Exactly. Buffet is magnanimously saying "tax my dividend at a higher rate" while his billions in stock holdings will NEVER be taxed unless he sells which he seldom does. Buffet's a smart guy. His mantra is obviously "tax my crumbs not my bread".....
To think you probably hammered that post out without even an edit or rewrite. You're awesomely talented, bro. Small wonder you go ballistic over McCains inept debate performances....
So this will take money from Buffett and others with great wealth, to help with the economy and make it more fair. What you are saying Pabst is that it is easy for Buffett and others with huge wealth to say..."Ok tax me more, I should put in my fair share.".. because they still keep most of their wealth tax free? But if Buffett has $46 billion of dividend that will be taxed higher, that is still a huge amount of moneys for the country to use, and will help give middle class a tax break because the money the middle class save on taxes is put back with higher rates on people like Buffett. And it does not hurt Buffett or other very wealthy people like him.
Before I respond: I always tell you when I think your posts are shitty, so its only fair that I say that this post is fantastic.
He's the Obama intern they assigned to us after "bigdavediode" got a promotion or whatever happened to him.
The paper value of his holdings do absolutely nothing to enhance his standard of living until the time at which they are sold and used for an alternate (consumptive) purpose. 'Bread' is without real utility unless it is actually consumed. So, your point misses the mark, as the concern here is not of paper profits, but of living standards. A genuine issue of fairness does arise when one questions why capital gains and dividends are taxed at a lower rate than the marginal income of a married person making as little as 65,100. Why should "sitting on your ass income" be given preferential treatment to "working" income? ('Conservatives' habitually spew an abundance of ill-conceived "answers" to this query.) Warren Buffet is unusual in the world of rich white guys in that he interconnects this question to a wide public audience. The amount of progressivity in the income tax system could be attenuated by recognizing a simple mathematical truism: $1=$1, regardless of the origin. Of course, that would mean raising cap gains & dividend taxes...but, fair is fair & $1=$1.
Weirdly I have no problem with progressively taxed capital gains. I look at at this way. Most asset appreciation-unlike wages-is CAUSED by the government via inflation. Hence duking the G on ones portfolio gains is as close to rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's as we ever get......