Posted on 10/13/2011 1:18:39 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Technically, nothing prevents Warren Buffett and other “Patriotic Millionaires” from donating money to the federal government right now, but, as they continue to clamor for a higher tax rate for themselves and others, it’s easy to assume they don’t know that. Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) have introduced legislation to ensure they do:
Dubbed “The Buffett Rule Act of 2011,” the names of the bills take a mocking swipe at President Barack Obama’s own proposed “Buffet Rule,” which conversely would close tax code loopholes to ensure that Warren Buffett and those like him no longer pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries.
According to Thune, there is nothing stopping Buffett from paying more in taxes, and his legislation would streamline that capability.
“If individuals like Warren Buffett or President Obama are inclined to donate their own personal money towards paying down the federal government’s debt, they ought to have that right to do so voluntarily,” said Thune.
“This bill would make it easier for those wealthy individuals who feel they are currently under-taxed to pay more to the U.S. Treasury, above and beyond their current obligations, without raising taxes on America’s job creators.”
Basically, the Buffett Rule Act would require the IRS to include a line option on tax forms to donate money to the Treasury to pay down the deficit. This is a brilliant bit of point-making legislation on the part of Thune and Scalise, but it’s also rather sad we need it. What would be the cost of all new IRS forms just to underscore the hypocrisy of the ultra-rich who would rather chastise their peers than actually put their money where their mouths are? Don’t forget Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway already owes back taxes. Pointing out his do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do line has grown old. Make a massive donation now please, Mr. Buffett, just to prove you know you can.
My buffett rule is go for the shrimp first!
prime rib for me.
Dimrats are always saying we have a voluntary tax code. Guess we’ll see.
Love it!
Uncharacteristically clever of them
_______________
That’s what I was thinking...but good for them....
We have something like this on our tax forms in Massachusetts. Less than 1/20 of one percent of filers opt to pay at a higher rate (5.85%) instead of the current rate (5.3%).
In a state horribly overrun with liberals!
RE: Less than 1/20 of one percent of filers opt to pay at a higher rate (5.85%) instead of the current rate (5.3%).
I wonder what the income of these 1/20 of one percent is...
Yep. And, if Steve Scalise gets his way, there will be a little box to check if you want to be taxed more. I would love to see who in big finance/investments or hollywood hypocrites will check the box. All tale no action.
Liberals’ voluntary taxes amount to zilch for state
By Howie Carr
Moonbats of Massachusetts, what about the children?
It is with deep regret that I must report to you that in this new tax season more than 99.99 percent of the Beautiful People in Massachusetts are again refusing to do the right thing on their income tax returns and voluntarily pay at the old, higher rate.
All year long, the Hope and Change crowd sanctimoniously lectures those of us who work for a living about how mean-spirited we are because we begrudge paying our “fair share” to help the layabouts who have “fallen through the cracks.”
But strangely, every year, when all they need to do is have the accountant check off a single box on their income-tax forms to solve the problems created by the Cheney presidency, the Yes-We-Can types adamantly refuse to part with a few extra bucks.
As you know, a few years back, as a gag, the Legislature passed a bill allowing the state’s pony-tailed, trust-funded liberals to voluntarily pay at the old 5.85 percent income tax rate, rather than at the reduced 5.3 percent rate.
Considering that in 2000, 40 percent of the electorate voted against cutting the state income tax, you might have expected hundreds of thousands of the blow-in drifters now squatting in Cambridge and Brookline and Amherst to voluntarily ante up.
But no. The state, it appears, is teeming with Leona Helmsleys. Taxes are for the little people, not the Beautiful People.
Here are the latest DOR numbers. As of yesterday, 640,783 individual taxpayers had filed their 2008 returns. Of those 640,783, exactly 293 opted to pay at the higher 5.85 percent rate.
Back me up on the math here. If 640,000 is the number, then 6,400 would be 1 percent, and 640 would be one-tenth of 1 percent. And 293 is less than one half of one tenth of 1 percent. So the percentage so far this year is one-twentieth of 1 percent.
Moonbats, I beseech you! Send in some more of the dough from Pater’s trust fund. Otherwise, how can we offer alms to the neediest among us, like Deval Patrick’s unemployed neighbor with the new made-up $120,000-a-year state job, and the Bulger hack who’s been collecting for 15 years and now was just handed a brand new $150,000 made-up state job?
Actually, the state claims the Beautiful People are twice as likely to check the higher-rate box this year, but two times zero is still zero. Even sadder is how much the commonwealth has collected from these 293 individuals - exactly $24,098.
Again, these are rough calculations, but I think that works out to just under $90 per filer. If $90 is .55 percent of your taxable income, you made about $18,000 in 2008.
That’s not a lot of taxable income. That’s why they all invest in municipal bonds - no taxes.
Theories abound as to why Beautiful People are so damn cheap, whether it’s evading taxes (see Geithner, Rangel, Daschle and now maybe Emanuel) or giving next to nothing to charity (see Biden, Kerry, et al.). Perhaps - make that probably - they’re just a bunch of phonies and hypocrites.
See, when you attend a candlelight vigil, everyone in your social circle can see how righteous you are. Ditto, putting a bumper sticker on the back of your Prius that says, “Vote Yes on the Override for the New $200 Million High School.” But no one in your own exalted bow-tied social class ever sees your tax returns, so why bother?
When it comes to their own money, moonbats toss around quarters like manhole covers. They wouldn’t pay a nickel to see an earthquake - that’s why the Globe is losing a million dollars a week. Their former readers are all liberals, which is to say, misers.
But what about the children, moonbats?
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