Millionaires To Congress: Raise Our Taxes

Whether you agree with the rich paying more in taxes or not is irrelevent; they WANT to pay more. Sure this group doesn't speak for everyone, but they are part of a growing group of individuals that includes billionaire warren buffet who believe their taxes should be increased. It seems they have so many benefits and loopsholes, that like corporations, they are most likely paying less than middle class americans.

I say bravo.

A group of two dozen millionaires stormed Capitol Hill on Wednesday, demanding lawmakers raise their taxes.

"We want to pay more taxes," said California millionaire Doug Edwards, a former marketing director for Google (GOOG, Fortune 500). "If you're fortunate, and you make more than a million dollars a year, you ought to pay more taxes."

The millionaires want Congress to allow the tax cuts passed during the George W. Bush administration to expire. Some want higher taxes generally.

They planned to push lawmakers to reject any deal that the so-called super committee delivers that doesn't raise taxes on millionaires. The 12-lawmaker panel has until next Wednesday to agree on $1.2 trillion in savings over the next 10 years or risk automatic spending cuts.

(Source)

as much as i applaud these guys for doing this.

i think we need to stop screaming ´raise taxes´ be it for the rich or the poor.

ridiculous spending is what needs to be adressed and get rid of the ponzyscheme that names itself the FED.

As long as the loop holes remain that keep the uber wealthy from paying their fair share, raising the taxes will not help. The loopholes that exist will still be giving them the benefit. Plus, if there are people out there willing to pay more taxes, those people should send the government a check, lets not waste money debating it, just write a check to the government and be done with it.

As I've said in the last half dozen "rich people want to pay more" threads this year: Then why dont they pay more?

They dont need an act of government to write a check. So what do they really want?

Maybe these millionaires know that they are safe to say they want to pay more?

articles.balti moresun.com

Only one American in every 100 can be considered a millionaire, the status enjoyed by half the members of Congress. At the other end of the spectrum, one in seven Americans is officially poor. Last week's revised estimate from the Census Bureau put the number in poverty at 49.1 million.

The government's revised poverty line for a family of two adults and two children is annual income of $24,343 or less. Members of Congress make seven times that. Certainly, a high income does not preclude a senator or representative from being sympathetic to the hardships of the working poor and middle class. But the gap is wider than ever; if the nation is polarized politically, it is super-polarized economically.

The Congressional Budget Office confirmed recently that income disparity has grown to historic levels; incomes of the top 1 percent nearly tripled between 1979 and 2007, while incomes of the American middle class grew by about 40 percent. I'll add another statistic, from "The Price of Civilization," Mr. Sachs' latest book: At the start of the 1970s, the average pay of the nation's top 100 corporate executive officers was about 40 times that of the average worker. Three decades later, it had reached 1,000 times, and it continues to grow. In 2010, CEO pay went up, on average, 23 percent, while wages for everyone else rose only a half-percent, according to a study prepared for The New York Times.

We got here, Mr. Sachs says, on the force of Ronald Reagan's anti-government message and the Republican faith in supply-side economics, as well as the Clinton-era embrace of financial deregulation. Republicans have sold out to Big Oil, he says, and Democrats, including those in the Obama administration, have sold out to Wall Street.

Greed and shortsightedness rule: Politicians can't see past the next election, CEOs past the next quarter.

Instead of the continuation of the left / right argument, maybe the folks can set aside party leanings for a couple of election cycles and focus on one single issue...

ETHICS..

After seeing the 60 Minutes piece on the insider trading for Congress segment, it's more than obvious that there are those on both sides of the aisle to include the current and former Speakers' of the House Boehner (R) and Pelosi (D), that seem to be padding their own portfolio, and that should speak volumes to everyone who is fed up with those who represent us in Washington..

Could this be the single issue that can unite both OWS and Tea Party folks to stand together and throw the bums out!?

If so, how?

So if a couple hundred people who make $40k a year go to Congress and ask to have their taxes raised will that make the news too? It's just as meaningless.

These guys aren't doing anyone any favors. They all know there should never have been an income tax to start with. So even if they paid more(which will never happen), the problem still exists.

If they really wanted to do something good for everyone, they would collectively use their billions to take the government to court everytime they disregard the constitution. But then, that would be a never ending battle, wouldn't it?

Being wealthy isn't wrong. Being wealthy, and being part of the system that oppresses the masses is.

Itt is heartening to see these self made economic heroes WITH a conscience, which is a RARITY amongst their own kind.

While we the 99% will always target the 1% for their unconscionable hold onto weath, there are some amongst them that do have a conscience, and those who protested at the Capitol are the only ones. Unfortunately, the 12 of them will not make a dent on the armour of greed the 1% holds. May that dozen be kept safe when SHTF.

These 12 probably and most likely had donated vast amount of sums to charity, and had been honest with IRS. They would not mind to pay more taxes, for we came into this world with nothing, and will leave with nothing anyway, except for our actions of what we do while alive on this planet, that we will be remembered and cherish for eternity or be spat upon if we are selfish or harm humanity.

But as a class, it would not be fair for these 12 heroes to continually give away their wealth to help social expenditure while others within that class not only hold on tightly to it, but deride these 12 heroes. By deriding them, the others and their paid minions had only proven the depth of their greed, which will doom mankind soon if they still do not correct their ways.

There really is no point in holding on to more money than one can spend in a lifetime. Leaving it to the next generation whom had not learnt the value of it will only see it being burnt up worse and faster, which would have been better had it been bequeth to society that needs it to fund social expenditure and creating jobs for the 99%

No one, absolutely no one, is calling the 1% to give up every penny of their wealth. They are most certainly entitled to their rewards and investments, but to hoard tens and hundreds of millions if not billions? That's obscene, making society having to print more money to devalue the dollar just to make up for the hoarded money, and citizens faced with inflation.

Originally posted by v1rtu0s0
Sure this group doesn't speak for everyone, but they are part of a growing group of individuals that includes billionaire warren buffet who believe their taxes should be increased.

Warren Buffet? Really? The same Warren Buffet who owes right about One billion dollars in unpaid back taxes? That Warren Buffet? Last I knew there wasn't anyone stopping him from breaking out his checkbook and writing a check to the government. Why would he, though? He can't seem to be bothered enough about it to actually pay his taxes at all, what makes anyone think he's going to go ahead and pay extra?

Somehow, this seems to be a whole lot of "I know what's best for you, but don't you dare try to hold me to my own standards".

Take care,
Cindi

These guys are all just blowing smoke and one of the worst puffers is Warren Buffet.

n the wake of the $700 billion TARP bailout, Warren Buffett apparently shaped a plan to clean up toxic assets that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner later adopted–resulting in massive profits for Buffett.

According to Schweizer, after the bailout bill’s passage, Warren Buffett sat down and wrote then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson a four-page private letter laying out a plan to clean up the toxic assets plaguing numerous financial institutions. Buffett proposed something he called a “public-private partnership fund.” For every $10 billion the private sector invested, Buffett said the government should put up $40 billion.

After Paulson’s exit, incoming Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner tweaked the plan and rolled it out in March 2009. But according to quarterly reports from Buffett’s holdings company, Berkshire Hathaway, between the time the billionaire crafted his plan and Geithner adopted it, Buffett quietly purchased 12.4 million shares of Wells Fargo stock and 1.5 million shares of U.S. Bancorp. Once the government unveiled its “Public-Private Investment Program,” bank stocks jumped, resulting in large profits for Buffett.

How much Buffett profited is hard to calculate, since there’s no way to know what his purchase price was. But prior to the government adopting Buffett’s plan, Wells Fargo had been trading at roughly $20 a share. In the weeks after Geithner’s announcement, the stock jumped to $30 a share. Likewise, U.S. Bancorp went from $8 in February 2009 to more than $20 a share by May.

Of course these guys can spare a few dimes here and there. Most likely they are just returning our tax dollars anyway.

I call BS. These guys are all sharks.

Behind closed doors, however, Buffett had become a shrewd political entrepreneur. With his Goldman bet in place, the billionaire exerted his considerable political influence in a private conference call with then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats. During the meeting, Buffett strongly urged Democratic members to pass the $700 billion TARP bill to avert what he warned would otherwise be “the biggest financial meltdown in American history.”

Buffett had a strong financial interest in the bailout’s passage, says Schweizer. “If the bailout went through, it would be a windfall for Goldman. If it failed, it would be disastrous for Berkshire Hathaway.”

The kicker

When the TARP bailout passed, Berkshire Hathaway firms received a staggering $95 billion in bailout cash from U.S. taxpayers. In total, TARP-assisted companies made up almost a third (30%) of Buffett’s entire publicly disclosed stock portfolio. The payoff: by July 2009, Buffett’s Goldman bet and his congressional jawboning had yielded profits as high as $3.7 billion.

Incredibly, in a breathtaking public relations move, Buffett publicly complained that the government bailouts had put his company at a disadvantage, because funders “who are using imaginative methods (or lobbying skills) to come under the government’s umbrella–have money costs that are minimal.” Rolfe Winkler of Reuters best captured Buffet’s audacity: “It takes chutzpah to lobby for bailouts, make trades seeking to profit from them, and then complain that those doing so put you at a disadvantage.”

biggovernment.com...

Sure Warren. One does not reach a status so grand without leaving a trail of destruction and corruption behind.

What Bravo? It aint like they have much of a choice. The working class has been squeezed out as hard as possible. These people understand economy. They know that further inflation hikes will cause more americans to drop out of the consumption grid not being able to cover even the necessities with their income and subsequently a decrease in demand and price. Only after they are working 3 jobs 18 hours a day the pressure is lifted. Rather than taxes minimum wage should be lifted, but that would cut into profits even more than a tax hike.

Raising minimum wage by 2 dollars would account for a 40% hike for labour costs. Assuming half the costs are labour costs (probably more) it would add about 20% to costs, or detract 20% from earnings. Then there is the issue where those tax Dollars will be going to. I am sure those who applaud the tax hikes, will receive the money back from their goverment and then some, in one way or another.

I remain sceptical, till I see where this is going.

One question. Exactly how much money did each of these "millionaires" pay to CPAs, over the past 10 years, to ensure they were taking full advantage of every possible tax break and loophole?

Because, I'm pretty damn sure no one was holding a gun to their heads, to force them to take the deductions that cut their tax liabilities.

its pretty obviously an empty gesture so that the rich can look good. they'll pull strings so that they don't actually have to face up to their "demands" and walk out saying they tried at least.

fools who? nobody.

Dear millionaires, kindly STFU and put your money where you mouth is:

Citizens who wish to make a general donation to the U.S. government may send contributions to a specific account called “Gifts to the United States.” This account was established in 1843 to accept gifts, such as bequests, from individuals wishing to express their patriotism to the United States. Money deposited into this account is for general use by the federal government and can be available for budget needs. These contributions are considered an unconditional gift to the government. Financial gifts can be made by check or money order payable to the United States Treasury and mailed to the address below.

Gifts to the United States U.S. Department of the Treasury Credit Accounting Branch 3700 East-West Highway, Room 622D Hyattsville, MD 20782

link

this would be like puting more paper on a fire...
it just burns more.

find the problems and stop them.