Warren Buffett

The Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign For 2016 Begins Without Her Approval!

Ronald 2 Comments

Somehow, one must imagine that Hillary Clinton, privately, is both having sighs of exasperation, and also chuckling at the same time, that here she is, an esteemed Secretary of State, who has made it clear that she wants to retire from public life in 2013, and does not want to run for President, and yet the boom is on for her to run, making her the most wooed reluctant nominee in American history!

Her husband, Bill Clinton, is, certainly, doing everything he can to boost her candidacy, while saying it is up to her.

At the same time, the Buffalo News has editorially endorsed her for President; and now, billionaire Warren Buffett, has also announced his support for her running for the Presidency.

It must be a very rewarding experience to have such a pursuit beginning, just a week after the President of the United States, Barack Obama, who was her rival in 2008, became an official “lame duck”!

Of course, it is not as if the rest of the Democratic Party, including Vice President Joe Biden, is going to lie down and drop dead, and agree this quickly to her being the Democratic nominee for President in 2016.

But there can be no question as to her popularity, her competence, her experience, and the fact she would make an exciting, dynamic President, were she to run and win!

And the Republican Party has to be having nightmares as to how they would deal with Hillary Clinton as their potential opponent in 2016!

The “Buffett Rule” Is The “Reagan Rule”, But Instead Cut Food Stamps: Republican Party Message To America!

Ronald 2 Comments

The “Buffett Rule”, the idea that those who earn more than a million dollars a year should pay a tax rate of 30 percent, more than their secretaries and other workers, was defeated in the Senate on a party line vote on Monday, with only Susan Collins of Maine voting with Democrats, and Mark Pryor of Arkansas voting with the Republicans, and 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster being unable to be accomplished.

Of course, the “Buffett Rule” is really a restatement of the “Reagan Rule”, the assertion of the 40th President that one should not expect an employee to pay a higher level of taxes than his or her employer. It is an embarrassment to the GOP of 2012, that they are actually defying their icon, their god, their “savior”, who they claim to be following and worshiping, but only when they choose to follow his lead. The fact that 72 percent of the American people in polls support the “Buffett Rule” has no effect at all on the Republicans, as they argue that $50 billion over ten years collected if the “Buffett Rule” went into effect is a “drop in the bucket”!

Meanwhile, the Republicans wish to cut spending on food stamps, the main source of funding for nutrition for poor families, attacked as socialism, but they insist that cutting it over ten years, saving $33.2 billion, is substantial, and must be done as part of the Paul Ryan budget plan in the House of Representatives.

The Republican Party has no conscience, as they are willing to take from the poor to give more tax cuts to the rich. They are Robin Hood in reverse, with no second thoughts!

So 4,000 families will benefit from the defeat of the “Buffett Rule”, while $46.4 million Americans, who are already dependent on food stamps for survival will see an 11 percent cut in monthly benefits after September 1.

The long term unemployed, who lost their jobs through no fault of their own, will now suffer even worse, as we now live in a society in which government leaders do not care about what hunger means, and do not care about the desperation of millions left behind, a large percentage of them children and single mothers, as long as the elite continue to get tax cuts!

Forget The “Buffett Rule”! Call It The “Reagan Rule”!

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Recently, there has been much controversy about the concept of the “Buffett Rule”, named after billionaire Warren Buffett, who has said that he and all wealthy people should pay more taxes than his secretary!

Barack Obama has been promoting that, and the Republicans claim it is promoting “class warfare”! Instead, they would rather promote greed and selfishness, and starve the budget, preventing job growth and promoting further economic dislocation!

But now, it has been uncovered that President Ronald Reagan, the “darling” of the conservatives, called for the same thing when he was President in the 1980s, make wealthy people pay more than the average American taxpayer!

Obama’s language is almost exactly the same as Reagan’s, and it is amazing that many Republicans worship someone who actually agrees with Obama! That shows their ignorance, or their ability to lie, and either is disgraceful! And every poll shows more than 70 percent of the people agree with both Obama AND Reagan!

It is also not well known that Ronald Reagan signed ELEVEN different tax increases while in office, and understood that if the budget or economic conditions required it, a rise in taxes was necessary, including on the wealthy!

It is time for tax action to avert a worst economic situation than the one we are now in!

Bush And Cheney Emerge: Reminders Of How We Became What We Are!

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The emergence of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney from “exile” helps to remind us of how we came to be where we are today!

Bush was on National Geographic Channel, explaining and justifying his administration’s actions before September 11, on September 11, and since. You would think he would be a bit humble about the shortcomings of his administration regarding terrorism and the wars he initiated, but not one bit of apology was offered!

Even worse, Dick Cheney, who is seen overseas as an international war criminal, has been gloating about his attacks in his memoir on Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and George Tenet, and claims no mistakes, no shortcomings, no regrets about the foreign policy of the Bush Administration!

And of course, the man who said as Vice President that deficits did not matter, helped to preside over budget deficits that doubled the national debt, and convinced “fat cats”, corporate leaders and super rich people, that it was patriotic NOT to pay their fair share of taxes!

Adding insult to injury, we have today the former CEO of American Express, Harvey Golub, having the nerve to go on MSNBC this afternoon, and attack Warren Buffett for his assertions that wealthy people should pay higher taxes as part of patriotism, and appreciation for their success in America!

Golub says he earned his salary, worked very hard, and should not be forced to pay higher taxes until it is proved that the government handles money in a better fashion. While no one can criticize that assertion, it must be realized that CEOs are paid outrageous salaries to head major corporations, just at a time when many corporations have no morality or concern about firing their employees, cutting their benefits or pay, or adding more tension and pressure to their jobs!

But really, when a CEO says he works HARD, what does that mean? It means he “barks” orders to his underlings; spends time in his office intimidating others in meetings; uses his time on the phone and pushing papers to make himself look busy; and often could not survive without good staff, which he almost certainly treats in a disrespectful and disdaining manner! All he is concerned about is how much wealth he can acquire, how many perks he can have, and the level of arrogance and abuse that he can practice without accountability!

It is time to stop giving deference to corporate leaders, and start demanding that they do their part for their country, instead of expecting the “peasants” below them to bear the whole burden!

So Bush and Cheney emerging reminds us of the alternative of Barack Obama, and cannot but help make the choice for 2012 much clearer!

Warren Buffett Calls Upon Wealthy To Pay More In Taxes: Absolutely Appropriate!

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Billionaire Warren Buffett has called upon the wealthy, like himself, to start paying their fair share of taxes, including capital gains taxes at a higher rate, as most of them do not work and do not pay federal income tax on a job, as we all do! Buffett says that he should pay a higher level of taxes than his secretary does, and he is ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!

It is about time that this occur, and yet, Rick Perry says that the half of the population who do not pay federal income taxes should start paying, conveniently forgetting that they do not make enough income to be able to survive as it is!

Plus, the poor DO actually pay many taxes, including state and local income and sales taxes, gasoline taxes, and payroll taxes on Social Security and Medicare!

Why should those who have stocks and bonds be able to avoid the rate of taxation that middle class working Americans pay on their employment income?

With 14 and a half months to go to the Presidential Election of 2012, the clear cut differences are drawn, for all who have any brains, intelligence, and sense of social justice, to see clearly!

The Presidential Medal Of Freedom Awards For 2010

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President Obama has chosen 15 Americans for the Medal of Freedom, and they were honored at a White House ceremony three days ago.

It was, as always, a special moment, but particularly special in the mind of the author.

This is because his childhood baseball hero, Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals, who has just reached 90 years of age, was one of the honorees. It brought back memories of childhood and the thrill of watching “Stan The Man” perform flawlessly on a baseball field! 🙂

But also among the honorees was former President George H W Bush, basketball great Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics, Civil Rights leader and Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, former AFL CIO labor leader John Sweeney, poet Maya Angelou, and President Kennedy’s sister and sole survivor of the Kennedy generation of nine children, Jean Kennedy Smith, who also served as Ambassador to Ireland.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was honored as well, along with Billionaire Warren Buffett, Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, civil rights activist Sylvia Mendez, Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein, American artist Jasper Johns, National Resources Defense Council environmental founder John H. Adams, and humanitarian Tom Little who was killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan while providing vision care to local citizens.

As Obama said, this is one of the most enjoyable perks of being President of the United States, to honor those who have done so much good for the nation! 🙂