Stephen King: "Tough Shit;" Tax the Rich

Author, and 1-percenter, Stephen King wrote an Op-Ed piece into Newsweek/The Daily Caller yesterday castigating the calls of some prominent Republican legislators (he specifically calls out New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie) to such 1 %'ers as King, as Warren Buffett, as Bill Gates, and many more, to just write a check to the IRS and "shut up" instead of questioning why their tax rates are so low and demanding politicians raise their rates to fix the fiscal mess plaguing the country.

King, ostensibly insouciant to any political fire that may result, pulls no punches in his argument for increased taxes on the wealthy, and seems particularly disdainful of Christie's "rudeness." What I think is important here is that even though Democrats have (for now) lost the vote on President Obama's "Buffett Rule," some people are not done having this debate.

"Tired of hearing about it, they said," King paraphrases opponents to the rule.
"Tough shit for you guys, because I'm not tired of talking about it."

King goes on to explain that yes, he and many other (even the Koch brothers) charitable, wealthy 1 %'ers already give millions in donations every year, but it's simply not enough.

"What charitable 1 percenters can’t do is assume responsibility—America’s national responsibilities: the care of its sick and its poor, the education of its young, the repair of its failing infrastructure, the repayment of its staggering war debts. Charity from the rich can’t fix global warming or lower the price of gasoline by one single red penny. That kind of salvation does not come from Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Ballmer saying, “OK, I’ll write a $2 million bonus check to the IRS.” That annoying responsibility stuff comes from three words that are anathema to the Tea Partiers: United American citizenry." [Emphasis not mine.]

You can read the entire article here.

Romney's Swiss Bank Account

On Monday, President Barack Obama's campaign held a conference call discussing their push for higher taxes on millionaires, and the discussion quickly turned to Obama's presumptive opponent in the general election, Mitt Romney, and his Swiss Bank account.

The conference call held between Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Ill), and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill), revolved around discussion of the 'Buffett Rule,' a law the Senate plans to bring up for a vote on April 15th, tax day. The 'Buffett Rule' seeks to raise revenue in order to reduce the deficit by closing tax loopholes that unproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans and help to ensure every American is paying their fair share. Income inequality in America is at an all-time high, where the richest 1% of Americans own over 40% of the total wealth of the nation (a figure unseen since right before The Great Depression), continue to slowly siphon wealth from the middle- and lower-classes, while the lower classes are increasingly squeezed by rising food and gas prices as well as budget cuts at the state and federal level.

And Mitt Romney seems to be the ideal poster-child for this widening income gap in America. Besides a majority of Americans supporting increased taxes on the rich, Romney has embraced Paul Ryan's "marvelous" budget presented by the House last week. Romney paid less than 15% in federal taxes over the last two years, despite making millions of dollars. He worked for Bain Capital, a venture capital firm notorious for buying struggling companies, laying off workers and selling the company for enormous profits while leaving them shackled in debt. Now, the Obama campaign wants to focus their attacks on Romney's overseas accounts, asking 'Why do you have a Swiss Bank account?'

I think Warren Buffett's response best captures the essence of the inquiry. Durbin asked the billionaire investor if he had a Swiss Bank account. Buffett simply responded, "No, there are plenty of good banks in the United States."

Lots of Tax Talk

Sarkozy Tackles Wall Street Tax - On Monday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy took a large step towards implementing a financial transactions tax, a tax largely supported by many world leaders, and publicly backed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.  Sarkozy, a conservative up for re-election, has been pushing for the tax for some time, but the tax has not received the backing of all the European Union, most notably UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who does disagree with the measure, but would veto the bill in the UK unless the tax is implemented worldwide. Now, feeling the pressure of his campaign and what looks like an attempt to take a more populist stance prior to the election, Sarkozy is saying that even without the full consent of the EU, France is willing to go it alone.

Citing deregulation of the financial markets and rampant, unhindered speculation as some primary causes of the global economic downturn, Sarkozy is arguing that traders “repay” their country for the damage that was done. Sarkozy says there is an inherent “moral issue” with the tax, a levy on financial trading transactions that he claims will generate billions of dollars for France, as well as many other countries still reeling from the global recession, and effectively cut down on the sheer number of trades, which many analysts cite as endemic to the market insecurities and directly caused the May 2010 “flash crash” on Wall Street. The EU finance ministers are set to discuss how effect the tax could be at a summit in March, however, Sarkozy’s administration is planning to introduce a bill as early as February. The US opposes taxes on financial transactions between banks, despite wide public support for them.

Obama Strengthens Jobs Agenda - Speaking of taxes and morality, stateside, President Obama met with business leaders yesterday in the White House to discuss the “moral” case for American companies to keep, or bring jobs back to American workers. “So my message to business leaders today is simple: ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to the country that made our success possible,” in a statement that seemed to paraphrase just slightly JFK’s “Ask Not…” speech. The President is proposing $12 million in his 2013 budget as incentives to companies who invest in America from overseas. For companies that don’t, the President wants to end tax breaks and cut off the corporate welfare so many businesses receive from the federal government. With the economy as the number one issue on voters’ minds as the 2012 election gears up, President Obama is looking to show the public that he is still very much focused on jobs and the economy right now.

Warren Buffett Challenges Congress - And Warren Buffett is talking taxes again as tax season looms. Last August, Mr. Buffett wrote in an op-ed to the New York Times lampooning the disproportionate tax structure in the US. Buffett, with a net worth of $45 billion, says he effectively pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. In response, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) quipped that if Buffett were feeling “guilty,” he should “send in a check” to the IRS. There was even a “Buffett Rule Act” introduced in the Senate to add a line on tax forms for the rich to donate extra in order to pay down the national debt. Buffett’s response: he’s offering a 1-to-1 match on all voluntary contributions from Congress (3-to-1 for Sen. McConnell’s case). In TIME magazine’s cover story this week, Mr. Buffett waxes benevolent, “It restores my faith in human nature to think that there are people who have been around Washington all this time and are not yet so cynical as to think that [the deficit] can’t be solved by voluntary contributions.” You can read the full article and more about Buffett’s wager in this week’s issue of TIME on newsstands Friday.