Showing posts with label Warren Buffett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Warren Buffett. Show all posts

Monday, May 14, 2018

Trump's bait and switch on reducing drug costs


Mouth open as usual but no substance
Bait and switch is alive and well in the Trump administration and, as usual, the American consumer is the loser. Instead of going direct to the source of ridiculously high U.S. drug prices, the greed of pharmaceutical companies, he appeals to foreign markets to adjust their prices, That has to be one of the stupidest  moves Donald Trump has made since entering office. Besides, health experts say it wouldn't work anyway because the American drug industry wouldn't cooperate. Why should they? As an example, Medicare, one of its largest markets, isn't required to negotiate its drug pricing.

After Trump's speech, shares of major drugmakers, insurers and PBMs, pharmacy benefit managers, rose. Warren Buffett called the cost of healthcare "insane," and he, along with Chase Bank and Amazon hope to, "create a health care system that costs less and gets better results." for its employees. Talk is that could even accommodate other companies in the future. And that brought down the stocks of insurers and pharmaceutical companies. This would bring to mind that competition is no longer fair in the business world, now favoring large corporations and the wealthy.

Has anyone doubted that for some time?

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Wealth without charity is obscene


While the United States holds the most private wealth in the world, over $60 trillion, it still has the widest inequity gap of 55 countries that were studied. That is because those with the money have no charity. Okay, maybe they give here and there to organizations like United Way, The Salvation Army, YMCA, St Jude Hospital, Goodwill Industries, among a few, plus their favorite animal shelter or rescue. But I am talking about real charity, sharing of the wealth. Sound Socialistic? Well it is, I am talking about Democratic Socialism of the Berne Sanders kind.

2015 was America's most generous year of giving ever, with donations from America’s individuals, estates, foundations and corporations reaching an estimated $373.25 billion. But here's the shocker. Individuals gave over 14 times as much as corporations did. And from my experience in junk mail fund raising, the single giver is often those who can only afford small amounts. All fingers point to a corporate world where CEOs are pushed for maximum profits and paid generously to get the job done. In many cases a lot of these reach the obscene level of common sense.

Corporate participation is one of the kinds of charities I am talking about and with profits over $6. One such individual is Warren Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway and a legendary investor, who in 2013 complained that he was paying a lower rate of tax than his secretary. But this is offset by the fact that he gave $2.86 billion to charities in 2016. He had given $2.84 billion in 2014.
Bill, Melinda Gates in Africa
trillion annually, you'd think they might have a couple of bucks to spare. The other is wealthy individuals, that 1% that Bernie Sanders talks about.

Bill Gates of Microsoft is another billionaire who is a giver, especially with his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It occurred to Gates in 1997, that rather than making sure the world had computers, make sure the world is healthy enough to use them first; that's when he saw the impoverished living conditions of Africa. Back in 2013, Gates said, "I have no use for money. This is God’s work." He was referring to his intentions to eradicate polio. At the time he had already given away $28 billion to charity, and this would continue through the foundation in years to come.

There are others you can see here. But as long as there are 564,708 homeless on the streets of the United States, and over 43 million people are living in poverty, we're doing a lousy job. It seems to me that the corporations of this country should concentrate on these two issues as a goal to bring the U.S. to where it should be. New York and Los Angeles rank in the top five of homelessness worldwide. And the U.S. poverty rate is the highest in the developed world. C'mon America, we can do better than that, and it all starts with wealthy Americans and rich U.S. corporations.

We need more "healthy" wealthy people like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

Monday, June 15, 2015

Bernie Sanders Talks Obscene Wealth


In Iowa on Saturday Bernie Sanders talked about the obscene wealth in America. He was referring to billionaires like the KOCH Bros. that just keep taking but never really giving in return. Yes, I know about the KOCH family foundations but what they offer there is far smaller than what they suck out of this nation. And part of their philanthropy is no doubt to benefit their many conservative causes which lobby against issues like universal health care and climate change. KOCH industries is the top water polluter in the U.S. with three lobbying organizations that have a key influence on U.S. public policy, which accounts for a bought and paid for Republican Congress and some Democrats.

Here are the wealthiest in the U.S., but with distinct differences in character. There is Bill Gates, #1 at $79.4 billion followed by Warren Buffett #2 at $68.9 billion, then Oracle founder and former CEO, Larry Ellison, $54.5 billion. These three are followed by the dregs of billionaires, Charles and David Koch worth $41.6 billion each. And then comes the difference. Don't know much about Ellison but do know that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have both pledged half of their fortunes to charity. And they have done it without attempting to take over the political reins of the United States and run it as a part of KOCH Industries. And that is what Bernie Sanders was talking about to large crowds this last Saturday in Iowa.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

WARREN BUFFETT SAYS SEXUAL ORIENTATION SHOULD BE PROTECTED BY LAW


IMB has warned Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal that he had better back off with this religious freedom crap. But Jindal is running for President and he figures that will cinch the vote of the religious right. But the Guardian said in 2014 that there is "a trend that’s been quietly gathering momentum for years: America is becoming less Christian." And then there is the comment in the IBM article by Warren Buffett that "sexual orientation should be protected by law." There are several signals here being sent by people from all over the spectrum and it would seem that Jindal's is the most out of date. The LGBT community claims some 12.4 million people, which I am sure is outnumbered by the religious right. The question is, how long will it take the pendulum to swing in favor of the freedom of all rights?

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Obama revisits Bush-era tax cuts

It isn’t a question of whether the 2001 GWB tax cuts should be extended at a time when the economy is just beginning to right itself.  It is rather a matter of to whom they should be extended.  White House spokesman, Jay Carney, has stated that president Obama would not sign any extension that included the wealthy, which has been identifies as income over $250,000.  Republicans claim this will weigh heavily on small business owners.


Obama speaking to middle-class tax cuts
There is some truth to this in that sizable portions of small business owners (31.8 million as of 2008) now elect to be taxed on a system called flow-through or pass-through income.  Basically, that means this income is taxed on the business owner’s personal tax income, not as a corporation.  This, of course, frees this sole proprietor (or LLC, partnership, or S corp.) from being taxed as a traditional C corporation and then taxed again individually.

Sen. Jon Kyl, (R-Arizona) came up with the statement, "The proposed tax increase on 53% of all flow-through business income would be especially harmful to small businesses," but he doesn’t spell out who that 53% is.  Obama counters with the fact that under his tax proposal 97% of U.S. small business owners’ lower tax rates would remain at the same level.  If I had to choose between believing the facts of Jon Kyl next to Obama, it’s the president hands down.

Assuming the 31.8 million small business owners, above, have increased—they were only 10.9 million in 1980—then there is a sizable number affected.  3% of only 31.8 million is just under a million businesses, and the combined net income from pass-through businesses was $1.7 trillion.  TaxFoundation.org states that based on 2009 tax returns, 66% of pass-through income was reported by taxpayers earning more than $250,000.  36% of that is $1million plus.

Anyone might agree these are hard figures to reconcile.  The Tax Foundation also reports from 2009, “…individual taxpayers reported $896 billion in total business income from all sources—including business and professional income, rents and royalties, partnership and S corporation income, and farm income. After subtracting net losses, individual taxpayers earned $696 billion in net business income.”  It may be impossible to untangle the actual numbers.



Tax breaks will expire at the end of this year and with the elections in November controlling just about everything right now, we can probably count on the GOP Congress to take the direction of damaging Pres. Obama at all costs.  That would mean demanding a continuation of tax breaks for millionaires, which Obama is likely to veto.  The GOP favor the same old story of shrinking government over raising taxes, partially right, but with no conciliation on revenues.    

Warren Buffett wants us to “Stop Coddling the Super-Rich,” in a New York Times piece.  He states, “The mega-rich pay income taxes at a rate of 15 percent on most of their earnings but pay practically nothing in payroll taxes. It’s a different story for the middle class: typically, they fall into the 15 percent and 25 percent income tax brackets, and then are hit with heavy payroll taxes to boot.”  This is another matter entirely but points out the inequality of the whole tax system.

The Tax Foundation warns that, based on the importance of pass-through income, over taxing that group could “fall very heavily on America’s non-corporate businesses.”  We are also reminded that these flow-through businesses “account for a large percentage of business income and employment in the United States.  So how do you literally change the system so that small business owners win in the overall tax deal? 

Would it make sense to take another look at the Hire Act of 2010 (extended into 2011) which provides tax incentives to employers for hiring qualified individuals?  Extend this beyond the special groups to include anyone unemployed, perhaps with increased incentives for hiring those without jobs for a long period of time.  Anything offered to these companies must have meaningful results that are calculable by small businesses.  Can’t see how Republicans could object to that.

But of course they would.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Warren Buffett for President? Read on

Buffett/Secretary taxes
I received one of those forwarded emails recently that I usually delete without reading but when I noticed Warren Buffett’s name in the headline I took notice.  I am a big admirer of Mr. Buffett because he is one of us; the simple folk who try to keep this insane country headed in the right direction.  When Buffett said he shouldn’t pay less taxes than his secretary, I thought there would be a major rush to sign him up for the nation’s number one job.

The "Big Guys" discuss money
But the cagey investor knew, as most of us progressives do, that we have a great President in Barack Obama and all he needs is some support.  Hence, the “Buffett Rule” was born and the man told the President he could run with it and he did.  It is well known by most that this tax on millionaires would make only a small dent in the deficit, but it is the nature of the inequity between what the wealthy pay in taxes and what the simple folk like you and I do.

Mitch McConnell
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, poop pooped the idea when it was introduced and even some Democrats were soft in their support.  But the American public was solidly behind the concept.  A Gallup poll in April found that 60 percent of Americans supported the proposal, including 63 percent of political independents.  Chuck Schumer, a Democratic Sen. from New York said it’s “proof positive” the GOP is on the defensive over taxes.

So it’s agreed that Barack Obama is the one for November.  So what else could Warren Buffett do to help the President in his re-election?  In a recent CNBC interview he claimed, “I could end the deficit in 5 minutes.  You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.”

How the Buffett Rule works by Warren Buffett:
In another Gallup poll taken in February, Congress was at a record-low of 10 percent, down from 13 percent in January alongside another previous low of 11 percent.  Congressional approval averaged only 17 percent in 2011.  With all of these facts in the books, it was only natural that the financier would come up with some proposed legislation of his own.  His idea is the “Congressional Reform Act of 2012.”  Here are the sections of his bill.

1.    No  Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no
pay when they're out of office.

2.    Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social
Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the
Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into                 
the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the
American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3.    Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all
Americans do.

4.    Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.
Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5.    Congress loses their current health care system and
participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6.    Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the
American people.

7.    All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void
effective 1/1/12. The American people did not  make this contract with
Congressmen/women.

Warren Buffett comments that “Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.  The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.  Right now there is 90 percent of the country that would agree.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Did CBS’ “60 Minutes” bolster Pres. Obama’s tax on wealthy?

My suspicious mind has gotten me in trouble before, but don’t you think it might be just a little more than coincidental that "60 Minutes" combined Barack Obama’s interview this past Sunday with billionaire Warren Buffett?  The Warren Buffett who said he thinks millionaires should pay their fair share of taxes, supporting the President’s plan to raise revenue through a fairer share from the wealthy.  The Warren Buffett who engendered backing from other fellow patriotic millionaires to ease the plight on middle income Americans through fairer taxes.

Warren Buffett with Pres. Obama 
The President announced recently that “some of the wealthiest” pay a considerably smaller rate as a percentage of their taxes than those with less income.  Specifically, 25 percent of millionaires pay a tax rate that is below that of the middle-class.  There are even some billionaires with a tax rate as low as 1 percent.  With Buffett’s approach, some 25 percent of the very high income group could be affected.  Grover Norquist has been squirming since Warren Buffett started his crusade, and must have lost his dinner after the CBS “60 Minutes.”

This whole brouhaha results from the fact that many rich Americans’ incomes come from tax investments that are taxed at a lower rate than the average Joe and Jane’s salaries.  When you combine that with additional perfectly legal tax loopholes, these tycoons’ tax rates dip even lower.  Many of us get tax breaks such as mortgage interest deductions, savings for retirement and capital gains or losses.  But it is entirely possible that we will have to give up these shelters in response to raising taxes on the wealthy to balance out the inequity.

Obama has stated that the rich can chip away at their tax burden and that is “the height of unfairness.”  So enter the Buffett Rule named after billionaire Warren Buffett who has made it clear to Congress that the wealthy should be taxed more.  His appeal continues to fall on deaf ears because no one is willing to cross Norquist and the pledge the GOP made to him to raise no taxes.

In a recent survey by CBS News/NYT, the question was asked to the American public, “Should million-dollar households get tax increase?”  Here are the results:

          All     Reps    Dems Inds
Yes    65%  38%      80%    68% 
No      30     59         16       25

With an overwhelming majority of people wanting this tax increase, even 38 percent of Republicans, it is hard to understand how the GOP can stick to their pledge.  Their excuse that it will slow the economy has been refuted by some top economists due to the long-range nature of the tax increase, and the only other opposition would be the fear of taxing those Republicans who donate the most to their reelection campaigns.

 

President Obama put it simply on “60 Minutes;” the GOP took a look at an economy in the tank, created by George W. Bush’s administration and his rightist minions, and decided to do nothing during Obama’s four years until they could elect their own president.  From the ilk of the current Republicans running in the primary, they made a bad decision.  But hopefully the American voter won’t forget this scheming chicanery in 2012.

Read more here.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Warren Buffett trashes GOP tax cuts

Compliments Art Comments
Billionaire Warren Buffett says the Republicans selectively eliminated him and other affluent individuals like him when asking the American public to “sacrifice.”  Buffett places himself in the “mega-rich” category while the rest of us suffer in the economic crisis.  It seems there is something like “carried interest’ that allows this opulent group to get a “bargain” 15 percent tax rate.  Buffett feels protected by conservatives in Congress and is calling for them to stop this “coddling.”

Forecasters agree, warning that the direction of the House Republicans demanding spending cuts without tax increases was the “wrong” thing to do.  These critics are convinced that the stimulation of the economy in the short term will do more to create jobs.  Something like President Obama will introduce Thursday in his speech to Congress.  Another source says revenue enhancement and entitlement reform are needed for the long term.

The fact that Republicans say that raising taxes is not on the table, along with Democrats refusing to touch entitlements leaves only discretionary spending, like education, research, the military and the infrastructure, among others.  Based on the inability of the GOP to move outside its ridiculous ideology on tax increases, it seems this impasse will certainly lead to a partisan standoff that could lead this country into another economic crisis by the end of the year.

Buffett paid $6,938,744 in taxes last year, which he acknowledges sounds like a lot.  But this was a rate of only 17.4 percent, compared to 20 others in his office paying from 33 to 41 percent, an average of 36 percent.  Based on Republican claims that high capital gains taxes tend to discourage investors, Buffett says he doesn’t know of anyone deciding against a good investment because of a high tax rate.

He adds, for those who argue that higher tax rates hurt job creation, a net 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000, as compared to since that period when we’ve actually had lower tax rates with lower job creation.  Two Republicans served as President during that period along with Bill Clinton.  George W. Bush was elected and served as President from 2001 to 2009.  Shortly after entering office GWB enacted tax cuts for the wealthiest citizens in America…including Warren Buffett.

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