Buffett Should Stick To What He Knows
Jun 27, 2017 Obamacare, Political, Tyranny
I don’t know how many times Warren Buffett will have to be wrong before people stop listening to him. I know he is pretty good at investing and he has billions of dollars but he should probably stick to the things he knows in order to avoid looking like a fool. Buffett once quipped about the fact he paid a lower tax rate than his secretary despite making so much more. His income was from capital gains and hers was ordinary income. Both are taxed at different rates (capital gains are lower). The liberals ran with his statement to make the claim the rich do not pay their “fair share.”
Buffett was recently interviewed on PBS and he stated that America needs to go to a single payer health care system like the one in the UK. He stated America could afford it as a wealthy nation and that this is what will solve the health care issues.
To be fair, Buffett did state he was not an expert on health insurance. He probably should have ended there but he kept going and that made him the fool once again.
WOODRUFF: “Something that affects all businesses is the cost of health care in this country and you’ve been vocal about that. You argue right now, in fact, that the cost of paying for health care can affect a company even more than taxes.”
BUFFETT: “Well it does. I mean in terms of our competitiveness in the world; health care in 1960 was 5 percent of GDP. And there’s only a hundred cents to the dollar. So it’s gone from 5 percent to 17 percent. And it keeps going up. Corporate taxes have gone down from 4 percent to 2 percent. So corporate taxes are way less of a factor in American competitiveness than overall business than medical costs.”
WOODRUFF: “As we sit here today in Omaha, the Republicans in Congress are madly trying to figure out what to do to replace ObamaCare, the Affordable Care Act. Do you have a firm idea in your mind what ought to be done about ObamaCare? Everybody acknowledges there’s been some problems.”
BUFFETT: “I think that’s way outside of my circle of competence. But I would say this. You can’t have that five go to 17 and move on to 20 and 22 or 24 percent, because there are only a hundred cents in the dollar. Health care is gobbling up well over $3 trillion a year. It’s just about the same as federal, the federal budget, I mean it’s getting up there.”
WOODRUFF: “Are we now at the point where the country does need to think about some sort of single-payer system in some more or another?
BUFFETT: “With my limited knowledge, I think that probably is the best system. Because it is a system, we are such a rich country, in a sense we can afford to do it. But in almost every field of American business, it pays to bring down costs. There’s an awful lot of people involved in the medical — the whole just the way the ecosystem worked, there was no incentive to bring down costs.”
WOODRUFF: “It sounds like what you’re saying with a single payer system it’s easier to figure out a way to?”
BUFFETT: “More effective, I think.”
We can’t afford 22 or 24% of GDP going to health care but the government can afford to pay the bill? Now I know that Buffett thinks a single payer system will reduce costs but he is wrong. The government never does anything efficiently and it never does anything UNDER budget. One only needs to look at Medicare (>$79 Trillion in unfunded liabilities) to see how inefficient government is. That program costs billions upon billions more than it was ever estimated to cost and shortfalls are addressed by reducing the amount doctors are paid for the care they provide. And what assurance do taxpayers have that once government controls health care it won’t start adding to the program? Look at Social Security (>$15 Trillion in unfunded liabilities). The government established that socialist program many decades ago and has added to it along the way so that now we have untold numbers of people on disability or some other aspect that was added. We can’t afford to sustain that program because government mismanages it and keeps adding treats to the Christmas tree…
Any person, and Buffett should pay close attention here, who thinks single payer government run insurance is good should look closely at the Veteran’s Administration. That program is a single payer government run program that only involves a small portion of the population as a whole but it is rife with waste and abuse. It is a fiasco that costs so much there are talks of decreasing other military programs to move money to the VA. There are long lists and veterans wait for months, or longer, to be treated. Many die before they are ever seen. This is the kind of program the uninformed like Buffett want for all of us.
Buffett tells you we are a wealthy nation and can afford it. This flies in the face of reality because the government is 20 TRILLION dollars in debt and has unfunded liabilities that exceed 100 TRILLION dollars. We are not a wealthy nation. We are dead ass broke because of people like Buffett and their belief that government can provide, do it all and afford it.
Government can’t because the taxpayer can’t and that is the bottom line.
A few more notes. Buffett is old and will be dead before anything like he proposes would ever take place. He won’t have to deal with it and even if he lived his wealth would ensure he never had to deal with it (neither will his heirs). It is also important to note that in the interview Buffett claims that businesses can’t afford health care costs but government can [so basically, the burden should be shifted]. I have already shown government can’t afford it but the bigger picture here is that Buffett, a business man, is talking about how to make his (and all) businesses more profitable. He wants to do that by putting the burden of health insurance on the government thus clearing businesses of that debt and burden. Of course Buffett would claim government (read the taxpayers) can afford it. He wants people to embrace this socialist crap so his businesses will be more profitable.
Buffett admitted this was not his expertise. Perhaps he should have left it at that instead of offering his opinion on something he is woefully unprepared to address.
To recap, Buffett does not know what he is talking about, single payer is a terrible idea, increasing the GDP will lower the percent of GDP health care costs and opening the market for insurers will give people choices that will reduce costs without involving the government. The government cannot do anything on a budget.
Anyone who wants single payer should move to the UK and live there for the rest of their lives. They get what they want and the rest of us are not burdened by their stupidity.
Related:
US Debt Clock
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Tags: burdens, insurance, lies, single payer, taxpayers, UK, warren buffett
In Search Of Unicorns
Dec 27, 2011 Political
The problem with Democrats is that they don’t understand how things work in the world of business. They are too engaged in class warfare to actually tell the truth or to do things that are good for the country. Democrats believe that they should tax the living hell out of the so called rich and while they claim it is because the rich need to pay their fair share the reality is that the Democrats want to create envy among the have nots. Make the middle class believe that the rich are getting over and gain Democrat voters.
The absolute fact that the rich pay most of the income taxes in this country is lost on those who play the class warfare game. The bottom 47% of wage earners pay absolutely NO federal income taxes and many of them actually get money back. They owe no taxes and get a refund while the wealthy foot the bill for the cost of government in this country. The top 53% of wage earners pay the money that runs the country.
Democrats want to tax the people who create jobs. Remember folks, government does not create jobs. It can only create an environment favorable to job creation or one that hinders job creation.
Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader and world class moonbat Democrat has stated that millionaires (the latest group targeted for a tax increase) who produce jobs are like unicorns, they do not exist. He then narrowed it down to some small fraction (two opposing views, either they do NOT exist or they are present in a small percentage).
Both statements are incorrect. Wealthy people create plenty of jobs. In fact, we can shoot down the do not exist argument in one shot. Bill Gates, the late Steve Jobs, and the founders of Google are all extremely wealthy and they all create thousands of jobs. Not only are they creating jobs at their companies but their products create jobs down the line in companies that produce computers and those who install software. These millionaires (plus) have created plenty of jobs so the argument that they do not exist is gone.
But are the millionaires who create jobs a small fraction of the total number of millionaires or are they, as Reid claims, hedge fund managers and rich lawyers (like a lot of members of Congress)?
Paul Roderick Gregory of Forbes puts the Reid claim to the test and it looks like Reid told a whopper.
The number of millionaires who create jobs is significant and way above what Reid claimed. One would think that Reid would have some fact checkers doing some work to ensure he did not make such outrageous claims but that would assume that Reid did not want to make the mistake. He did not care. The truth was not his goal.
His goal was to create another myth and to perpetuate the class warfare that Democrats are known for. He wanted people to believe him.
It is like the myth that Warren Buffett pays less in taxes (as a percentage) than his secretary does and that he wants Congress to fix that because it isn’t right. The man avoids taxes (even while calling for higher rates) and the comparison he makes is invalid.
The whole story is bogus but people, supposedly intelligent people, keep using it to justify taxing the very people who pay the most in taxes (top 10% of earners pay 77% of the taxes).
That was Reid’s goal, spread a lie and have it multiply geometrically so he can continue to whip up class envy.
It is what Democrats do and this will never be different.
It is up to intelligent people to cut through the BS and come up with the truth.
We will never find unicorns but we can easily find millionaires who create jobs.
Reid lied. A truthful Democrat is like a unicorn…
ADDENDUM: While Reid is playing class warfare the wealth of members of Congress has tripled in the last 25 years while the wealth of the average American has decreased. Imagine that, their wealth has increased and they do not create ANY jobs and I don’t doubt they avoid paying higher taxes as well…
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
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Tags: forbes, Harry Reid, jobs, lies, millionaires, taxes, unicorns, warren buffett
Taxpayers To Buffett: Get Over Yourself
Sep 24, 2010 Political
Warren Buffet, the guy who has more money than he knows what to do with, says that taxpayers need to get over their anger.
Taxpayer anger against President Barack Obama and Congress is counterproductive because policy makers took measures including deficit spending to stimulate the economy, billionaire investor Warren Buffett told CNBC.
“Sentiment has turned very sour in the last three or four or five months,” the chairman and CEO of Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said in an interview broadcast Thursday.
“I hope we get over it pretty soon, because it’s not productive,’’ Buffett said. “We will come back regardless of how people feel about Washington, but it is not helpful to have people as unhappy as they are about what’s going on in Washington.” Omaha.com
Perhaps Mr. Buffett, who uses our tax laws to avoid paying more in taxes, has forgotten that we the people are the government and we the taxpayers fund the government. Perhaps he thinks we should get over our anger at the way OUR money is spent but that is not a call for him to make. It is OUR money and we get to decide if we are angry at the way it is misused.
If we do not like banks and other businesses being bailed out then we have a right to be angry about it and we have every right to replace those who have gone against the will of the people.
Buffett might not realize that we have this right and perhaps he is blinded by his devotion to Obama. He backed the wrong horse and now he is chastising us for our anger.
Sorry Mr. Buffett but we the people will unleash that anger in November and we will make change you can believe in.
Nancy Pelosi would not drain the swamp so now we are going to do it for her and we are going to drain it to the bottom.
Buffett can keep his mouth shut and watch from the sidelines. If he wants, he can write a check to pay for the fiscal irresponsibility though he has benefited from it since his backing of Goldman Sachs was repaid after taxpayers bailed the company out.
So taxpayers to Buffett: Get over yourself. You are not that important and have no influence among the people. Stick to keeping your nose up Obama’s rear as you seem to like the view from there.
Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
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Tags: anger, bailouts, goldman sachs, warren buffett
So What’s Stopping Warren Buffett?
Oct 31, 2007 General
Warren Buffett, the billionaire ho has not yet found a way to enjoy his wealth, complains that he does not pay enough income taxes and states that he pays less than his employees who make far less money. Buffett indicated that he does not have accountants and all that (I find that hard to believe) and that he just follows the government’s rules and he ends up paying less in taxes than he feels he should. I have news for Mr. Buffett; the treasury will accept money from citizens who want to pay more in.
If Buffett feels so terribly guilty about not paying enough in taxes then I suggest he ease that guilt by going to Treasury Direct and following the instructions on how to reduce the debt through voluntary donation. This should ease whatever guilt Mr. Buffett feels.
I sincerely doubt he pays too little in taxes and I think his method of determining this was purely unscientific. In any event, he should not worry about the tax code and get out his checkbook. Over 2.5 million dollars were donated in 2007. Mr. Buffett could easily afford to donate 1000 times that amount and not really feel it at all. I believe that the the US Chamber of Commerce agrees that Mr. Buffett does not know what he is talking about:
Meanwhile, Mr Buffett’s remarks drew a robust response from the US Chamber of Commerce, which said the top 1% of US earners accounted for 39% of tax revenue – and the highest earning 25% of the population delivered 86% of the tax-take.
The chamber’s chief economist, Martin Regalia, said: “Mr Buffett has made an awful lot of money and if he wants to pay more taxes, I think that’s fine. But I think he should get his facts straight.” Guardian UK
1% of earners pay 39% of the taxes and 25% of earners pay 86% of the taxes. How is it that the government can say that the rich pay less than the poor and how is it the government can say that tax cuts hurt the poor and only help the rich without acknowledging that the rich should be affected by and benefit from tax cuts because the rich pay nearly all the taxes.
Warren Buffett is a doddering old fool with too much time on his hands. He can spend some of that time writing a check to the treasury to ease his conscience. Of course, he could send me 10 million dollars. I promise I will pay every penny of taxes due on that amount of money and not complain a bit.
I doubt he will do that now that I called him a fool. Damn.
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Tags: billionaire, chief economist, income taxes, us chamber of commerce, voluntary donation, warren buffett