I Am Not Taxed Enough – by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet

Warren Buffet and Bill Gates have been making noises about wanting higher tax rates. In a recent BBC interview Bill Gates said, “Well, the United States has a huge budget deficit, so taxes are going to have to go up. And I certainly agree that they should go up more on the rich than everybody else. That’s just justice. … I hope we can solve that deficit problem with a sense of shared sacrifice where everybody would feel like they’re doing their part, and right now I don’t feel like people like myself are paying as much as we should.

The logic of nearly every phrase of Mr. Gates opinion is corrupt, but rather than a ramble down that path, I have a simple request. Please, Mr. Interviewer (whoever you are), next time ask the obvious question. “Okay. I understand. If you feel that way, why don’t you go ahead and pay what you think you should?”

It’s obvious to anybody listening that they won’t DO what they say because their real issue is about YOU living differently, not themselves.  Dear Mr. Gates and Mr. Buffet: “Stop being a hypocrite!” It’s not about where you’re “at in life” or “how rich you are”. Both rich and poor people alike accommodate to tax rates that are levied on them.  The real issue is that higher tax rates demotivate people from earning more and prevent people from bettering their position in life.  Bluntly, people realize that if so much is taken away in taxes, why bother working harder to get it?  A rich person saying “raise taxes on the rich” is really espousing a self-preserving opinion making it harder for others to do what they’ve already done.  If you’d like a specific example, do a search for my blog and wiki entry about FAFSA and EFC college costs.

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Pure Color

Television Color Wheel

Color wheel removed from a rear-projection television.

Each year, I separate out the best photos of the year.  For 2010, this photo made the cut.  I think it’s because of my chemistry and physics background.  Most colors you see in the world are chromatic or chromophore colors.  In other words, some chemical compound has loose electrons that absorb certain colors, leaving those you see.  However, this device is not about chemistry.  It is about physics.  The colors are like the colors on beetle wings.  The colors come about because of interference in thin layers, giving constructive interference only across a narrow band of wavelengths.

As shown in the picture, physical interference colors tend to be more vivid and pure than chemical chromophore colors.  Notice also, the orthogonal color sets all visible on the same wheel: Red-Green-Blue and Yellow-Magenta-Cyan.

 

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Taxing Income or Assets

In a prior post, I talked about taxing in a “fair” way, and this drew my attention toward another question. Should we tax income or assets? Continue reading

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Tax Fairness Fuzziness

I read about national tax arguments. Everybody throws around the idea that their tax plan is “fair”, but that really means nothing without defining what “fair” means.  In this post, I’ll outline and discard 2 definitions, and then propose what Democrats really mean. Continue reading

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Visual Display of Quantitative Financial Information

I stumbled across a financial display at morningstar.com that shows overall mutual fund behavior. It struck me as particularly pleasant and intuitive.  If you visit their page, you can hover your mouse over different squares to get more information.

morningstar-barometer Continue reading

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