America's Wealthiest Billionaires Protest Bush Tax Cuts
miami.com
By Graeme Beaton, Financial Mail on Sunday, London Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Mar. 14 - Now if politics makes for strange bedfellows, this year's presidential election is shaping up as the equivalent of random sex. The rich in America historically and overwhelmingly support politicians who promise to cut taxes. After all, they have more to keep from those pesky revenue collectors. Not so in this topsy-turvy election year.
The three richest men in America (and the world) appear to be begging to pay higher taxes and are spurning a President who has gone out of his way to woo big business.
The latest evidence of this came last week when Warren Buffett, estimated by Forbes magazine to be the second-richest man in the world with $42.9 billion (UKpound 24 billion), fired a volley at the Bush Administration's $1,700 billion package of tax cuts.
But, reading between the lines of documents on file with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in Washington, the attack could just as easily have come from his bridge buddy, Bill Gates (number one with $46.6 billion), or Gates's friend and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen (number three with $21 billion). The same could also be said of currency speculator George Soros (number 54 with $7 billion) or Sumner Redstone (number 35 with $8.9 billion), to name but a few.
While Buffett, 73, usually supports Democrats for national office, he is also one of the chief economic advisers to California's Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But Buffett thinks the rich are getting off too easy under Bush. In his widely read letter to shareholders of his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, he said: "Tax breaks for corporations -- and their investors, particularly large ones -- were a major part of the Administration's 2002 and 2003 initiatives. If class warfare is being waged in America, my class is clearly winning"
Buffett added that he hoped his company's tax bill would continue to rise because it would mean that it was making more money, though he worried that too many companies were not paying their fair share.
Gates has not said the same thing in public, but according to FEC records, he has given mostly to Democrats. And Gates's father is among the most vocal opponents of Republican efforts to cut inheritance taxes.
Soros is committing tens of millions of dollars to defeating Bush, whom he rates a clear and present danger to the world economy.
And Redstone, again according to FEC records, has a habit of contributing to the campaign funds of Democrats not averse to raising taxes.
Why this hostility toward a sitting Republican President who should be the toast of Wall Street and American tycoons? The problem is that Bush has run up the biggest budget deficits in history and Buffett and Soros have gone on record worrying that his free-spending policies will bring down the US economy, and the global economy with it.
It might be rare to see the wealthy suggesting that their pockets be picked by the government, but then this is an unusual year in American politics.
FEC records also provide an interesting glimpse into politics within the Murdoch media dynasty.
Rupert, wife Wendi and eldest son Lachlan all donate freely to Republicans. However, youngest son James, who has departed US shores to take the helm at satellite broadcaster BSkyB in London, favours Democrats.
In fact, during the 2000 election while his kin were contributing to the Bush-Cheney ticket, James found it in his heart to lob $1,000 into the coffers of Al Gore's presidential campaign.
All of which should make the Murdoch media's coverage of the race for the White House in November extremely interesting.
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