Why Warren Buffett Loves Taxes?

The sage of Omaha Warren Buffett has called for higher taxes on the “rich”.

As I have been pointing out, Mr. Buffett has morphed from a value investor to a political crony.

Maybe Mr. Buffett has gotten tired of studying markets and sees political entrepreneurship as an easy way out to wring short term profits.

Besides given that he is 80 years of age, his guiding dogma premised on a long term time preference may have just narrowed. And this has been incented to keep his fans in awe (as he lives). In short, like politicos he wants to prop up his image for egotistical concerns. This also means that once he is gone, so will Berkshire Hathaway’s string of record outperformance.

The other point is that maybe there has been decreased investment opportunities available in the US (perhaps due to his company’s heft or perhaps due to greater uncertainties from the predominant bailout climate that has haunted the US economy), which is why he embraces this new ‘short-term oriented’ business model.

Nevertheless, the stirring answer on why Warren Buffett loves more taxes has been best articulated by Washington Examiner’s Timothy Carney (hat tip Bob Wenzel)

Buffett Profits from Taxes He Supports

Buffett regularly lobbies for higher estate taxes. He also has repeatedly bought up family businesses forced to sell because the heirs’ death-tax bill exceeded the business’s liquid assets. He owns life insurance companies that rely on the death tax in order to sell their estate-planning businesses.

Buffett Profits from Government Spending

Buffett made about a billion dollars off of the Wall Street bailout by investing in Goldman Sachs on the assumption Uncle Sam would bail it out. He also is planning investments in ethanol giant ADM and government-contracting leviathan General Dynamics.

If your businesses’ revenue comes from the U.S. Treasury, of course you want more wealth.

To repeat, Mr. Buffets like taxes because he PROFITS from it.

Mr. Buffett could always generously volunteer to offer more of his earnings to the US government, but he doesn't.

Yet ironically, he wants to use institutional violence to forcibly extract taxes from his fellow Americans for his benefit. He wants to profit from the efforts of other Americans.

That’s why outside his former investing prowess of seeking 'value' investments, I have lost my respect for his new political philosophy (based on parasitism) which he applies as his new investing template.