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July 2008
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It's not a question I ask myself much. What would Warren Buffett do? But it came to mind recently after seeing an image of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell's head on top of a vulture's body. Bear with me. The image of Cantwell is courtesy of an ad by the Washington, D.C.-based Free Enterprise Fund -- running through Tuesday during KING 5 News shows -- attacking the estate tax... Cantwell "voted with the vultures" in opposing consideration of repealing the tax, the ad says, and then goes on to say that "the death tax can rip away 55 percent of what you save for loved ones." It's an alarming claim. But it's completely bogus, according to non-partisan political ad watcher FactCheck.org.... "There is no way that even a billionaire would lose 55 per cent of their estate to the federal tax," FactCheck writers say in their latest dispatch, citing the IRS's own numbers. More interesting is the statistic that after recent changes made to the estate tax, according to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, only 12,600 Americans who die in 2006 will owe any estate tax at all. That said, if he died today, Warren Buffett would almost certainly be part of that fairly tiny group. So what does he think of the estate tax? What would Warren Buffett do? One clue came Monday while Buffett was announcing his $40 some odd billion gift to the Gates Foundation. Asked somewhat jokingly by a reporter what his children had done wrong, Buffett said he did not believe it was particularly American to create "dynastic wealth" (Watch the press conference) "It isn't in keeping with my view of how the world should operate to create huge amounts of dynastic wealth. I really believe that having equality of opportunity in this country and having the right people in the right jobs, doing the right things … I do not believe in inheriting your position in society according to what womb you come from." Even more directly, Buffett told The New York Times repealing the estate tax would be like "choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the eldest sons of the gold-medal winners in the 2000 Olympics." There you have it. 3 Comments |
Mr. Buffeet is right on. For example look at Paris Hilton; she has no idea of the value of money. Three cheers for Cantwell!!!
I hope people recognize that the most strident anti-Estate Tax voice in our fair City is that of the Blethen family (of newspaper fame/wealth), who think they should continue to pass the family wealth untaxed unto the fifth...or more...generation. Even in this day/area of Microsoft & other high-tech "millionaires," a very small fraction of the population is hit with the tax...and only those who don't exercise their right to give some of it back to the community that enriched them!
This is regarding the "scandal" that brought Chief Sealth's girls' basketball team to lose its titles....whenever well-to-do player/parents complain about the "unfair advantage" of promising kids things like scholarships (etc.), I almost gag. These are kids that may NEVER have the advantages of those kids in the 'burbs, born with silver spoons in their mouths-- meaning, private lessons, lots of extra-curricular activities, and maybe even the opportunity to go to any college they want without having to depend on a scholarship. Now, WHO is it that has the unfair advantage...? When I hear an upper middle class mother whine about how her daughter's school would have won the title except for the illegal wooing of out-of-district players to Chief Sealth--I say, something is wrong with a system that only sticks to the letter of the law when it will benefit themselves and penalize someone else (who is a LOT more deserving). Just a thought.