Warren Buffett Rule

  

The ‘Buffett Rule’ has made headlines. 

It is amazing to me that one man, who is a stranger to most of the 400 million Americans in this nation, could make a few remarks and get the President to act.

Mr. Buffett seems a nice fellow who does not want his actions to be regarded for the facts but as a gentle fantasy that seems to have settled in on him – placed there by admirers who refer to him as the ‘Oracle of Omaha’.

It is a uniquely American situation where one individual in his Pop-Culture disguise can have such a powerful effect on the nation’s society.

His remarks on taxation and the rich seem to reflect middle class values but the fact remains he is not middle class.  The statements more rightly indicate deflecting attention away from the things that he seems to hold most dear.  Corporations.  A web of which he ‘controls’ for his own personal interests and I expect, his own personal pleasure.

These problem children in our economy - corporations - do not pay their fair share in taxes and fees.  They do not even pay out reasonable dividends against their income as they should.  Mr. Buffett's diversion is very complex and it is serving Mr. Obama well to use it to cover some very simple and ugly truths.

American Corporations have trillions of dollars in other countries – but they won’t bring it back because there are rules that allow them and even encourage them to keep the money out of the United States.  For example – there is no tax on profits made in other countries for American corporations as long as the profits are kept out of the country.  It is quite complex and reassuring to accountants but it is clearly taking advantage of our system of national defense to help them ensure their continued profitability by the threat of force against the host nations in which they are operating.

So – we have a rich man dressing himself in rags – that is Mr. Buffett.

I believe that Mr. Buffett believes that because he is in the position he is in that he is right.  I believe that Mr. Obama, because Mr. Buffett believes what he believes and Mr. Obama agrees with it and he, likewise, is in the position he is in,  believes he is right also.  So the error is magnified by the seemingly harmless deflection of truth.