Politics Of Envy ? Class Warfare ?

A lot has been made about Mitt Romney's huge income and pitifully small tax rate in the last few days -- and rightfully so. It is inexcusable that some making more than $20 million a year should pay a paltry 13.9% tax rate -- a smaller rate than is paid by most of the middle class. In addition, Romney pays far less than 1% in payroll taxes (to fund Social Security and Medicare) while minimum wage workers pay more than 4% of their tiny income in those same taxes.

The only real defense, if it can be called such, that Romney has offered is that those who criticize him are engaging in the "politics of envy" and "class warfare". Well, I wonder if Romney thinks Bill Gates is envious of his income? Gates believes that the rich, like Romney and himself, should pay a larger tax rate than those who are less fortunate -- not a smaller rate. This is what he told the BBC in a recent interview:

GATES: Well the United States has a huge budget deficit, so taxes are going to have to go up. And I certainly agree that they should go up more on the rich than everyone else. That’s just justice.

BBC HOST: Is that a message you think that works with other people as wealthy as yourself, or is it just a small circle of friends — yourself, Warren Buffet, a few others.

GATES: Well, I hope we can solve that deficit problem with a sense of shared sacrifice — where everybody would feel like they’re doing their part. And right now, I don’t feel like people like myself are paying as much as we should.

As for the ludicrous "class warfare" statement, I think billionaire Warren Buffett had the best answer for that silly allegation. He said:

 "If this is a war, my side has the nuclear bomb." 

I think that adequately sums up the situation.