Charlie Rose

SharkswithfrikingLazers  08/10/2012 10:41 PM Report

HBO's "Too Big to Fail" is on HBO now. Saw it in Atlanta in a motel room.

Charlie had them on the show here: http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11688

Ed Asner plays Warren.

Warren comes off as Mr. Money who puts in billions to save the world but mostly our economy/banking system.

Warren is portrayed as so wealthy he is like a country of cash, the Country Buffett.

I guess we have to concentrate our wealth into the hands of someone like Warren so there is someone on the sidelines to save the country when our government fails so miserably.

Thanks for saving us Warren! Please help make sure it doesn't happen again.

vongleichent  02/26/2012 04:43 PM Report

One of the few billionaires who speaks out.

anne4444  09/04/2011 07:08 PM Report

He just looks too gorgeous.

If we have to print money to move this decreased economy, please make sure this printed money will be spent here inside this country, NOT ANYWHERE ELSE. Please don’t put us into the inflation without benefit while 50% populations are looking for work and 50% children are using Food stamp.

NeilMacCallister  08/31/2011 07:32 PM Report

Which would Las Vegas say is the better bet?..

That President Obama completes his current term, and then receives the retiring Mr. Buffett's warm welcome to take over the leadership position at Berkshire-Hathaway??

Or that Warren Buffett gets asked to run as Barack Obama's Vice-President in a bid by President Obama for a second term???

(..remember, Mr. Obama has already said that he has "over a billion dollars" to campaign with!)

Tatonka  08/30/2011 03:02 PM Report

jmallos, regarding the housing market and the unemployed you should be made aware that during the financial crisis, Buffett plainly stated that the government had to 'get the money out there into the hands of people that would spend it.' That's very much a bottom up philosophy.

I don't know if that's the way the bailouts have worked out. I'd say that governments around the world have acted heroically (if not stupidly so) in increasing their spending.

However, I think it's time the private sector steps up to the plate. They too seem to be suffering from a sense of entitlement, waiting for governments to create stability, provide direction on the debts, etc. Since when have businesses had it so good in terms of a sense of certainty. Look at what business dealt with throughout most of the 20th century (major wars, plague, threat of nuclear war, cold wars, etc.).

JohnMatro  08/30/2011 02:55 PM Report

Once again, Buffet proved himself to be an affable buffoon. He reminds me of some of the Poindexter-types that I went to school with that always had an answer to everything yet lacked any real depth or wisdom. When asked what was needed to get America back on its feet he replied that we needed to build more houses, which would fuel growth in every sector and generate oodles of jobs. Charlie Rose, ever the polite host, never pushed back or has any perspicacious insights of his own, let Buffet get away with that Pollyanna statement. Did either of these guys ever stop to think about what building new houses does to the environment? Are we supposed to accommodate a burgeoning population and continue to build more stuff with wild abandon every time we're in a crunch? How about ridding ourselves of the capitalist system, which depends upon consumerism and expropriating more land from our already over-taxed environment in order to function? But both Buffet & Rose would rather push the problem of a severely damaged environment off to the next generation, as the previous generation did to ours, than to think outside the box.

JohnGelles  08/28/2011 06:35 AM Report

raed ~

Your implied advice to prevent collapse of a great nation and overcome health and money problems that plague our poor, and even the nation as a whole, is what we need to take seriously. Thank you for it. The risk of inflation is, IMO, small potatoes compared to the risk of doing not enough and waiting to see what happens.

raed  08/27/2011 03:12 PM Report

Time frame for us collapse is unknown. US have real problem but can overcome them by printing money/ borrowing and postponing the problem and once the econmy grows, can focus on long term issues like deficit/health care. But the problem is there is no room for continued debt. Increased printing of money also cause serious inflation risk

SharkswithfrikingLazers  08/26/2011 06:36 PM Report

Buffett's one-day win on Bank of America: $357 million.

Bank of America will also pay the famed investor $300 million -- a 6% annual dividend or $821,000 a day -- for a decade, on his $5 billion in preferred shares.

He also gets an option to buy up to 700 million Bank of America shares any time in the next 10 years for $7.14.

It is nice to have money and dictate terms. Hope the deal stays golden for ol' Midas.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/26/markets/warren_buffett_bofa_profit/

Just amazing.

jmallos  08/24/2011 01:50 PM Report

Warren Buffett is naive about the housing market. The housing market fills from the bottom up. That's why we have empty retirement homes in the sunbelt, not empty rooms to rent in New York City. We don't need, in his absurd contention, "immigrants that can afford to buy a house," rather, we need any immigrant that can land a job. More renters raise rents; high rents spur high-end renters to buy; and high rents also spur housing speculators—making them believe they will be able to carry their investments as rental property.

No one is willing to acknowledge that there wasn't just air in our housing bubble—there were hundreds of thousands of people too. Hundreds of thousands of working adults—tentative immigrants—many with employment related to construction, left the United States (and the U.S. rental market) in the wake of the new construction collapse 2006-7. This will be a very long recession if we take steps to discourage their return. Our historically slow increases in population and worker productivity (we were baselining those anyway) will need a decade or more to bury this sudden exodus of working adults in their prime.

Check out Arizona's economic "growth" lately. That's what we will all get and deserve if our response to a glut of housing is to drive immigrants away.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  08/24/2011 12:29 AM Report

"The average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker was about $1,177 at the beginning of 2011. This amount changes monthly based upon the total amount of all benefits paid and the total number of people receiving benefits."

http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/13

ROSE: You get $32,000?

BUFFETT: $32,680.

ROSE: Right. You don’t need it.

BUFFETT: And a portion of it is tax free. Not a very big portion.

You are killing me. Even the social security benefit Warren gets is amazing. He is Midas.

By the way Warren, does Social Security come after you if you don't file? Is it like on "Seinfeld" when Krammer didn't want to get mail anymore, sealed his mailbox and the Postmaster General came after him?

Yep, you don't get your Social Security and it becomes an episode of "The Sopranos".

brianbook  08/23/2011 09:57 PM Report

This wisdom is supported by the philosophy of Aristotle, the theology of OT prophets & the Gospel of Luke, as well as Keynesian economics. Pretty good shoulders to stand on, in my humble opinion.

JMM  08/23/2011 04:07 AM Report

I'm grateful to Mr. Buffett for writing the op-ed piece as well as doing this interview. Linda McQuaig's book "The Trouble with Billionaires" indicated that taxes were at the 70%-95% range when the debt was lowest and investment in infrastructure was highest.

I would love to know how the income disparity is going to be resolved. It must be too simple to think that if spending is required, then those who have to pay to keep their money in banks might make everyone better off by spending it on workers, through raising salaries to living wages. That's the only trickle down that I can think of as effective.

Is there a better idea than raising taxes and salaries?

ibykow  08/22/2011 01:16 PM Report

Transcript on CNBC's Warren Buffett Watch website: http://www.cnbc.com/id/44174056

JohnGelles  08/21/2011 05:40 AM Report

http://ustaxreform.us/a-crs.htm

Link above ties recent related interviews together.

tak217NYU  08/20/2011 01:53 PM Report

Difficult to understand the logic of changing the tax code and raising dividends tax based on the particular compensation structure in Buffet's office. If Buffet is paying less % in taxes than those in his office it probably means they receive most of their compensation in ordinary income and he receives most of his income in dividends. If that's a scenario he finds unfair, he can change their compensation structure, he is the CEO of the company.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  08/20/2011 02:33 AM Report

Five Minutes about this issue on The Daily Show: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-18-2011/world-of-class-warfare---warren-buffett-vs--weal thy-conservatives?xrs=share_copy

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-18-2011/world-of-class-warfare---the-poor-s-free-ride-is -over?xrs=share_copy

CHECK OUT THE INCOME INEQUALITY AND WHO IS A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY.

JohnGelles  08/19/2011 07:56 PM Report

timezawastin~

You have seen the truth. The income tax law (Internal Revenue Code) is unfair, a bummer, a disgrace, thousands of pages too long, un-decipherable, proof that our law and culture are mad, etc., etc.

Yet ordinary people defend it.

It supports an enormous lobbying overhead that costs ud all rationality of thought and economic action.

I want to reform it.

How can we recruit help on his forum?

http://ustaxreform.us

SharkswithfrikingLazers  08/19/2011 02:46 AM Report

Our deficit is our stimulus says Warren. Currently it is at a record 10% of GDP (deficit of $1.4 T on about $14 T annual GDP)and probably should move toward 3%.

Yes, our two wars, drug benefits for the elderly and tax cuts for the rich have really stimulated our economy. Can't you feel it?

We have spent the money (wisely?) and now it is time to see the growth.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  08/19/2011 02:36 AM Report

Warren says 60 million of us live in households where the household income is $21K or LESS and we need to think about these people--EVERYDAY.

So then the unemployment rate is really only a wee bit of the picture. It is really about those with a $40 million taxable income and a government that provides them a tax shelter with a 17% tax rate.

What a way to run a Plutocracy. It is surprising that the Republicans have not caught on to this--or perhaps they have?

karstenbarde  08/18/2011 11:51 PM Report

If you like this idea, join the Facebook group "Buffet's Idea to Help the Economy"

timezawastin  08/18/2011 09:41 PM Report

Thank you Mr. Buffett for speaking with unquestioned credibility on the creating the opportunity for the extraordinarily wealthy to pay taxes on a par with the middle class. Here is a question I would like to have answered:

As you point out, hedge fund managers and others whose income is derived from capital gains are taxed a maximum rate of 15%. As a long-term teacher who will rely on a 401K for retirement, my retirement income will derive in part from the capital gains garnered from the long-term investments in the 401K which is not a Roth IRA. Yet, when I take money out of the 401K, that money will be taxed as ordinary income, at almost double the rate of capital gains. So we poor working schlubs who can only afford to accumulate capital gains within retirement vehicles will get none of the tax advantages of capital gains. Once more a big kick in the pants to the working middle class.

JohnGelles  08/18/2011 11:01 AM Report

The Buffet interview (and his letter to the Times--(asking for more revenue for Uncle Sam from million- and billion-aires,)--prompted our host to do the follow up show,

entitled "The Debate over Tax Reform", with Martin Feldstein, Bill Bradley and David Leonhardt on Aug 17, 2011.

That show (which I just watched) was the worst show on intellectual TV in a dozen years.

The "Debate over Tax Reform" is supposed to clarify the JOBS issue in relation to TAXES.

It is true--that, IF Obama is fired by TeaParty-type ANGER, it will be because there is anger over SPENDING and DEFICITS that seem to involve taxes more than jobs. But that anger, jobs and taxes are so tightly bound together, no separation is really possible.

The "JOBS", "TAXES", "GLOBAL ECONOMY", "NEW WORLD ORDER", and "FATE OF CIVILIZATION", issues are on our plate at the moment. Although no single lousy TV treatment of taxes will destroy civilization, it will contribute to future disasters and ought to be stopped in its tracks before it does.

In this unbelievably bad show, the subject of taxes is taken into the weeds of nonsense so deep that not one of the participants--especially the host--left a single useful understanding of why we pay for GOVERNMENT (big or small).

We pay for government to provide forces to defend us in war.

And we pay for government so that we have the industrial and technological means to create those forces AND enjoy the highest minimum standard of living possible -- NOT the highest life-style for one individual with a diamond as big as the Ritz.

Taxes to balance a budget whose purpose is not defense and not to raise the minimum standard of living SHOULD NOT govern our economic fate. A deficit from such a budget is necessary for survival.

Bill Bradley made the only comment worth remembering: It was not about taxes--it was about SUBSIDIES to business that hired net-more workers than it had a particular time. Such a scheme makes sense as a rapid hire system where the workers added to a payroll (80% of which is paid by an existing taxpayer) makes sense. The chance that such workers' output will be worthless are very low.

As to TAXES versus SUBSIDIES, as a general problem in economic arithmetic, either one can be abused. We use subsidies to create our food supply. On balance we have a good food supply and a lousy job supply. We use taxes against jobs--not in favor of more jobs.

You may ask where do we get money for subsidies? Where does all money come from?

That question must be answered.

The idiots on the Rose show were not asked anything on this fundamental question.

If money comes from sweat doing the right thing, how come I'm not paid to exercise?

Our money comes from profit--and no one can be sure of that. In fact the huge profit on owning my home is what destroyed my country's economy in 2008.

Our money must be made to come from necessary production of defense forces and standard of living ingredients.

This is not communism or fascism. It is capitalism--fully funded by government as the national banker. It is not the class struggle Marx worked on. It is the solution to the MONEY puzzle Keynes worked on.

Join me on http://ustaxreform.us

There we will create a new wiki (really a wiki network of sites -- not a single site.)

We will finance the hydrogen economy, the full employment economy, the defense forces to keep the peace, end poverty and war, and the first responders forces to meet nature's storms and furies the moment we suspect they're there.

Financing the essentials of governance by spending money into circulation will start money off. Money for profit will follow. Luxury taxes MAY be useful. Anti-inflation taxes (on transactions not on wealth) may also be useful.

All income, wealth and death taxes will be repealed. Our democracy will be able to afford FDR's Second Bill of Rights.

[please read thru and correct my typos. when this stuff gets to an issues wiki-net there will plenty of time to correct all typos.]

doodah  08/18/2011 05:31 AM Report

Shark, I think we have Donald Trump to amuse us with that tackyness. Well, he's not a billionaire, but don't tell him that. It wasn't even really his intelligence that got him his millions, but don't tell him that. He's an ugly fool, but don't tell him that.

Now his daughter, that's a different story.

doodah  08/18/2011 05:20 AM Report

@ Neil

Quick, Let me write that down, Neil. Let's see, that's Gold, Foreign Currency, and Oil futures. got it :)

SharkswithfrikingLazers  08/18/2011 02:52 AM Report

Warren, you have $62 million in adjusted gross income and of this $39.8 million in taxable income. Then you pay only $6.9 million in tax.

Dude, your a multi, multi billionaire. How can you live on only $40 million a year in taxable income? Capitalism will not work unless you live large. We have concentrated the worldwide wealth into your hands and yet what do you do? Going all Andrew Carnegie on a brother. This will not do.

Go blow a billion on yourself and let the world know about it. Now go along . . .

SharkswithfrikingLazers  08/18/2011 02:42 AM Report

Yes, the instrument of the government is a shield not a sword.

Yes, you have to have confidence in your leaders. It is vital.

Yes, they have to give you reason to believe in them.

Yes, the minority has become the sword.

So what do we do with this minority who pulls a sword on its people? Beat it into a shield? Recall it and elect some shields?

SharkswithfrikingLazers  08/18/2011 02:36 AM Report

Warren, when they throw away the steering wheel are they just acting out a bluff or are they really crazy?

If I am driving against a guy who throws out the steering wheel I don't want to be in the game anymore. Insane people can't be held to a contract because they are insane and I don't want to risk it all on such an insane bluff.

NeilMacCallister  08/17/2011 09:06 PM Report

Talk is cheap. If Warren wanted "to pay his full share of taxes", ..then he should have, ..instead of only 10%.

He tells Charlie, .."Hey, if the government needs more money, they should print it themselves."

If printing money is so good for our nation's economy, ..why do we arrest counterfeiters for doing just that????

Warren Buffett trades money for a living, ..as our dollar crashes, ..you can be sure he will have his money in gold, foreign currency, or oil futures.

***

But on TV, both he and Obama are just so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!

charlizecourriers  08/17/2011 08:35 PM Report

Talk is cheap. I wonder why Buffett fails to mention a wealth tax. Perhaps he doesn't travel much. Or,.. Of course our host could have mentioned a wealth tax, also. But I doubt he knows what it is....

JohnGelles  08/17/2011 07:02 PM Report

..... ..... "SAY GOODBYE TO THE OLD ORDER"

If the title of this post makes sense, it invites consideration two huge and similar issues:

..... 1. JOBS NOW

..... 2. HOW TO PAY FOR "1.", ABOVE

The title, "Say Goodbye ..." is taken from Time Magazine's pages on the Global Economy, entitled THE END OF EUROPE -- beginning on page 22, written by Rana Foroohar -- with contributions from Berlin, Paris and Hong Kong reported by the those named at the end of the article on page 27. The issue is for August 22,2011, whose cover red color is covered with white print proclaiming in very large type THE DECLINE AND FALL OF EUROPE and maybe the West.

Read it on line or in paper. Do not miss it. It covers all that Buffet and Charlie tried to discuss but missed by a wide margin.

[to be continued]

robdverity  08/17/2011 04:13 PM Report

The PBS Newshour interview with street people that weren't aware of the wealth disparity in the US was at once frightening and enlightening. It explains anarchy in London and not NYC. We're too obtuse here at home to know the plutocrats have screwed the world over - but mostly us. Riots, fires and looting of gated communities and yacht clubs are justified. Lawlessness is warranted when laws are for sale to the highest bidder. Every big bank bonus baby should be exposed to angry mobs. Their antics put people under bridges for shelter, and caused a helluva lot of misery from Podunk, Iowa to Athens, Greece.

Exclude Omaha. Warren tries.

ckeogh  08/17/2011 12:25 PM Report

Thanks for the wonderful interview. Mr. Buffet is a true american and is telling it like it is. I hope our government is listening. People like him are in a position to tell the politicians the truth so I am glad he speaks for me. I am not a rich person and don't feel that I am being put upon by the taxes and feel I should pay my fair share but so should the rest of america. I think congress is an embarassment to the american people and the rest of the world right now. They better get there act together now before it is too late. They need to get the big picture in mind, mainly it is about We the people not there selfish selves.

dlviewer  08/17/2011 10:53 AM Report

Thank you so much for conducting and airing this interview with Mr. Buffet. His comments echo so much of what I have been thinking in his ethical and moral stance and of course with his status and knowledge of so many facts to back it up. Last night there was the further corroboration in a segment on PBS News Hour also graphically showing the economic disparity in our country that apparently was not perceived by any but the low income people interviewed. So, there is a need for the information to be put before us all in these ways, and thank God Mr. Buffet had the wisdom and courage to be so forthright in writing and publishing his op ed piece and being so candid and responsible. I especially appreciated his reference to those well off friends of his who are complaining, as he suggested they meet him on the shores of Normandy for the discussion, and his reference to the current wars this country is engaged in and the sacrifices so many are making in this regard, for I have asked myself over and over again how can any of the members of congress go on talking and acting as they do while lives are being lost, horrific injuries are occurring, massive numbers of people in the US are losing their jobs and homes? While the answer to that question is being asked here and all over the world it seems in many ways, Mr. Buffet has stepped forward to go beyond the question to solutions, and I thank him for that.

MarieIsenburg  08/17/2011 09:06 AM Report

I would like to join ShalomFreedman and thank Misters Buffet and Rose for this interview.

Mr. Buffet believes in the system that made this country great, and he focuses on protecting the strengths of that system.

Whatever else he sees, Mr. Buffet managed the interview well by keeping the focus on his main points. It works for me by injecting reason, honesty and humility into the discussion. That's a potent mix for getting anything done.

He addressed the financial basis for moving forward. I wish some other similarly disposed person(s) would address the political and social issues in the same vein. Then we as a country could make sensible moves and shift toward optimism for the people of this country.

doodah  08/17/2011 07:45 AM Report

... with sexy Hair.

Thank you John, that's very interesting, look forward to reading the rest of it.

I saw Das Newt Gingrich speaking to the Heritage Foundation this morning on C-Span. His Observations (I should say, most of ..) and Comments Were Right On Target. He can See things for what they are; too bad he's Too Much a Flake to be an effective Leader (maybe Roemer make him Vice Pres.?). Be a Good Team.

JohnGelles  08/17/2011 07:25 AM Report

http://ustaxreform.us/me98

Link above ties recent related interviews together.

doodah  08/17/2011 07:13 AM Report

Don't worry John, ain't no way in Hell Perry will be elected President. There's no way America will vote for a guy that would sing the lyrics, "the wheel in the sky keeps on turning; i don't know where i'll be tomorrow", in a cry baby whiney voice. I don't know what part of Texas, but that flat out sissy borderline gay; that's all that Perry is, a gay cowboy.

JohnGelles  08/17/2011 05:58 AM Report

Sharks and Neil have powerful habits of thought that convince them MONEY and PRODUCTION of "all things money must buy" will not solve our problems of HOMELESSNESS, JOBLESSNESS, HUNGER, POVERTY, UNPAID-MORTGAGE PRESSURE, ETC.

Gelles is convinced of the opposite. He lived longer than the kids mentioned above. He lived through his parent's woes when they suffered the double dip depressions in 1932 and 1937. He was 7 in 32 and lost his home and his dog to his father's unemployment. He was 12 in 37 and lost his home again (only by then he had gone from a detached home in the suburbs to an apartment in the city.

Then came the war -- in 39 in Europe (helped slightly) in 41-42 after Pearly Harbor. Money printed day and night. The printing press rolled 24-7. Money coming out the ears. Money saved in war bonds. Money spent to live frugally. Rationing and price control keeps the lid on.

Comes 1946. Inflation nearly doubles the price of new car. Sixteen million leave the Army and Navy. Jobs are there -- but also the 52-20 club to pay veterans who connot find a job.

You guys have no idea how much money can do. It built ships, planes, tanks, and the atomic bomb. It fed ever American a decent meal every day. It set the stage for American rescue of Europe and defeat of police state politics -- in the USSR and later it created th new Asia, after the Cold War was over. Only now it was Chinese, Russian and Indian money, as well as our own, Japan's, Europe's, Korea's, etc.

You guys have a right to suspect America has lost its Mojo.

But you have had no experience of how to go from 1929 to 1949 with your nation emerging as the leader of the free world. It is done with MONEY plus hard work. My dad worked hard every day. But after 1929 -- only when we printed beaucoups money did he ever make a living. Before then he was a money maker.

To say that Buffet is anything but a great American is to prove you are as way off base as any fool can be. Neil, you voiced that Madoff comparison. You ought to retract it or be self-condemned as a real nut case.

It's 2:30 in the morning. Obama has not yet delivered on his promises. So you both have a right to be pissed. But you better not dismiss BOTH Buffet and GELLES as stupids or crooks. We have minor differences between us: BUFFET sees recovery with private sector MONEY backed up by Bernanke. I see recovdery with Bernanke GREENBACKS plus private sector money backed up by PRODUCTION. Buffet sees taxes as ordinary. I see them as part of our problem. I say yes to LUXURY taxes as part of a mix. But my faith is in INDEXED-SAVINGS to provide risk-free returns to workers whose sweat does all the producing (with machines carrying the heaviest load). INDEXED-SAvINGS, FULL EMPLOYMENT, FULL EMPLOYMENT FEDERAL BUDGETS, FREE EDUCATION AND TRAINING (a GI Bill for the workers for their future contributions), ENERGY INDEPENDANCE, A REFORMED WORLD ORDER TO MAKE RESPONSIBLE PARTNERS OF GREAT NUCLEAR ARMED NATIONS WHO WILL SHARE POLICE DUTIES WITH AMERICA. Etc., etc., etc.

Plutocracy?? Yes we have become that. Economic democracy?? Yes we will become that -- IF WE FREE OURSELVES OF SOLE RELIANCE ON DEBT-BASED MONEY IN PERPETUJAL SHORT SUPPLY.

"KEYNES WITHOUT DEBT" (KWOD) explains that a 50-50 use of fractional reserve dollars and sovereign debt-free dollars is about right.

I dare you two and others to read it and find a single word out of place or less than perfect. http://ustaxreform.us/kwod

SharkswithfrikingLazers  08/17/2011 02:14 AM Report

Warren, you said tracking the Forbes 400 over 25 years you go from a couple of hundred billion of wealth to 1.2 trillion--a quintupling of wealth for these 400 in a couple of decades.

Then you say you need no tax shelter. Congress is your tax adviser and it has been taking care of you.

So Warren when do you think America officially become a plutocracy?

SharkswithfrikingLazers  08/17/2011 02:05 AM Report

Warren, I like the way your brain works. It appears to me that several neurons fire at once and you move back and forth through these thoughts. Then you punctuate with laughter.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  08/17/2011 02:00 AM Report

Sorry Warren, the world IS a zero sum game. Yes, we want the world to prosper. Yes, we will sell them stuff. But the common denominator is oil and there isn't enough for everyone to have the same lifestyle. If the entire world revolves around hydrocarbons then the U.S. will have to take a smaller piece of the pie.

NeilMacCallister  08/17/2011 01:58 AM Report

Love you, john, ..but you have me thinking that you have an over-confidence in unproven formula (.."printing money" is just too obvious a farce, ..please ditch that ASAP.)

My "Tory" mention was your tour along the "Huntsman" highway, ..who is he, anyway? ..Harry Reid's brother-in-law???

As a law advocate, you are aware of the fault of 'impossibility' to a contract. Is that not the most screamingly obvious deficiency in the promises from David Plouffe, David Axelrod, and Barack Obama, in 2008 and today???

Now, I know why Misters Plouffe and Axelrod rejoiced those promises going out and being received so well...

And some people may feel sorry for Barack Obama having to now 'bear the brunt' of the "known results of false promises"..

But you know, ..he was in on it too, ..he did take advantage of our nation's 'mass euphoria' to get himself elected, ..and now he gets to play golf with Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley!!

..I can't say I blame him, ..

But when I looked down at my daughters, ..and I wondered what would be best in the world for them, ..well, ..it is not such an easy choice, is it???

***

Mr. Buffett deserves to go join Bernie Madoff in prison for helping foist these falsehoods upon America!

SharkswithfrikingLazers  08/17/2011 01:54 AM Report

Yes Warren, we need a million home starts so let's get 500,000 immigrants to come in and buy the excess inventory. Great idea!

Getting these immigrants would also help solve our Social Security issue because we need to increase the base paying into the system.

The amount of excessive inventory is really an opportunity to solve several problems. So let's get those houses filled with tax paying, good citizens and we will help the local schools too.

JohnGelles  08/16/2011 11:54 PM Report

Neill,

I voted for Obama in 2008. I would prefer to vote for Petraeus in 2012 if he ran as a Gelles-Democrat. I would ask Obama to take the Wilkie role of roving personal ambassador from the President to all friendly nations.

I have never uttered a Tory idea. Love of and respect for my betters in tennis, math, programming, swimming, money-making, etc., is common sense not Tory thought. Love of and respect for my betters in law and economics is an interesting notion -- but i have never heard of any. I am the best!

I bring together Abba Lerner and Ray Kurzweil. My idea is that computers and money make a difference. They bring an end to poverty, pollution and overpowering paradox closer every day.

NeilMacCallister  08/16/2011 11:08 PM Report

Hah!! ..with Warren Buffett's offer of "just print more money" (..although he adds "..remember, it is also inflationary") John Gelles has thrown off the red Tory coat he had been trying on, ..and is now back shouting to the troops for President Obama!!!

"Dream", .."Believe", ..and now: "Print, Baby! PRINT!!!!"

JohnGelles  08/16/2011 11:05 PM Report

..... ..... TAXES AND ECONOMIC INEQUALITY (cont)

Govt pays for all it needs and all the good society needs that individuals do not pay for (like libraries, beaches, and highways, etc.) -- and pays for it with both debt free money it spends into circulation and debt-based bank-notes (Fed bank-notes that are legal tender) it earns from luxury taxes and monopoly sales of public leases, etc.

If we do this, inequality will have no bad effect. That is to say, govt can pay very high pensions, very high educational and training costs that are free to all, very high medical cost that is free to all.

Where, you ask, does govt get the trillions? It gets them by matching monetized demand with supply that comes from the total work of the economy -- especially work by machines.

You cannot dismiss this as crackpot. We already do it far more than we talk about.

The inequality in talent and other things people are born with is already far more important than any money-inequality.

People like Gates and Buffet do not try to eat themselves to an early grave. They give all the money away.

Most of the conservatives I fight with here are convinced that lazy stupid people are all that they have for neighbors. Give them a free beach and they will no make good use of it. They think.

BS. We give us all free beaches in Ventura. None of us are too stupid to use it.

As for unpleasant work. That must be very highy paid. In a good society, not only the lucky will be rich. Some will be rich because they elect to be doctors and nurses.

Capiche ???

JohnGelles  08/16/2011 10:17 PM Report

..... ..... TAXES AND ECONOMIC INEQUALITY

Warren Buffet is concerned about inequality in shopping power. He, himself, is no shopper -- or was not a big time spender wen he migh have been. He lived modestly no better than I do. His kicks, he got, from controlling an investment operation that ammassed a fortune and made thousands of other people (share-holders in BH) richer than they had a right to expect after buying his stock.

There is no need to tax him or his employees. They do not issue money. They earn what they can in a competitive labor market.

Government is the author of money -- not yoju and me. We can author an IOU. That is not money.

All this is true since Richard Nixon took gold out of the money business.

TGhis does not mean government can author more moneyh than you and I back with the products of our labor. But these products are not YET recognized by Congress as the REAL part of the coining money bit in our Constitution.

With the responsibility to coin money that our forefathers gave us and Nixon made clear, govt must pay for all the needs of a democratic nation. These include national defense against the tragedy of war and asymetrical war.

Such cost is enormous and must never be succdessfully challenged by any Ta-Party or other force in society. Secretary Gates screwed up before he left by suggesting the military, especially the Commander in Chief, could be a bystander as Congress committed suicide -- because it thought the purse strings were its to use as it wanted.

[to be continued -- care-giver emergencies interrupt.]

JohnGelles  08/16/2011 09:20 PM Report

A warped view of current possibilities suggests Perry knows that only Bernanke can save Obama from the strike Republicans have waged to prevent recovery -- as their best way to retake the White House. So Perry is trying to scare Bernanke off QE3 to 4, 5 or more.

Today, speaking to and about farmers and a farm land potential to provide energy independence for America and financial security for farmers and rural America, Obama looked like he might work with Bernanke to finance whatever the House of Representatives will not.

If any of this is real, it would be perfect justice for Perry to re-elect Obama once his scheme is exposed.

Buffet explained how important our printing press is. None of you Herbert Hoovers has taken notice of it.

Shalom Friedman, below, compliments Buffet for his decency. So do I. And I add his type need pay no taxes -- Fed money is better. If we killed income and death taxes, the ultra rich would pay their fair share of taxes is they acquired luxuries which were heavily taxed. Meanwhile, the middle class would pay zero taxes. They cannot afford luxuries.

EXTRA: PBS News Hour emphasized that Perry had THREATENED the Chair of the FED. That should eiminate him from the coming contest. I hope so. Then maybe Jon Huntsman will get the nod. If he is elected, he can ask Obama to be Ambassador to China. That is what Obama is bet fit for. UNLESS HE FIGHTS LIKE HELL FOR JOBS AND ALL THE MONEY WE NEED TO DO ALL HE ORIGINALLY PROMISED IN 2007.

JohnGelles  08/16/2011 08:53 PM Report

Perry wants to prevent the money printing Buffet says can save a nation IF IT STILL HAS THE PRINTING PRESS.

hy don't you two birds comment on that. Your jokes are lame. Your nation needs your brain IF YOU STILL HAVE ONE.