[Pubbie]

Guard yourselves - The WhoreAcle of Omaha is coming for YOUR bank accounts! :(

[ElkGroveDan]

Hey SHHHH!!!! No one wants to hear this. Cover your ears everyone, turn off Rush and look the other way. We won't hear anything to burst our movie-star bubble.

[SolutionsOnly]

That should sober up some Republicans! Hope so, anyways!

[I still care]

"In California, he owns a Laguna Beach home valued at $4 million, or eight times as much. The annual property taxes on that home are just $2,264 -- a fraction of what he pays in Omaha"

I freely admit I find that amazing. I would pay half that in Florida on a $100,000 house.

By the way, if he is so concerned about the school system, I think instead of raising everyone's taxes, he should donate that house to the school system.

People need to understand that taxes are slavery.

[mallardx]

Arnold, NO

McClintock, YES

[Henchster]

There's no way he pays that little on a $4 million house here in Cal. It's more like $40,000.+

I think the doofus looked at his MONTHLY tax bill (escrow) on his Cal home, and compared it to his ANNUAL bill on the house in Omaha.

[Rodney King]

The fact that taxes are astronomical in Nebraska doesn't mean that they are too low in California. 14K for a 500K house is a lot!! In OK, taxes are about $1,200 on a 130K house.

[novacation]

Arnold better put a cork in that one or he will lose. I pay $4,700 a year in property taxes on a house I bought last year. That is too much. Arnold needs to kill that comment quickly. No more taxes! If someone buys a $4,000,000 house now the taxes will be over $50,000 a year.If Buffet want so pay more he can. Liberel puke alert.

[MineralMan]

Wasn't someone saying that Ahnuld was a Republican? Sure doesn't sound like it to me.

[Reeses]

I wonder why Democrats like property taxes. Like sales taxes they are not progressive and tax lower income people at a much higher percentage of their discretionary income. Real estate is in a valuation bubble that is about to burst as interest rates go higher. That's a double whammy if the socialists raise property taxes as property value goes down.

[John Lenin]

Strike one for Arnie !

[BlessedByLiberty]

Dear Mr. Buffet:

Please feel free to donate millions, or billions to the coffers of the federal government or any state government you chose.

Just keep your hand out of the pockets of mine.

Why trade Gray for another pick pocket Mr. Schwarztnegger?

[cogitator]

Interesting. In neighboring Virginia (I live in Maryland), the maximum tax bracket starts at $17,000 family annual income, which is below the official U.S. poverty level. Virginia has had some trouble in the past couple of years balancing its budget (partly because they repealed a hated car-tax when the budget surplus during the boom 90's could pay for it), and they're still trying to figure out if they can change the tax code without ticking off too many citizens.

[truth_seeker]

This analyst concludes that property taxes are out of control in Nebraska. Voters in Nebraska need to obtain the equivalent, of Prop. 13.

The reason California voters enacted Prop. 13 was so property taxes wouldn't reach the levels of Nebraska. Does Nebraska have income and sales taxes, as high as California?

I think Buffetis a bad idea, for Arnold. George Schultz is a good guy. He has government experience credentials. Buffet is stirring up a bunch of crap.

[Burlem]

Mr. Buffett said his preliminary assessment of California showed that the state's budget had depended on billions of dollars collected in capital gains taxes, much of it generated by the bull market of the late 1990s. "In effect," he said, "they set their financial planning based on a financial bubble." Now that those gains are gone, California's budget must be balanced by money from elsewhere.


******Sure wouldn't want to cut anything would you?
These folks scare the shi- out of me.
If Arnold is elected we are in deep trouble, charisma, be damned. Clinton had charisma too, didn't he?

[johnb838]

But in general, the limitations on property taxes have forced state government to rely on other taxes, such as the personal income tax, and to engage in complicated maneuvers to reallocate the state's revenue and help entities that faced funding gaps, especially schools

And they say this like its a good thing. If all Ahnold is planning to do is to raise taxes to cover the deficit, why not just leave Davis in there? He can raise taxes and spending just as well as Ahnuld can.

OTOH -- if Davis is in there the pubbies will fight. If Ahnold is in there they'll roll over and surrender, just like the pubs in Washington. I might just be about to throw my support to Davis.

[RightWhale]

There is one sure way to lose an election. Warren Buffet has named it.

[Uncle Hal]

If Warren pays taxes of $14,401 on a $500,000 house in Omaha and $2,264 of taxes on a $4 million house in CA. then Warren should lobby for property tax cuts in Nebraska. If Prop. 13 was in effect today and was administrated the same as when the law was changed, Warrens tax on his beach pad would be in the area of $100,000. Warren obviously bought his house many, many tears ago probably paying around $100,000 or maybe a little more. He thus benefited from the great appreciation of house prices in CA. Warren can afford to pay big taxes. But if he was the average retired Joe living on a pension he would have probably been forced out of his long time residence because he could not afford the taxes to keep it. This is exactly why Prop.13 was passed, so that the average person could stay in his long time residence without the fear of being forced out by high property taxes. Mr. Buffett should go back and review his CA. history. Prop 13 enabled home owners to fix their housing costs with some certainly.

[Enterprise]

Well, I don't see what the problem here is. If Buffett really wants to pay his fair share of property taxes in California he should do the following:

1. Sell his house to a trusted friend for 4 million dollars. The State will get a 3% tax on the sale, and the house will be revalued and taxed at the higher level.

2. Have the trusted friend sell the house back to him for 4 million dollars. That way, he gets to pay another 3% tax on the sale of the house, he will own the house again, and he gets to pay a much higher property tax.

3. Or, he can do as others suggest. Send the Government more money, leave my property taxes alone, and JUST STFU!!

[leprechaun9]

Buffet should be asked how much tax should be paid on his CA property, AND THEN PAY IT! Put his level of charity to the test!

Is there a law prohibiting overpayment of property taxes?