A recent topic in an ongoing email exchange that I have going with a buddy focused on taxes. He's a self-described libertarian who's hot for the flat tax, while I frame taxes as "shared investments for shared interests," with credit, of course, to
George Lakoff.
I've owned Berkshire Hathaway's class B stock for several years, and recalled something Warren Buffett wrote in his 2003 Chairman's Letter to shareholders. The money quote:
"Berkshire...will send the Treasury $3.3 billion for tax on its 2003 income, a sum equaling 2.5% of the total income tax paid by all U.S. corporations in fiscal 2003. (In contrast, Berkshire's market valuation is about 1% of the value of all American corporations.) Our payment will almost certainly place us among our country's top ten taxpayers...
if only 540 taxpayers paid the amount Berkshire will pay, no other individual or corporation would have to pay anything to Uncle Sam."* my emphasis
*Based on total fiscal 2003 tax receipts of $1.782 trillion, including social security. 540 x $3.3B = $1.782T
He continues, "...We hope our taxes continue to rise in the future - it will mean we are prospering - but we also hope that the rest of Corporate America antes up along with us."
The entire 2003 Chairman's Letter is here in pdf. Buffett's tax comments start at the bottom of page 6, and the whole letter is a very good read if you're so inclined.
I've always respected and admired Warren Buffett because of his track record as an investor and company head, and also because he just seems like a decent guy who proves that you can go out to make a few bucks and still remain a human being with some self-respect.
I also admire his candor. Sure, there's a side of me that would rather see him shake a few hundred of his fellow corporate execs by the lapels and shout in their faces, "OK, you greedy fuck, the party's over. Pay your share and no one gets hurt!"
I guess that just isn't his style.
I tell my buddy that I believe his standard libertarian line about minimal government is just a way to cover up narrow self-interest regarding money. I try to tell him that a progressive tax system is based on the notion that those who can afford to pay more, do.
While to some that may sound too much like the old communist line, "to each according to his need, from each according to his ability," I guess I can always take comfort in the knowledge that Warren Buffett seems to agree with me.
"At the speed of light, policies and political parties yield place to charismatic images." - Marshall McLuhan