Why is Warren Buffet, second richest man in the world, defending the estate tax?

Question

A rich guy acting against his own self interest and instead acting in the interest of his country?

"Without the estate tax, you in effect will have an aristocracy of wealth, which means you pass down the ability to command the resources of the nation based on heredity rather than merit," Buffett told the New York Times in 2001. "[Repeal would be like] choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the eldest sons of the gold-medal winners in the 2000 Olympics."

Typically, fewer than 2 percent of deaths result in estates sizeable enough to be subject to the estate tax. In 2006, for example, less than 1 percent resulted in taxable estates.

It's estimated that the estate tax will raise roughly $355 billion over the next 10 years under current law, according to the Tax Policy Center.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/13/pf/taxes/buffett_estate_tax/index.htm?section=money_topstories

Answer 1

It's not the first time that Buffet has spoken out against the tax inequity. A while back he pointed out that his secretary paid a higher percentage in taxes than he did....

Answer 2

I wonder if any of the dolts talking about how he can "afford" the estate tax realize that he'd be dead before it affected his estate. Duh... anyone can afford the estate tax. It affects one's heirs.

Now, why would Buffet support it? Because he knows more than just about anyone about what helps our nation to be financially productive. Yes, he has tons of money, more than he could ever spend. As a result, he's not obsessed with grasping every last penny like it was his very blood.

Remember, it's the person who is dead who "earned" that money. The heirs do nothing to earn it. The very people who rail against "entitlements" think there should be permanent, non-productive, non-working class of people and that money should become more and more concentrated.

Also remember that, despite claims, there has never been a documented case of any family farm being lost to pay an estate tax.

Also remember that, when the vote was going on, to prove what a farce this discussion was, Sen Feingold proposed exempting the first $100,000,000 (that's right, one hundred million dollars) from the estate tax. It was roundly rejected by Republicans.

This is about the greediest and least needy grasping for more.

Answer 3

He is an idiot. He can simply pay more in taxes. He does not have to force others into that. If he believes so much in his statements, why not just write a check? Well put on how the Death Tax destroys small business. Do not expect liberals to understand this because they have never owned a business. You bring hope to the next generation.

Answer 4

Buffet has spoken out against the tax code numerous times and not just against the estate tax.

He just wants to pay his fair share, he noted with irony that his secretary was in a higher percentage bracket of tax than he was.

I am all for less tax, but with our foreign debt spiraling out of control, when we start to pay more in interest payments to China, than our own education budget, I suggest humbly that the time for the elite of this country to pay their fair share has come.

Fiscal responsibility requires sacrifice, we can't keep borrowing from Qatar, UAE and China and expect America to stay strong.

Answer 5

Some of this may be because he has gifted most of his estate to charity, and therefore will have a much smaller estate that may not even be subject to tax when he dies.

That is the flip-side of the coin you will not hear in the media. His philanthropy is publicized, but the media has no concept of tax or Buffett's net worth, or what he is really doing. They are just journalists who praise Buffett to the skies because he is liberal but cannot see what he is doing.

Buffett is defending a tax he will not have to pay anyway.

Answer 6

Having billions and billions he has developed the typical "rich" mans guilt!! He feels sorry he has amassed an astounding fortune and wants to atone for his sins by being taxed at death. The estate tax or "death" tax as its known is a joke and a crime against the constitution. It is a government sponsored seizure of your rightful property. Your "property " is not the governments rightful "property"!! You earned it and worked hard over your lifetime to accumulate and amass your own fortune no matter how big or how small. What gives the government the "right" to any portion of your estate at death? This is pure psudeo-communism at work ! In communism ,in theory all property and goods and services belong to the people and by default to the government as well in life as well in death. Are we a democracy or are becoming just another socialist [pseudo-communist] state?

Answer 7

He understands the responsibility that comes with wealth and life is not just about having more than the next guy. It goes back to a verse from the Bible that says " from those who much is given , much is expected". The more wealth you have the more responsibility you have to your government, your society, and your family.

Answer 8

Because he is a very smart man and realizes what will actually happen should the tax be repealed.

Answer 9

He thinks the rich should pay their fair share, and that happens to be more than what middle class individuals pay.. He knows that the rich get additional benefits from our stable government, our good national defense, regulated and transparent financial markets, a good infrastructure of roads, railways and ports, and a good public schools system which provides an educated workforce. He knows that if it wasn't for all of these things, the US would not be a great nation to do business in, and the rich simply wouldn't be as rich as they are.

Answer 10

Buffet has always been a liberal-leaning person. Besides, why do you presume that he is acting in the interest of his country? From a purely moral perspective, taxing an estate merely because someone died should never be a desired goal of this country.