Buffett’s $7 Million Sacrifice Is Only a Start: Jonathan Weil

Whenever the leadership class feels nervous, you can count on some of them to offer the less-moneyed masses a bone to demonstrate they care. Warren Buffett says his idea of “shared sacrifice” is higher taxes on the super-rich. Only for him, this wouldn’t cost much.

In a New York Times op-ed last week, the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chief executive officer said his federal-tax bill for 2010 was about $6.9 million, just 17 percent of his taxable income. The other 20 people in his office paid an average rate of 36 percent, he said. If only he had been taxed another $7 million or so, that would bring him closer to being even-steven with the rest of us, Buffett seemed to suggest. It’s a nice gesture, perhaps, although for a guy whose stake in Berkshire is valued at $37 billion, this wouldn’t be much to give up.