Buffett Tax Idiocy

Update: Obama is now advocating how much the economy well benefit (and help reduce the deficit) from the Buffett Tax. That's a direct contradiction to what his office was saying earlier. How it is really about fairness and not so much about lowering the deficit. He is also touting how "We've tried trickle down experiment before. It doesn't work." Right. Let's look the employment rate, Mr. President. And while you're at it, get your story straight.

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I've talked previously about the Buffett Tax being a stunt move. That there is just a lot of maneuvering and marketing happening to raise taxes, increase government power, and create class warfare. Well, we now have more details on the Buffett Tax.

The premise that we are told is Buffett and Romney and other people of wealth enjoy a lower tax rate because they receive income not from a salary or earned income. All of their money is received through dividends and other stock market transactions. So, if a tax is to be called the Buffett Tax, it would be expected to tax stock dividends and capital gains, right? Unfortunately, I can't find a clear statement as to what exactly is proposed under this Buffett tax.

On Rush, it was proposed that it is only on earned income. But I can't find support. The WSJ says it is for any income (capital gains, etc) that is over $1M. And Obama keeps on saying he just wants everything to be fair. But, the common consensus is that this silly tax we are all spending time debating (instead of being productive and cutting government spending!) only generates $5B a year. Where is the pragmatism is making such an issue over $5B... the US government had a budget deficit of over $1500B in 2011. $5 Billion is just 0.3% of the deficit. This really has to be something else. It sounds like the usual Obama rhetoric and divisive politics he has chosen to embrace for his 2012 re-election campaign.

Is Obama’s class warfare rhetoric working?  There’s a recent study which shows that in 2009, when Obama took office, Americans thought that there was little or no class conflict between the rich and the poor. Now, in 2012, the polls show “strong to very strong” conflict between these two groups.  So ...the answer is a resounding YES.  Three years of Obama class warfare rhetoric is having its desired effect.

As a side note, what is the real Buffett Rule?

Pass a law that says that any time there's a deficit of more than three percent of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.

BTW, Berkshire Hathaway owes $1B in back taxes.