Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, saying he doesn't want to be “coddled“ by Congress, says that wealthier Americans should pay higher taxes, and that higher taxes do not dampen job growth.
Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, wrote in an op-ed piece published Monday in The New York Times that taxes should be raised on Americans who make at least $1 million per year.
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Warren Buffett
“While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks,“ wrote Buffett.
The philanthropist said that his federal tax rate was 17.4% in 2010, and that some investment managers were taxed only 15% on billions of dollars in income. He compared that to the middle class, with its income tax bracket of up to 25%.
He said that 40 million jobs were created between 1980 and 2000, when the tax rate for the rich was higher than it is now. “You know what's happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation,“ he wrote.
Buffett proposed that Congress impose a higher tax rate on millionaires, and an even higher tax rate on those making at least $10 million per year.
“My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress,“ he wrote. “It's time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.“
Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, wrote in an op-ed piece published Monday in The New York Times that taxes should be raised on Americans who make at least $1 million per year.
* Topics
* Credit Ratings
* New York Times
* Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated
* See more topics »
o
X
Warren Buffett
“While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks,“ wrote Buffett.
The philanthropist said that his federal tax rate was 17.4% in 2010, and that some investment managers were taxed only 15% on billions of dollars in income. He compared that to the middle class, with its income tax bracket of up to 25%.
He said that 40 million jobs were created between 1980 and 2000, when the tax rate for the rich was higher than it is now. “You know what's happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation,“ he wrote.
Buffett proposed that Congress impose a higher tax rate on millionaires, and an even higher tax rate on those making at least $10 million per year.
“My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress,“ he wrote. “It's time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.“
