Archive for April 19th, 2012

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Watchin the Sun Bake

04/19/2012

My uncle Bob is fond of spouting quotes; often mis-attributed due to this lack of Google skill but that is part of his charm. Sure he attributed “the only thing sure in life is death and taxes” to Mark Twain but I’m sure Benjamin Franklin won’t be insulted.

I was telling him about how the Obama administration was backing the Fair Share tax bill in the Senate. This bill was created in response to Warren Buffett’s statement that people as rich as himself should be required to pay at least 30% of their income in taxes. An amount that has been termed “fair share”. This isn’t a new concept. Politicians have been trying to pacify low-income taxpayers for years. However, this is an election year so the whole thing took on a larger aspect.
As a disclaimer, the odds of me ever being subject to the 30% tax are lower than the chance of Charles Manson being paroled. I certainly do pay that amount now but nobody needed to pass a special law to ensure it. It happens because I actually earn hourly wages instead of sitting on a pile of cash from capital gains. However, even if I were making my money the “old-fashioned way”, I still wouldn’t have a problem with paying the going rate. As I’ve always said, I get the benefit of clean air and water, occasionally paved roads, schools for everyone, and, on top of all that, police, fire, and armed forces protection. I may not agree with every expenditure that is made but, since I never want to be an elected official, I’m not in a position to complain. And, unlike so many people that I grew up with (I’m trying really hard not to call them morons), I don’t have the hubris to pretend that my opinion on individual spending issues should be heeded when I don’t take responsibility for the entire budget. Or, when my personal/religious/social agenda is “offended”, that I should demand that elected officials cave in to special interests with the biggest megaphone.

Now that I’ve established why paying taxes is our obligation, let’s take the President to task for some shoddy leadership.

I won’t pretend that everything that comes out of the White House was uttered by the President himself. I’m sure that at least half come from staff or Mrs. Obama. In this case, some brilliant staff member probably said, “hey, this Buffett Rule thing is a great election-year issue. How can we exploit it?” Politics is a blood sport and I expect this type of scenario to happen. What completely baffles me is why the President doesn’t take more advantage of teachable moments like this.
Does he, or his staff, actually think that ethics can be legislated? Are the uber-rich going to suddenly realize that taking advantage of loopholes is wrong? I don’t have any handy research but I’m going to guess the answer is NO. If behavior could be corrected via laws, we wouldn’t need prisons!
So, instead of having a bill introduced by his ex-cohorts in the Senate, he should have done what any good parent does… motivate the children with guilt. He should have walked the walk and wrote a check for his 30%. Better yet, he and Buffett could have gotten on the phone and convinced every person they know to do the same thing. Peer pressure works a lot better than potential IRS sanctions IF you’re caught avoiding taxes. And, unless Elliot Ness was resurrected to pursue them, I doubt anyone will will be fearing the consequences.
Uncle Bob zoned out half way through this but when he heard Elliot Ness, he perked up. I told him that the Oracle of Omaha was one of the most respected and richest men in the world of high-finance so other rich people would be forced to respect his actions.  Bob shot me a puzzled look and said, ” I know he sold a lot of records but how does that make him an expert in finance?”  It was about then that I realized the disconnect.  Bob had obviously already been visiting Margaritaville.

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