At the 19 minute mark of Obama’s job speech, he channeled Warren Buffett’s whine about how his (Warren’s) taxes are too low.
A week or so ago, in a WSJ op-ed, Harvey Golub – former MxKinsey partner and AMEX CEO – responded to Warren Buffett’s plea to pay higher taxes.
One of his answers: lose the estate & income tax deductions for gifts to charitable foundations – especially personal family foundations and foundations set-up by their friends.
Gifts to charities are deductible but gifts to grandchildren are not.
The super-rich could pay higher taxes if they choose.
They could voluntarily write a check or they could advocate that their gifts to foundations should be made with after-tax dollars and not be deductible.
They could also pay higher taxes if they were not allowed to set up foundations to avoid capital gains and estate taxes.
HomaFiles has been advocating such a change for quite awhile.
If Buffett thinks the gov’t works so well, let’s see him pony up …. and not just continue wield his influence under the cover of gifts to his buddy Gates
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