Buffett with Pres. Obama in 2010 (White House)
Warren Buffett has a deal for Republicans who have been criticizing him for being so vocal about the fact that he thinks he pays too little in taxes. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
said, in response to Buffett's point that he pays less in taxes than his assistant, that "If he's feeling guilty about it, I think he should send in a check."
Buffett is perfectly willing to take him up on that, with conditions.
“It restores my faith in human nature to think that there are people who have been around Washington all this time and are not yet so cynical as to think that [the deficit] can’t be solved by voluntary contributions,” he says with a chuckle. So, Buffett has pledged to match one for one all such voluntary contributions made by Republican members of Congress. “And, I’ll even go three for one for McConnell.” That could be quite a bill if McConnell takes the challenge; after all, the Senator is worth at least $10 million. As Buffett put it to me: “I’m not worried.”
In response, McConnell, well, looks rather stupid and crass. This is from his spokesman.
Sen. McConnell says that Washington should be smaller, rather than taxes getting bigger. And since some, like President Obama and Mr. Buffett want to pay higher taxes, Congress made it possible for them to call their own bluff and send in a check. So I look forward to Mr. Buffett matching a healthy batch of checks from those who actually want to pay higher taxes, including Congressional Democrats, the President and the DNC.
In other words, no, he has no intention of putting his money where his mouth is.