Posted by
Playful Walrus on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 3:54:49 PM
So Warren Buffett wants “a progressive and meaningful estate tax” to “curb the movement of a democracy toward plutocracy”.But why is an estate tax needed for this? Surely Mr. Buffett can use his considerable influence over the companies in which he’s invested to 1) boost compensation to employees; 2) give away or discount goods and services to the “poor” so that they can have many of the same things the wealthy have.
Go for it, Mr. Buffett!
As for me, I see nothing wrong with a expansion of the wealth spectrum, especially because the poor in our country continue to see an improvement in their quality of life. So what if the wealthier see an even greater rise in the percentage of their wealth? The pie is getting bigger for everyone – it isn’t like the wealthy are getting theirs by taking away from the poor (although the wealthy can influence government to protect their wealth).
We need to reduce taxation and thus government control over our finances. Voluntary exchanges of money, goods, and services, and charity should be the goal.
In the free market, a poor person can create something that even wealthy people want and are willing to pay a premium to get. But why should a poor person bother to create and contribute if government programs will take the money by force from the wealthy and give the poor person everything they need, and much of what they want, even if the poor person does nothing? High estate taxes encourage convoluted work-arounds and old people blowing their money frivolously.