Buffett Terrifies Conservatives

Conservatives are tripping over each other in their zeal to attack Warren Buffett, and it’s not hard to see why, writes EJ Dionne in the Washington Post. “Buffett’s sin is that he spoke a truth that conservatives want to keep covered up,” namely that there’s a “bias in the tax system against labor." He’s a perfect messenger for that, because “you can’t accuse a big capitalist of ‘class warfare.'"

Taxing capital gains at 15% means wealthy investors like Buffett pay a lower marginal rate than workers making more than $34,500—and they don’t have to pay payroll taxes on that, either. He’s pointed this out for years, but now he’s Public Enemy No. 1 because President Obama is using the message. “What really get the juices flowing on the right these days are tax rates,” Dionne observes. That’s why they hate Buffett—and why they’re “trying so hard to shut him up." (More Warren Buffett stories.)