Warren Buffett Says Congress, Not Romney is to Blame For Tax Rate, Defends GOP Contender

Lest you think Warren Buffett is a self-hating Richie Rich, the sympathetic billionaire- who has long decried that he himself pays a far lower tax rate than many of his employees– has actually stepped in to defend the often-seemingly-indefensible Mitt Romney.

Buffett has not been shy in criticizing many in his cohort that enjoy a lower tax rate– the difference essentially boils down to whether you make money with your skills or labor, or whether your money makes money. If you yourself make the money, you pay a higher tax rate. Income from investments is taxed a bit lower, and Romney has come in for hotter heat when the topic of loopholes like offshore tax shelters are discussed.

But, Buffett says, don’t hate the player- hate the game. He sat down with Bloomberg earlier this week to talk about tax issues and Mitt Romney after Mittens was excoriated in the press for not wanting to release his enviable tax returns to the American public, probably for fear the torches and pitchforks were about to come out. Buffett explains it’s not really Mitt Romney’s fault he gets to keep such a greater percentage of his money than you do- it’s Congress to blame for the situation:

“It’s the wrong policy to have. He’s not going to pay more than the law requires, and I don’t fault him for that in the least. But I do fault a law that allows him and me earning enormous sums to pay overall federal taxes at a rate that’s about half what the average person in my office pays.”

Buffett has long been campaigning for a fairer tax rate that will ensure everyone carries the tax burden equally in the US. He continues:

“[Romney] makes his money the same way I make my money. He makes money by moving around big bucks, not by straining his back or going to work and cleaning toilets or whatever it may be. He makes it shoving around money.”

Well, Warren, when you say it like that, it doesn’t really make Mittens any friends, does it? Do you think “vulture capitalists” like Mitt Romney should be taxed like a janitor or schoolteacher?