Warren
Buffett, the third-richest man in the world, has criticised the US tax
system for allowing him to pay a lower rate than his secretary and his
cleaner.
Speaking at a $4,600-a-seat fundraiser in New York for Senator Hillary
Clinton, Mr Buffett, who is worth an estimated $52 billion (£26
billion), said: “The 400 of us [here] pay a lower part of our income in
taxes than our receptionists do, or our cleaning ladies, for that
matter. If you’re in the luckiest 1 per cent of humanity, you owe it to
the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent.”
Mr Buffett said that he was taxed at 17.7 per cent on the $46 million
he made last year, without trying to avoid paying higher taxes, while
his secretary, who earned $60,000, was taxed at 30 per cent. Mr Buffett
told his audience, which included John Mack, the chairman of Morgan
Stanley, and Alan Patricof, the founder of the US branch of Apax
Partners, that US government policy had accentuated a disparity of
wealth that hurt the economy by stifling opportunity and
motivation. go to story
People
are thinking that with the change of some politician something new will
be done and they will be happy. Now there is an advertisement: "America
needs Nixon now." People are thinking, "When Nixon will be president
instead of Johnson, we shall be happy." [Laughter.] But from which
stock are this Johnson and Nixon coming? The source of supply is the
same. If the source of supply is the same, what is the use of replacing
Johnson with Nixon or Nixon with Johnson? more
PRADYUMNA:
[reads:] "The kshatriyas, or the administrative class of men,
are expected to rule the planet by the direction of the intelligent
class of men, who give direction to the rulers in terms of the standard
shastras, or the books of revealed knowledge. The rulers
carry on the administration according to that direction. Whenever there
is disobedience on the part of the kshatriyas, or the
administrative class, against the orders of the learned and intelligent
brahmanas, the administrators are removed by force from
the posts, and arrangement is made for better administration."
PRABHUPADA: Yes. That was the custom. Not that by removing the king
from the throne or killing the king, the brahmanas and the
sages would come there to sit down on the throne. No. His son will be
given chance to become king. The descendant was picked up, and they
would take charge of the minor king, advise him, but they will never
touch the throne. There are many instances. Just like Vena Maharaja. He
became too much atheistic. He was also killed by the brahmanas
and the sages. Then his son Prithu Maharaja became king, and he was a
good administrator. So in this way, things were going on.
So the aim was how to make people happy by enlightening them in
spiritual knowledge. Not that how to make better arrangement for
eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. That was also going on. But
the main purpose of life was brahminical culture.
So the responsibility was that time to the administrator. They would
see that everyone, every brahmana, is following the rules and
regulation of a brahmana; every kshatriya is following
the rules and regulation of kshatriya. Vaishya, shudra...
And nobody can interfere the other's business. Everyone is employed in
his own business. And tax. Tax. The brahmana had to pay no tax.
Only kshatriyas, they were tax collector. And shudra
also, they had no property; therefore there was no tax. Only the Vaishya
class, the productive class, they had to pay tax. And that tax also was
very simple. There was no encroachment. You simply give one fourth of
your profit to the government. That's all. No more tax. Sales tax, this
tax, income tax, excise tax, this tax—simply tax, tax, tax. No. Not
like that. Whatever he has got profit. "Got" means whatever profit he
has made... If he has no profit, there is no tax. That was the
government system. So how he will pay if he has not made any profit
this year? Just like we are hearing there is no good monsoon in India
this year. So there will be not very much good production. But if there
is no good production, the government should not levy any tax. But now,
at the present moment, "You go to hell, but you must pay the tax. And
we divide the tax amongst ourself." That's all. Finished. Or we employ
the taxes for fighting, for declaring war. That's all.
So at the present moment we are in a very, very deplorable condition,
no good government. Simply by changing, by so-called parties, the
government cannot improve. The government can improve when there are
Krishna conscious person. So if some day you turn all the people
Krishna conscious, then you become president.
London
Times June 28, 2007
- TOM BAWDEN Buffett blasts
system that lets him pay less tax than secretary