BOSTON — Warren Buffett is willing to put his money where his mouth is, if only congressional Republicans would join him.
The billionaire investor, in the new issue of Time magazine, says he will donate $1 to paying down the national debt for every dollar donated by a Republican in Congress. The only exception is Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell — for whom Buffett said he would go $3-to-$1.
The idea stems from a New York Times opinion piece Buffett wrote last August in which he said the rich ought to pay more taxes. It sparked an instant controversy, with some Washington conservatives calling on the 81-year-old “Oracle of Omaha” to voluntarily pay extra.
“It restores my faith in human nature to think that there are people who have been around Washington all this time and are not yet so cynical as to think that (the deficit) can’t be solved by voluntary contributions,” the Berkshire Hathaway CEO told Time for an article hitting newsstands on Friday.
He went on to tell the magazine that what the country needed was a system that favored people who were not born investors.
via Buffet challenges GOP dollar-for-dollar on debt – Business – US business – msnbc.com.
See folks…these are the kinds of balls you need to be one of richest guys on the planet. Trust me, folks…many who talk about the vast economic disparity in this country don’t do it out of “envy” or “resentment”. At this point, it’s no shit about the basic common courtesy of not being a greedy asshole.
And I LOVE that one of the folks he is calling out here is my b.s. spewing Senator, John Cornyn. Here’s what he said…(well…”tweeted”).
Yes, they will. Maybe that’s something campaigns can now compete over…especially Republican campaigns that constantly talk about reducing the debt. Instead of buying commercials talking about reducing the debt..send that money directly to pay down the debt. This does three things, 1) puts money where the mouth is, which is very convincing and 2) makes Warren Buffett spend some money, always hard to do and 3) IT PAYS DOWN THE DEBT.
Then, come election day…we vote for the guy (or gal) that did the most to ACTUALLY BRING DOWN THE DEBT.
UPDATE: OH, and BTW…if neither side will give that first dollar, I will….but I’m going to beg for it on the street first, just to make a point.