WASHINGTON - August 16 - Warren Buffett recently wrote “Stop Coddling the Super-Rich”

BRIAN SETZLER, brian.setzler.cpa at gmail.com
Setzler is President of TriLibrium, an accounting and business advisory firm in Portland, Ore. and member of Business for Shared Prosperity, a network of forward-thinking business owners, executives and investors committed to building enduring economic progress on a strong foundation of opportunity, equity and innovation. He said today: “As a certified public accountant and business owner, I know the impact of taxes up close and personal. Warren Buffett’s appeal to raise taxes at the top is right on the money. It’s outrageous that small business owners and working Americans subsidize tax giveaways to millionaires and billionaires at big corporations and hedge funds.

“The reality is that our economy was much stronger when tax rates on millionaires and billionaires were higher and our tax system did a better job of reinforcing Main Street investment over Wall Street speculation. Job creation was much better before the Bush tax cuts, which have starved our government of revenues needed for rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, converting to clean energy, educating our kids, retraining workers and spurring the research and innovation needed to succeed in the new economy.”

DAL LAMAGNA [via Bob Keener], bobkeener at businessforsharedprosperity.org
LaMagna is Co-Managing Partner of IceStone in Brooklyn, NY, and is also a member of Business for Shared Prosperity and Patriotic Millionaires. He said today: “As a successful entrepreneur myself, I agree with Warren Buffett. If you care about jobs, the economy and our nation’s future, read our lips — ‘raise our taxes.’

“Buffett was right when he warned that Wall Street’s multiplying derivatives were financial weapons of mass destruction. And he’s right that lower tax rates for the wealthy have brought ‘far lower job creation.’ Our current tax code has it backward. People earning their income by actually working for it are paying more in taxes than people who make it in the stock market. Millionaires like me want to reinvest in our nation and strengthen opportunity for the future – not pull up the ladder behind us.”