Quote Originally Posted by hoyasooner View Post
No one is upset at the person who lives frugally and invests their money wisely. I don't know how you could read this thread and come away with that idea. That's like adding 2 and 2 together and getting 9.

No one is upset over the person who has "a million dollars". My 85 year old grandma has about that, from her lifetime of cutting coupons and pinching pennies. The concern is that people who have far, far more than that have influenced the system to the point that they pay little to no taxes. Warren Buffet even said that he paid a lower tax rate than his secretary did.

Buffett says he's still paying lower tax rate than his secretary - Mar. 4, 2013
Are rich people going to be devastated if you increased capital gains taxes on everything over a million dollars to 40%? Of course not. Should how they make their money cause them to pay less taxes simply because it didn't come from a salary at a job? Of course not. When our government is running a $500 billion deficit every year, does it make sense to tax the wealthiest people less than the middle class? Of course not.

Again, I don't hate the rich at all. If I was in their shoes, I would do the exact same thing. But I have the ability to admit that, and also to recognize that functioning that way is not the healthiest way to run a country.
If Warren feels that bad about it, he can take his checkbook out and send some more $ in to the Feds - they won't refuse it. I also follow Warren, and at one time he quoted that it's not his fault, it's the tax code. He has enough money and power to lobby and have it changed, if he really wanted to.

Warren though unless he's changed lately still lives in the house he bought in the late 1950's IIRC and also drives a 10 year old car. He is frugal himself.