“There is no law preventing him from paying his “fair share”. It’s obvious that he doesn’t want to pay his fair share. He simply wants others to.”
I don’t know about you, but I never liked the idea of a rich man telling me that for the good of the country, he was cutting his own tax rate. Just never sat well. So the part of it where O says that he and Buffett should pay as much in taxes as their secretaries resonates in me, and I think it is foolish not to realize it appeals to a lot of people. I remember all through the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, the maximum tax rates were 70% to 90% and the country did all right, so the idea of raising the minimum rate on those earning over $1,000,000 to 30% doesn’t fill me with dread.
Ronald Reagan raised the capital gains rate in his 1986 Tax Reform Act to 28%, taxing capital gains at the same rate as the maximum income tax rate.
The hypocrisy of it all!
“Warren Buffett owes $1 billion in back taxes. He is fighting it. He doesn’t think he should pay it, but publicly he’s out there saying, ‘I’m not paying enough in taxes’ - Rush Limbaugh”
http://nation.foxnews.com/rush-limbaugh/2012/04/11/limbaugh-buffetts-tax-evasion
Every dollar that the government takes from them is one dollar less for jobs, restaurant workers, car dealers, service workers, and more. Every dollar the government takes from them and us is mostly wasted. I give you the Obama "stimulus" as a prime example of total government waste. I work for a multimillionaire. The last thing I need is for the government to take more of his money so that I will no longer have a job.
The rich already pay about half every dollar they earn to the government. How much more do you think should be confiscated from them?