Warren Buffet’s 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom: Finally, a still-sane man in the U.S.!

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Billionaire Warren Buffet wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times recently. The letter was published in the August 15th edition. The reason why I am talking to you about that is that it is so rare to hear or read rich people in the U.S., and in the world, to actually say that it might be good to share both wealth and responsibilities with others, that it becomes an event by itself. As a centrist, I am becoming so weary of the useful fools on the Left but also on the Right, that sometimes I feel discouraged by all the crap that I hear or read. Here, with this letter, you have the opinion of a man who, believe it or not, and contrary to the vast majority of his peers, seems to have kept his senses, his intelligence, his judgement, his mental faculties. That’s certainly refreshing. So there is no way in hell that I want to miss that opportunity to underline that exercice. When people in charge, officially or in the shadows, conduct themselves as idiots, bandits and criminals, I think we have to say it and denounce it. But when they show opposite behavior, good and decent qualities, in all fairness, we have to pay tribute. It’s been a long time since I have not see anything coming out of the U.S., besides the work of my friends that I like to reference as often as I can, that seems moderate, thoughful and wise. That’s why I invite you to read this. The solution of our problems is not on the Right. The rich have to pay their taxes like any other citizens, in all fairness. And the solution is not on the Left. Seizing the wealth of the rich to give it to the poor makes no sense. When there are no rich anymore, who is going to invest huge chunks of capital when it is needed? The real solution is in the Center. Everybody is taxed by the governement at the same rate. Period. Thus, nobody can whine they are not treated with fairness. I also join a short clip of Buffet following the news that he had been chosen Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient for 2010.

Warren Buffet on taxation

Right-wing useful fools: When Tea Partiers become Tea Baggers

There is something I have got to tell you concerning the financial crisis in the U.S. I am tired of hearing that it is Obama’s fault for this, Obama’s fault for that, and so on. Right-wing activists, Tea Partiers and the like, are always quick to blame the Left and what they call the « liberals » and/or Democrats for everything that happens in their country. If you use your intelligence and discernment, you can see obviously that things are not that simple. Obama didn’t create the debt nor the deficit. They were there when he took office, but somehow Tea Partiers seem not to remember that. They talk about Obama as if he would have taken the country with no debt and no deficit at all and brought them to their present levels. When they speak, and I know that at first hand because I have people like that in my proximity, all they have to say involve the Left and the liberals…but the Right has nothing to do with anything. Overall, they have a rather positive opinion of George W. Bush while he contributed greatly to the U.S. debt by creating the war in Irak out of nothing with its huge spending budget, with the only intention of wrecking the U.S. economy. Check this post for more details about that.

I am a liberal democrat. I have never hidden it. I defend the interests of the Center of the political spectrum and believe me, from here, I can see that there are as many fools on the Right side than there are on the Left side. So please, give me a break with your scapegoating of Obama. You are not Tea Partiers but rather Tea Baggers. You take the mantle of patriotism and truth, but in the end, what you do amounts to treason because you are creating the very conditions by which the destruction of the U.S. will come, destruction that supposedly you are trying to avoid. Hypocritically, you are doing exactly what you are pretending trying to have the country avoid. I suggest that you read one of Dave Emory’s latest blog entry, in which he puts some meat around the bone on that subject. I also suggest that you read all the comments that people have posted on it. Think about it. Reality is a complex thing. I also join a newspaper article by Kelly McParland that analyses the situation and gives the same diagnosis.

Dave Emory on S&P downgrade

Kelly McParland