If you get $100 billion more of taxes ... from people like me at the top, it means you borrow $100 billion less out of the economy. Somebody has to come up with that $100 billion ... you're taking the money from the economy either way. The only question is whether you take it by borrowing or by taxes. And I see no problem in taxing people at the very high levels significantly more than they're being taxed now. And I might very well cut taxes even further for the people at lower levels. Read more at Motley FoolBuffett, speaking at Fortune's most powerful women summit, also says the economy is coming back, except businesses related to home construction. Buffett, who still considers himself an Obama supporter, says companies will start hiring once the demand is there.
Buffett credits the Bush administration, which started TARP, and the Obama administration for doing a "fabulous" job for saving our economy. "We came so close to having this economy implode that it is scary," Buffett said. "The only one who could've saved it was government."
I think people have a problem believing that TARP was necessary because we are a financially and economically illiterate nation. Even though TARP was unfair, if our financial system was allowed to fail, all of us would be in sorrier shape right now:
This juxtaposition seems to be driving a lot of the TARP-related anger: The big finance companies at the heart of the financial crisis got bailed out and are doing fine, while regular people are still struggling.
Even backers of TARP agree that this is not just. But, they argue, if the big financial companies hadn't been bailed out, the financial system would have collapsed and ordinary people would be even worse off than they are today. PM
