Comments about ‘Letter: The Buffett position more complicated than portrayed’

So it is dishonest, in your opinion, for him to advocate for higher personal taxes while at the same time fighting for lower corporate taxes? Why?

Berkshire Hathaway is also moving dividend payments forward to this year(as are many Corporations) to avoid the higher taxes next year. This allows Buffett and many of his friends to avoid millions in taxes. He is truly a hypocrite.

This whole mess is so incredibly complex and has been developing for so long that it may be almost impossible to rectify.

Try reading "Who Stole the American Dream" by Hedrick Smith. If your head isn't spinning by the time you finish, it should be.

Who is to blame? Everyone. All of us. Which party? Both. Which Presidents? All of the last six or so. But mostly corporations who pushed for and received legislation from Congressmen who were probably pushed into caving to their demands by lavish political contributions and a stampede of lobbyists.

The books quite balanced. It places blame where it belongs. And the blame is so widespread that it boggles the mind.

We all need to read the book because knowledge of the past might help us find a better way for the future.

@one old man- anyone that thinks America has "free market capitalism" is living in a fantasy world (except at the small business level). America has become about "crony-capitalism" and you are correct that both political parties are guilty (and the American people for not calling them out on it)
This is why the Republican plan to eliminate deductions rather than simply raising rates makes so much more sense. If you simplify the tax code it makes it harder for Legislators to pass laws favoring specific interests. The Obama Administration cannot make a persuasive argument about why higher rates on the rich are necessary or especially a case for how they would help our economy so what exactly is the point?
You want to see hypocrisy? 16 Democrat Senators that voted for Obamacare now want to repeal the tax on medical devices that was included to help fund Obamacare. They want it repealed because it would hurt medical device makers in their home states. Whether you are conservative or liberal you have to admit that it is extremely hypocritical.

It would be great for once if letters and comments dealt with facts rather than political spin. The letter writer is incensed the "biased" media doesn't report that Buffett wants higher taxes on the wealthy but is in tax court to fight the IRS on corporate taxes. Fact: everyone is entitled to fight to pay the correct tax under the law. What does a company fight have to do with Warren's personal taxes? He does not own the company. It is publicly traded (i.e. you can buy some). As the CEO he owes stockholders a fiduciary responsibility to pay only what is owed. He is saying tax me at a higher rate in the future but I will fight on the letter of the current law for the company.

KDave is even more into lala land on the issue of dividends. It really makes a juicy story for true believers (partisans), but it is a complete fabrication. Berkshire Hathaway NEVER has paid dividends in the history of the company, hence the stock sells at $134,000 a share. These are facts not partisan politics.

Did the letter writer bother to do any research into what Buffet's issues are with the IRS?

Obviously not.

If he had he would find out that:

The case involves a division of Berkshire Hathaway called NetJets.

The IRS contends, NetJets owners should be required to pay transportation taxes on two fronts — a levy on the fees for putting the plane in the air and another levy on the fees for maintenance.

NetJets has been collecting the first tax from owners since 2003, when a court ruled that it should collect tax on the fees that owners pay for their flight hours.

However, the court did not rule on whether management companies should also collect a tax on monthly management fees for taking care of the planes, too, which often can be higher than the hourly flight fees.

The rules are so complicated that the I.R.S. issued a memorandum this month seeking to clarify its interpretation of its own rules. The I.R.S. said it considered “possession, command and control of the aircraft” as main factors in determining whether an airplane is really owned, and therefore whether a tax is owed or not."

The letter writer doesn want to acknowledge what Warren Beffett and Bill Gates say,
So - he twists, and deflects attention away from the issue at hand.

Stuart has demonstrated that he has all the skills and talents needed to appear on FoxNews,
or start his own AMradio talk-show and makes $ Millions.

Red State
The Republican plan to eliminate deductions instead of raising taxes is probably the most dishonest element in the entire fiscal cliff negotiation. 'Eliminate loopholes' sounds great. 'Loopholes' sound sneaky anyway, makes it sound like someone's trying to get away with something. But no one has specified which loopholes they'd close. And to raise the kind of revenue the Republicans are talking about, they'd have to eliminate the home mortgage interest deduction and the deduction for charitable giving. Both of which would be terrible ideas. And wildly unpopular.
The small tax hike the President insists on is the one measure that would raise revenues while hurting the fewest people the least amount. That's why it needs to be the first step, and the most important step, in any kind of deal. It would have no negative impact on the American economy, wouldn't hurt the poor, wouldn't damage the middle-class. It's an obvious step.
The President has specified forty pages of spending cuts; the Republican 'plan' is vague and non-specific. Plus, you know, he won the election. A fact Republicans still can't wrap their heads around.

I have an idea.

Lets raise taxes on both corporations and folks like Warren Buffet. Problem solved!

When discussing these tax based issues please be honest in your comments. Fact, no one "likes" taxes. We all seek ways to minimize them. The problem is that we as working class Americans can't buy favors. We can buy special loopholes and tax shelters that have essentially drained our tresury. The so called tax hike is nothing more than a 3-4% return to the rates of the 90's when all those effected were doing quite well. Multi-national corporations are essentially getting free infrastructure such as the justice system, transportation system, military and police protection for free because we have bought into their threats. Our great navy has cleared the waterways for Exxon and the like and yet they are contributing nothing. There is no attempt to punish here. There is no attempt at anything but getting to working class survival.

The more shining example of hypocrisy of Buffett and Gates, and the other liberal elites who claim we need to pay more taxes is the simple fact that they don't pay what they think they should pay. Look at Mitt Romney, he stated that if he wanted to, he could be paying even less in taxes than he currently does. Romney made a promise that he would maintain a certain minimum tax rate for what he pays in income/investment taxes. He even went so far as to intentionally skip deductions so that his tax rate would be higher.

Why can't Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Obama, or any of the other millionaires that say the wealthy need pay more in taxes, do exactly what they say, and pay more in taxes?

Berkshire doesn't pay a dividend and never has.