I just felt like whacking my very rich Republican neighbor over the head with my shovel.

[HiPointDem]

39. sure he is.

Last edited Sun Sep 9, 2012, 02:30 AM - Edit history (1)

Here's a rundown of the various dirty pies warren has his fingers in:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101727422#post1

Buffett is probably one of the biggest beneficiaries of the mortgage bubble fraud + bailout.


here's a good one:

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12612/warren_buffet-owned_companys_prison-made_product_may_have_broke_u.s._law/

Earlier this month, a company owned by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway—Shaw Industries Group Inc.—admitted to violating Canadian law by shipping flooring made by U.S. prison labor into Canada. But a prison industry expert tells In These Times that the company may have also broken American law by not clearly labeling its goods as partly deriving from prison labor...

While prisoners have traditionally only produced items like state-issued license plates and equipment for governments, many states are now expanding the use of prison labor to produce goods for sale in public markets through a federal program called Prison Industries Certification Enhancement Program (PICEP). There are currently about 200 "factories" in U.S. prisons certified through PICEP that manufacture goods sold on the general market. (Multiple certified "factories" can be located in the same prison.)

...probably close to a million inmates are working full-time in jails and prisons throughout the United States” (These prisoners in some cases produce goods for as little as 23 cents an hour.


The poster comments:

Lastly, let me turn to Buffett and his widely played remarks calling for higher taxes on the rich for capital gains and dividends.

Buffett owns HUGE shares in companies, he cannot easily pull out of a stock without destroying its market value. He also is known for long term holding, and reaping huge profits, and if his companies get in trouble, he goes running to the government to bail him out.

So, what better to ensure a stock's price than raising the penalty on ALL OTHERS for pulling out by taxing that capital gain at a much higher rate. He is actually calling for the government to force people to stay in stocks much longer than they would have, due to tax penalties. Meanwhile, he completely benefits, as this captive group of investors now is much less likely to abandon the firms that he holds huge shares in. Meanwhile Buffett and his fellow ilk will use ultra-complicated (and previously illegal) accounting methods to offset the increase in taxes he would have paid via losses that he will say he incurred.

I completely agree the truly rich should pay more, as the US tax system is designed to smash small and medium sized firms, whilst the big multinationals, who basically wrote the tax code through lobbyist pressure, pay next to nothing. But Warren Buffett's plans are a sham, a scheme, and also will hurt, once again the small investor and small businesses, who employ 70% of all Americans.


Please recognize buffett's 'folksy' reputation for what it is -- A public relations-generated image that has nothing to do with the real man. You don't get to be the richest person in the world by being a nice guy. Period.