Buffett Tells Congressional Republicans To Put Up Or Shut Up

Warren Buffett (pictured above) is one of the richest men in America. And the multi-billionaire loves the country that has allowed him to amass such wealth. In fact, he loves it so much that he thinks he (and all of the other rich and super-rich) should pay their fair share in taxes -- a share that would be a higher percentage than is paid by the middle class in this country. In an article last August, Buffett said it was just wrong for the rich to pay a smaller percentage of their income in taxes than other Americans do. He pointed out that he pays only about 17% (due to much of his income being investment income instead of earned income) while his own secretary pays a higher percentage of her income.

This is a common sense position. Americans have always believed that those who make the most out of our society should pay the most in taxes. It is the reason we have a progressive tax system. Even many conservatives in the past, like conservative icon Ronald Reagan, believed this. He said it was wrong for the rich to use tax loopholes to wind up paying a smaller percentage of their income in taxes than a bus driver does.

But the modern right-wingers, especially those in Congress, are not traditional conservatives. They are greed-mongers like their buddies on Wall Street, and they don't really care what happens with ordinary Americans as long as they (and their rich buddies) don't have to pay their fair share of taxes. They love to call continually lowering taxes for the rich "job creation", even those it's nothing but naked greed. So it was no surprise that these congressional Republicans hit the roof at Buffett's suggestion that they (and their rich friends) should pay more in taxes to help the country.

One of the most stupid responses to Buffett's suggestion that all of the rich pay more in taxes (a suggestion supported by a huge majority of Americans) was that Buffett should just write a check to the treasury if he wants to pay more. It was a dumb statement that could only be considered a good argument by the most brain-dead of people (since one man paying more wouldn't accomplish anywhere near as much as all the rich paying more). But Buffett has decided to call them on their stupidity anyway.

Buffett has said he would be happy to write a check, and he'll even let the congressional Republicans decide how big that check should be. He said he would donate one dollar for every dollar that congressional Republicans donate to their government, and he would raise that to three dollars for every one Mitch McConnell donates.

Now this is not an instance of a rich man wanting to challenge some poor working stiffs. The congressional Republicans are one of the richest groups in this country (outside of Wall Street) and many of them are millionaires and multi-millionaires, For instance, McConnell is worth over $10 million, and there are many Republicans in Congress worth more than he is.

If the Republicans really think our budget problems can be solved by some people donating a "voluntary tax" to the country, it is time for them to put up or shut up. They could easily, as a collective group, donate a significant sum to the treasury and cause Buffett to donate an equal amount.

Do you think they'll do it? Will these big-mouth Republicans donate even a penny? No, they won't. They're all talk, and they believe that taxes should be paid by others (working people) -- not themselves or their rich friends. They don't really care about the budget. They only care about their bank accounts (and their re-election).