Everyone knows our tax structure favors the rich.  We also know that corporations and rich folk hold no special regard for paying taxes, but the tax code does give them more opportunities to scheme.  Every IRS agent hired to audit wealthy and corporate tax returns would surely recover more in unpaid taxes then their annual salary, so the plan costs us nothing.  When companies like GE make billions in profits, submit a 22,000 page tax returns and claim to owe nothing, the IRS could actually scrutinize that claim.  When the ultra-rich stuff hundereds of fancy deductions in their returns, the IRS might have the staff to see if each deduction is actually allowed.  Forget for now the battle to raise taxes or close corporate loop holes.  Just collecting what everyone owes might be enough to get the rest of us back to work.