5. Buffet is just hedging that Obama will win and raise taxes anyway, so might as well be on the winning side and score some political points which you can then cash in for some kick back via tax loopholes for Berkshire Hathaway.
4. For Buffet’s support of Obama’s tax plans the white house is already reciprocating with policy that Berkshire Hathaway stands to gain from. Rejecting the construction of new oil pipelines is one example.
3. Under Obama’s tax plan of raising capital gains and income tax, while lowering corporate tax rate, Berkshire Hathaway stands to gain. Currently, the way Berkshire Hathaway is registered, it has to pay the corporate tax rate which is currently set at 35%, while its main competitors, like hedge funds, pay the capital gains tax set at 15%. In such a change, even with the raising of the income tax rate, Warren Buffet’s personal income is going to increase as well, as the higher income tax is not enough to offset the lower corporate tax rate. Though this may be true for Buffet’s situation, it is probably not true for everyone.
2. One of Obama’s tax proposals is to get rid of all the tax loopholes and write offs, including that write off for charitable giving. Large portion of Buffet’s wealth and earnings are written off as charity due to his pledge to donate most of his estate to the Bill Gates Foundation. Buffet is trying to gain favor from the administration to ward off any attempts to kill his charitable write offs.
1. And finally the number one reason is, simply his ideology. Rich people are just as susceptible to the influence of politics and ideology as anyone else in society. The following video by Yaron Brook explains why Warren Buffet might be antagonistic to a system in which he made his wealth. After all Buffet is a student of John Rawls.