Warren Buffett's Op-Ed

On August 14, the New York Times published Buffett's article, Stop Coddling The Super-Rich. Here's an excerpt:

Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.

I fear Warren's being somewhat disingenuous here, because a lot of his income was dividends from corporations that had already paid taxes on that money. But he still has a strong argument.

The Republican response: Let the coddling continue, or even increase!

Here's a link to an article by Charles Koch in response to Buffett, called Koch Responds To Buffet: ‘My Business And Non-Profit Investments Are Much More Beneficial To Society’

"His charitable foundation, which gives largely to right-wing organizations that support his politics and Koch Industries’ business interests, still only donates about $12 million a year — 0.05 percent of Koch’s net worth."

His non-profit investments include Americans for Prosperity, an important source of Tea Party funds, and other radical right-wing causes.