Your thoughts on Obama’s and Buffett’s calls to eliminate tax breaks for wealthiest Americans?
I can no more stomach Warren Buffett’s tax proselytizing than I can Al Gore warning about global warming while his carbon footprint is bigger than his waistline.
Why? Where you coming from on this?
Buffett is on record saying he’s arranged for his enormous wealth (mostly unrealized capital gains) to be passed tax free to the Gates Foundation and to Buffett family foundations. He’s curiously silent about changing the rules he’s using to pass along his wealth.
Should tax reform be used to help address our economic woes?
Absolutely. But one man’s tax reform is another man’s tax ox being gored. The lesson of the 1986 Tax Reform Act: Agreement is possible if they go “big,” or expanding the tax base while reducing rates.
GOP presidential hopefuls lament that 46 percent of Americans don’t pay federal income tax. Your view?
The GOP contributes to tax illiteracy by focusing just on federal income tax. A fairer analysis takes into account all taxes paid. By this measure, everyone has tax skin in the game.
On the IRS’s new role in administering the health law: Will it detract from enforcement and collection?
Whatever one’s views of ObamaCare, there should be agreement that playing health care cop is a poor use of the IRS. The IRS has a tough enough job and should not be asked to take on this role.