Letter To Warren Buffet
Dear Warren,
I’ve always admired you. I like how you are a pretty unassuming guy, even though you’re one of the richest men on the planet. You seem to be a really decent human being. You’re certainly nothing like that asshole George Soros, going around trying to destroy everything in sight, while attempting to build some socialist dream world.
I see that you are once again asking our government to raise your taxes.
I’d like to make a few quick points about that.
You pointed out that you and your other mega-rich buddies, the top 400 earners in America, made a combined $90.9 billion in 2008. That’s a nice little sum there. You also told us you never worked with an investor that failed to make a good investment for fear of the taxes they’d have to pay on their earnings.
Well, how about just for fun, we take all that you top 400 make? We’ll just grab the entire $90.9 billion. That sounds like a lot of money to us middle classers, but it really won’t make a huge dent in the big picture of the federal budget. To those clowns in Washington D.C. (your friends in high places, as you called them), spending $90.9 billion has the same impact as going out to dinner at a nice restaurant has for my wife and me.
But tell me something Warren. You and the others of the top 400 club are human, right? You don’t let tax rates affect your investment decisions you say. What if that tax rate was 100%? Would that make you stop working? Personally I’d retire in a heartbeat if I had to give everything I made to the government. I’m not super rich and you are, so I’m sure your mind works different than mine does. Maybe you would keep working and risking your money on investing if you had to give it all to Uncle Tax-a-lot. I don’t know.
Another thing. You fret about all the tax breaks your pals in DC give you really rich folk. Breaks your employees don’t get, and I don’t get. Well Warren, just because those tax breaks are available to you doesn’t mean you have to take them. Nobody is forcing you to use those tax breaks. If they really bother you so much, just stop taking them.
One last point Warren. This latest article is just one of many times you’ve asked the people in high places to raise your taxes. You seem to be begging someone in Washington to take your money.
Is that how you run your business? Do you wait around for someone to make your investments work for you? Do you beg others to do something so your business will succeed?
I’m betting that’s not your style at all. I bet you look things over, and decide what you need for success. You then take action, buying or selling stocks and companies, what ever it takes to make money on your investments. I think you make things happen rather than wait around hoping someone else will make them happen for you.
For God’s sake Warren, take this bull by the horns. If you think you should be paying more taxes, take out your checkbook and write a check. Do it today.
And then, just shut up.
Your friend,
The AdultBoomer
