Another response to the Warren Buffett column that the rich don't pay enough taxes

I've posted about the column by the 2nd richest man in America here Warren Buffett says the tax code is too nice to super-rich people and here Wall Street Journal's response to Warren Buffett's Monday NY Times op ed .

Now another response by a fellow rich guy (but nowhere near as rich as Buffett). Harvey Golub, is the former CEO of American Express, and one of the retired executives the government asked to help clean up the AIG mess in 2008.

Only nine paragraphs long. Excerpts below link, but read the whole thing.

Before you ask for more tax money from me, raise the $2.2 trillion you already collect each year more fairly and spend it more wisely

Now that I'm 72 years old, I can look forward to paying a significant portion of my accumulated wealth in estate taxes to the federal government and, depending on the state I live in at the time, to that state government as well. Of my current income this year, I expect to pay 80%-90% in federal income taxes, state income taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes, and federal and state estate taxes. Isn't that enough?

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What gets me most upset is two other things about this argument: the unfair way taxes are collected, and the violation of the implicit social contract between me and my government that my taxes will be spent—effectively and efficiently—on purposes that support the general needs of the country. Before you call me greedy, make sure you operate fairly on both fronts.

Today, top earners—the 250,000 people who earn $1 million or more—pay 20% of all income taxes, and the 3% who earn more than $200,000 pay almost half. Almost half of all filers pay no income taxes at all. Clearly they earn less and should pay less. But they should pay something and have a stake in our government spending their money too.

In addition, the extraordinarily complex tax code is replete with favors to various interest groups and industries, favors granted by politicians seeking to retain power. ...

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Governments have an obligation to spend our tax money on programs that work. They fail at this fundamental task. Do we really need dozens of retraining programs with no measure of performance or results? Do we really need to spend money on solar panels, windmills and battery-operated cars when we have ample energy supplies in this country? Do we really need all the regulations that put an estimated $2 trillion burden on our economy by raising the price of things we buy? Do we really need subsidies for domestic sugar farmers and ethanol producers?

Indeed. Read the whole essay - it's worth the three minutes time.

Comments

[maria]

An excellent article