Warren Buffett caught the attention of those both for and against a fairer tax rate in the US back in August when he wrote a missive for the New York Times calling out the current tax system as unfairly favoring the very wealthy.
Going against the grain of the top 1% by admitting he pays a lower effective tax rate, Buffett lamented the fact that his tax rate was far lower than that of his secretary and called on the government to balance the tax burden. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell- who, it cannot be underscored enough times, appears to be melting very slowly before the horrified eyes of his constituents- responded by inviting Buffett to send in a check, as if that magically cures the inequities of the current system. Fellow Republican John Thune, World Champion of Not Getting It, then introduced a measure to allow wealthy Americans like Buffett to write in donations on a tax form, something Buffett referred to as “a tax policy only a Republican could come up with.”
Buffett is now calling on the GOP with a generous challenge- for every dollar donated by congressional Republicans to pay down the debt, he will match the contribution. That goes triple for McConnell- but a spokesman for the Senator seems to indicate that his employer still wishes to ignore the point, saying on behalf of the Kentucky lawmaker:
“I look forward to Mr. Buffett matching a healthy batch of checks from those who actually want to pay higher taxes, including congressional Democrats, the president and the DNC.”
Do you think that Warren Buffett is right, and America’s richest citizens need to start pulling their weight?
