. >> you play warren buffet. >> i am warren buffet. >> you are buffet. >> you know my misgivings hanknd soon as they trade for themselves, the risk managers lost control. >> you like him even though he makes money. >> all capitalist should be like warren buffet and be taxed more. >> he said he should be taxed more. but he could give that money to the government straight out. >> why don't we tax him more? >> we want to stimulate the economy and hoping he spends more money. >> get to the movie too big to fail. >> and why did the banks cause the economy to almost collapse. what was the main ingredient? >> we have seen regutions and from these guys with greed riding the money . the basketball -- >> and government regulation has to be watched closely. our paul barnie frank was watching freddie and fanny and they collapsed righturched their nose and he didn't know anything about it and that doesn't give me confidence. >> you saw barney and i yelling at each other. >> you haven't seen it >> i will send that to your house. >> you, i need some racy films. i haven't watched blue movies in a lon

there are more of them than warren buffet. i don't care about warren buffet. care about the tax rate of the small businesses if they eck out a profit it goes to personal income and if they get gain on the capitol they will be double taxed. that is the affected . this whole thing about warren buffet is playing the class warfare card. it is talking about people flying around in corporate jets is class warfare. i am concerned about the 15 million people who don't have a job and will not get it with more government responding. they will get jobs when the business sector and engine start to grow again. but what is happening in the future before business men and women start to grow this economy. >> you said this week. you oppose contruction of the new mosque in tennessee close to nashville. they have operated, muslim worshippers at another site for more than 20 years. what is your objection to the new mosque. >> one of my guiding principles, chris, if you want to know the solution to the problem and understand the problem go to the source close to the problem. i tal

we're speaking of the warren buffets of the world. warren buffet is my friend. i have great respect and admiration for him, but he's traoepblgsly wealthy. -- he's extremely wealthy. what does warren buffet say about contributing his fair share? he welcomes it. in fact, mr. buffet criticized the system in which his secretary gives a greater share of her income each year than this man worth more than $50 billion. here he says, in the luckiest 1% of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99%. that's what he said. that's what warren buffet said about contributing his fair share. since the late 1970's incomes from the lucky 1% of america have risen by 281%. in the last three decades, the last three decades have been very, very good to the very, very wealthy. president george w. bush called these people the haves and have-mores. he also called them his base. and right now the republican party is putting what is good with this very small base ahead of what is very good for this great nation. the legislation before us asks only this, that

inspectors well that's part of a racket moody's a publicly traded company warren buffet's when the biggest shareholder they manipulate that stock price they manipulate their ratings they telegraph what the reg.

well that tells me -- >> and that's the same problem that ted's got and warren buffet's got. they know a lot about some things and not much about doing this. >> okay. what that tells me is that the groups who have been in civic action and have changed things, look, i don't like to toot my horn, but almost everything we've done has been done. all the environment, the auto safety, the freedom of information, things that mark green and others in the audience worked on, all of it since 1970 has been less than $200 million. all the changes, the legislation, the standards, the judicial decisions, the victories, the creation of princeton project 55, harvard law school apple seed to diffuse throughout the country, public interest research groups all over the country like nipe or all these -- building institutions is part of it too. it's not just issue by issue. i mean, the aclu, when that started, that -- what a great contribution to our country. naacp, what a great contribution to the country. there's not a single non-profit group monitoring nanotechnology. there's two or three litt

the most successful investor in america, i think most people would agree, is warren buffet. warren buffet said we raise the debt ceiling seven times during the bush administration and now in this congress, under the republicans, they're using it as a hostage and you rp really don't have any business -- and you really don't have any business playing russian roulette to get your way in some manner. we should, he said, be more grown up on. that to that extent he echoed the comments of our speaker who is trying, in my opinion, to get to a place where we can come together, compromise as is critical under democracy, pay our bills and reduce our obligations and reduce spending buffett went on to say, we should be more grown up on that. if we don't meet the august 2 deadline, he observed, you're playing with fire when you don't need to play with fire and we don't need to tell the rest of the world that any time people in congress start throwing a tantrum that we're not going to pay our bills. that is not responsible behavior. it's not adult behavior. it's not good for anybody in the

inspectors well that's part of a racket moody's a publicly traded company warren buffet's one the biggest shareholder they manipulate that stock price they manipulate their ratings they telegraph what the regs are going to be before they make them so the insiders can profit from the inside information inside information is legal in washington they are lining their pockets they're disenfranchising the people live in these countries who are led to the austerity measures imposed upon them for things they never did and debts they never incurred and this is continuing unabated because nobody stepping in to represent the interest of the people the government like papa joy in greece is in the pocket of the terrorist proper drill you are a terrorist if you are a financial terrorist.

inspectors well that's part of a racket moody's a publicly traded company warren buffet's one of biggest shareholders to manipulate that stock price they manipulate their ratings they telegraph what the regs are going to be before they make them so the insiders can profit from the inside information inside information is legal in washington they are lining their pockets they're disenfranchising the people live in these countries or look at austerity measures imposed upon them for things they never did and that's the never incurred and this is continuing unabated because nobody stepping in to represent the interest of the people the government like happened in greece is in the pocket of the terrorists proper drill you are a terrorist you are a financial terrorist do your country a favor and toppers. so minor flaw specter wrecked of the un office for world trade and development said the agency should be dissolved before they can do any more damage or at least banned from reading countries or they should create their own rating agencies nothing stops portugal from creating a portuguese bond

inspectors well that's part of the rocket motors is a publicly traded company warren buffet's one.

it is a position that's been taken by everyone from warren buffet to bill o'reilly. it is a position taken in the senate by republicans that are working on a promising plan of their own he writes "right now we have the opportunity to do something big and meaningful." we go to north carolina. we continue our take-off of the wall street journal headline, "america nears the brink." caller: i don't care. they can keep my disability, they can keep my pension. i'll just work like my mom and dad and everybody else did, until i die 678 that's just how it is. it is. like i heard a guy say on the military channel, the stuff that's happened to him because of world war ii. you just have to suck it up and deal with it. that's how it is. this is a country. this ain't the damn entitlement -- ain't no such thing as an entitlement. we're just lucky we have the bill of rights and the damn constitution. that's all i got to say. host: bernard, republican in north carolina. caller: my wife is on social security. we still have to get our checks we still have to get our checks on the secon

the most successful investor in america, i think most people would agree, is warren buffet. warren buffet said we raise the debt ceiling seven times during the bush administration and now in this congress, under the republicans, they're using it as a hostage and you rp really don't have any business -- and you really don't have any business playing russian roulette to get your way in some manner. we should, he said, be more grown up on. that to that extent he echoed the comments of our speaker who is trying, in my opinion, to get to a place where we can come together, compromise as is critical under democracy, pay our bills and reduce our obligations and reduce spending buffett went on to say, we should be more grown up on that. if we don't meet the august 2 deadline, he observed, you're playing with fire when you don't need to play with fire and we don't need to tell the rest of the world that any time people in congress start throwing a tantrum that we're not going to pay our bills. that is not responsible behavior. it's not adult behavior. it's not good for anybody in the

. >> i like this quote from warren buffet. the way to get rid of the deficit, pass a law any time more than 3% of gdp, all members of congress are ineligible for re-election. i like that. that's how a businessman would run his company. >> that's another fallacy. somehow businessmen are going to be good at running the government. they're not the same thing. you can't fire the congress the way you can fire the board. mitt romney is running on that silly idea, i ran a business, i know how to create jobs. actually what he did was fire people. he knew how to destroy jobs to create profit. >> we will come to the candidates in a moment. i think it's quite a clever strategy by him to focus purely on economy and present himself as the guy that understands it. isn't that a clever bit of politics by him? >> clever for a country that doesn't pay attention and where people don't think too much about any issue. the truth is that government is there to do the things that are not supposed to turn a profit. i heard tim pawlenty say the same th

even warren buffet is upset about the class warfare, private jets. boehner scheduled a vote on cutting 111 billion now for 2012. cutting serious cuts. capping spending. and a balanced budget amendment. i think strategically, this is what the republicans need to do. they have one house. they don't have the senate. now put the onus on the president and put them on record where they stand. is this a good strategy, in your view? >> it is half of a good strategy. the other half is they should prepare for war . the way to prepare for war is call the president's bluff. the united states government borrows 40% of the money that it spending. it takes in through taxes 60% of the money. so it is still going to get tax revenues. the question is what do you use the revenues for? the republicans should pass two bills. first, tax revenues should be priority spent on avoiding default, paying the military and sending out social security checks. the second bill should say if this is inadequate in revenue flow the treasury secretary may borrow money, above the debt lim

revenues isn't just a democratic position, it's a position that has been taken by everyone from warren buffet to bill o'reilly is that actually true? joining us now by phone bill o'reilly who is supposed to be taking a well-deserved day off today. hi, bill. >> >> bill: just when they thought i was out, they dragged me back in. you know. that op. ed is disingenuous. everybody knows who watches the factor that i don't want any increase in the federal income tax. everybody knows that we have said it a million times, all right? what i would like is tax reform overhaul, a flat tax and perhaps a national sales tax to tap into the $1 trillion in the underground economy that isn't taxed. so revenue enhancement i am for but not for raising income tax levels and the president, of course, doesn't explain that. he is just trying to say that he is being reasonable guys like warren warren buffett and i agree. he is making mistakes. >> laura: the "the washington post" had a big front pager. apparently everybody from dianne feinstein, barbara were reportedly really upset and demanding answers from the top gu

warren buffet worth 50 billion dollars. bill gates about 56 billion.th men are urging wealthy americans to take the giving pledge. whereby they promise to donate much of their wealth to charity, after they die. today the president met with buffet and gates. the meeting was closed to the press. but there was a photo release. there's buffet he's telling how much money he has. obviously, private fill throp i is good, especially if it -- can bring down the debt. we believe each american should decide who gets his or her money upon death. if you give your money to charity after you die you are a patriot. that's it for us check out the fox news website. spot off about the factor. oreilly@foxnews.com. word of the day, do not be >> good morning, everyone. he was way too drunk to drive but not too drunk to work directing your flight. an air traffic controller drunk in the tower for hours. >> mystery at the millionaire's mansion, his son and girlfriend both dead within a matter of days. is it murder or two tragic accidents? what investigators are saying this mor

warren buffet worth 50 billion dollars. bill gates about 56 billion.ericans to take the giving pledge. whereby they promise to donate much of their wealth to charity, after they die. today the president met with buffet and gates. the meeting was closed to the press. but there was a photo release. there's buffet he's telling how much money he has. obviously, private fill throp i is good, especially if it -- can bring down the debt. we believe each american should decide who gets his or her money upon death. if you give your money to charity after you die you are a patriot. that's it for us check out the fox news website. spot off about the factor.

revenues isn't just a democratic position, it's a position that has been taken by everyone from warren buffet to bill o'reilly is that actually true? joining us now by phone bill o'reilly who is supposed to be taking a well-deserved day off today. hi, bill. >> >> bill: just when they thought i was out, they dragged me back in. you know. that op. ed is disingenuous. everybody knows who watches the factor that i don't want any increase in the federal income tax. everybody knows that we have said it a million times, all right? what i would like is tax reform overhaul, a flat tax and perhaps a national sales tax to tap into the $1 trillion in the underground economy that isn't taxed. so revenue enhancement i am for but not for raising income tax levels and the president, of course, doesn't explain that. he is just trying to say that he is being reasonable guys like warren warren buffett and i agree. he is making mistakes. >> laura: the "the washington post" had a big front pager. apparently everybody from dianne feinstein, barbara were reportedly really upset and demanding answers from the top gu

which didn't pay a cent or billionaires like warren buffet -- the presidingfficer: the senator's time -- mr. manchin: democrats and republicans must work together to eliminate loopholes. and it's time to end the three wa that we have on which we're spending so much and the resources we can't afford and the lives we can't spare. mr. present, i say to all this is a time for us to come together as americans, to put our politics aside and dwhat is right for all of the future of this generation and for this country. thank you, i yield the floor. mr. reid: mr. president, i'm going to terminate my remarks very quickly. i want to say to my friend from west virginia, he's been a gat addition to the united states senate. we, of course, know he replaced e great, legendary robert byrd. the people of west virginia should be happy with the peformance of joe manchin. his executive experience as governor of the state of west virginia which had an impeccable record of surpluses every year he washere. he's brought this talent to washington and has been very helpful to us all. mr. mcconnell: mr. preside

there have been business leaders like warren buffet, who i think have spoken out forcefully on this issue. i think some of the folks who participated in the bull/simpson commission, made very clear that they would agree to a balanced approach, even if it meant for them individually that they were seeing slightly higher taxes on their income given that the average ceo, if i'm not mistaken, saw a 23% raise this past year while the average worker saw a 0% to 1% raise last year. a lot of well-meaning business people out there who recognize the need to make something happen. i think they have been hesitant to be as straightforward as i like when they say, this is what a balanced package means. it meanings we have some spending cuts. it means we have increased revenue and it means we are taking on some of the drivers of our long-term debt and deficits. >> can you say as the clock ticks down whether or not the administrations working on any sort of contingency plans if if things don't happen by august? >> we are going to get this done by august 2nd. >> george? >> to follow on that questions, do

the most successful investor in america, i think most people would agree, is warren buffet. warren buffet said we raise the debt ceiling seven times during the bush administration and now in this congress, under the republicans, they're using it as a hostage and you rp really don't have any business -- and you really don't have any business playing russian roulette to get your way in some manner. we should, he said, be more grown up on. that to that extent he echoed the comments of our speaker who is trying, in my opinion, to get to a place where we can come together, compromise as is critical under democracy, pay our bills and reduce our obligations and reduce snding. buffett went on to say, we should be more grown up on that. if we don't meet the august 2 deadline, he observed, you're playing with fire when you don't need to play with fire and we don't need to tell the rest of the world that any time people in congress start throwing a tantrum that we're not going to pay our bills. that is not responsible havior. it's not adult behavior. it's not good for anybody in the un

which didn't pay a cent or billionaires like warren buffet -- the presiding officer: the senator's time -- mr. manchin: democrats and republicans must work together to eliminate loopholes. and it's time to end the three wars that we have on which we're spending so much and the resources we can't afford and the lives we can't spare. mr. president, i say to all this is a time for us to come together as americans, to put our politics aside and do what is right for all of the future of this generation and for this country. thank you, i yield the floor. mr. reid: mr. president, i'm going to terminate my remarks very quickly. i want to say to my friend from west virginia, he's been a great addition to the united states senate. we, of course, know he replaced the great, legendary robert byrd. the people of west virginia should be happy with the peformance of joe manchin. his executive experience as governor of the state of west virginia which had an impeccable record of surpluses every year he was there. he's brought this talent to washington and has been very helpful to us all. mr. mcconnell:

dealing with warren buffet. available at bloomberg.com. indicated if a solution is at and and the government misses saying that burg share hathaway and inc. would be willing to pay it's next quarterly income tax early. bushing shire paid about 5.6 billion incorporate taxes in 2010 to a quarterly payment would average about a billion dollars in a c nbc interview the biggest nation's long-term problem rising healthcare costs and other time the best investment is not in a bunch of railroad equipment or planes and we have a tax code that reflects that. more for the interview on-line. story from bloomberg news and interview at cnbc.com. caller: good morning. i'm glad to see the grand bargain on the debt is back on the table. i think it's the most reasonable and fairway to get the deficit and the debt down. as well as the raising of revenue. i don't want to put the blame on anybody but all of them there are elected officials and they need to get very serious because default is not a question. but the man that called earlier. default will be cata

warren buffet, in a famous article in fortune magazine in october 2003, advocated that the united states needs to adopt policies to balance its trade. now people always hear, you hear in the debate now, china owns so much of our treasuries. we're dependent upon them. where did china get the money to own so much of our treasurers? we gave it to them by running massive trade deficits year after year. here is the way the chinese do it. when the dollars come into china, the chinese government buys the dollars from the people and bring them in. then the chinese government issues bonds to suck it up so they don't get inflation in their economy. the chinese government ends up with dollars and don't want to put them in a mattress, so they buy our treasurers and get income in the treasuries and get leverage over us s. this a crazy thing for the country to be let going on and the hole is getting deeper. ford used to say, we're another day older and deeper in debt. we have to change the trends here. this is important, this recommendation to move to balance our trade. when kennedy said we are going

used the cartoon like analogies like should we give tax breaks to corporate jet owners and -- >> warren buffet is upset about that. >> and millionaires and billionaires and pay that fair share. they're paying the majority of the taxes in the entire nation, they should have to pay more, it seems to be resonating to a certain amount of population. if you ask any person, are you for your neighbor who has a bigger house than you to pay more taxes? most people say that sounds good to me. i'll sacrifice my neighbor paying more. >> if i don't have to do it. 51% of americans do not pay federal income tax. they pay, you know, payroll tax, sales tax, stuff like that but they do not pay federal tax! >> here's what's not resonating, apparently, with many americans and voters and that is the doomsday date of august 2nd. do you remember that the administration and the white house has said that it will be catastrophic if the debt deal is not reached by august 2nd because we could go into default? for whatever reason, the pugh research and "washington post" found that americans do not really believe that augu

there have been business leaders, like warren buffet, who i think have spoken out forcefully on this issue. i think some of the folks who participated in the bowles- simpson commission made very clear that they would agree to a balanced approach even if it meant for them, individually, that they were seeing slightly higher taxes on their income, given that they're -- i think the average ceo, if i'm not mistaken, saw a 23% raise this past year while the average worker saw a 0% to 1% raise last year. so i think that there are a lot of well-meaning business people out there who recognize the need to make something happen. but i think that they've been hesitant to be as straightforward as i'd like when it says, this is what a balanced package means. it means that we've got some spending cuts, it means that we've got some increased revenue, and it means that we're taking on some of the drivers of our long-term debt and deficits. >> and can you say, as the clock ticks down, whether or not the administration is -- >> i'm sorry -- >> can you say, as the clock ticks down, whether or not the a

is no deal and in the op ed that president obama wrote, he said -- he cited bill o'reilly and warren buffeto people who wanted the compromise on this and meet half way and the polls show, although, steve, you pointed out on the radio that it's skewed to too many democrats, the poll shows the president of the united states is winning the p.r. battle as coming off as the adult in the room and having the most balanced approach. >> at least in the media. that's the narrative they're trying to do. >> we have a great story for you about revenge. this is about a country singer named dale watson and he was in australia and he was trying to fly from melbourne to sydney for a music festival and he was flying tiger airlines. >> never heard of this. >> i hadn't either but it's a budget airline and now we know why. basically, they charged him $500 in excess baggage fees because he wanted to bring a big box of his c.d.'s to the music festival to sell. well, it was worth $3,000. they lost it! not only did they charge him the $500. they also lost his box! >> so one of the things he told the customer servic

which didn't pay a cent or billionaires like warren buffet -- the presiding officer: the senator's time -- mr. manchin: democrats and republicans must work together to eliminate loopholes. and it's time to end the three wars that we have on which we're spending so much and the resources we can't afford and the lives we can't spare. mr. president, i say to all this is a time for us to come together as americans, to put our politics aside and do what is right for all of the future of this generation and for this country. thank you, i yield the floor. mr. reid: mr. president, i'm going to terminate my remarks very quickly. i want to say to my friend from west virginia, he's been a great addition to the united states senate. we, of course, know he replaced the great, legendary robert byrd. the people of west virginia should be happy with the peformance of joe manchin. his executive experience as governor of the state of west virginia which had an impeccable record of surpluses every year he was there. he's brought this talent to washington and has been very helpful to us all. mr. mcconnell:

i pay -- i hate to say it, just like warren buffet, i pay the same as some of my assistants. >> host: thanks for weighs in. ed in pennsylvania. >> caller: good morning. >> host: good morning. >> caller: i don't think if the tea bagger or wing nuts think you can't pay the bill without making a higher payment, i think thought ought to be drug tested. they are smoking something. i think at 68, the first year i did my taxes, we had a 10% surtax on the end. you pay 10% to pay for the war. you know, we put all of this stuff on a credit card. and sooner or later, the bill comes due. we got to pay more and pay more. that's it. grover norquist ain't running the country. that's it. >> host: ed, go ahead. >> caller: i think the democrats don't look at the debt clock and see that it's spinning at 100 miles per hour. it's no way in heck that the corporate tax on jets is going to pay more than what obama spent since january. it's not going to do nothing. by the way, there's nothing in the constitution that says that half of the people in the united states have to support the other half of the peopl

which didn't pay a cent or billionaires like warren buffet -- the presiding officer: the senator's time -- mr. manchin: democrats and republicans must work together to eliminate loopholes. and it's time to end the three wars that we have on which we're spending so much and the resources we can't afford and the lives we can't spare. mr. president, i say to all this is a time for us to come together as americans, to put our politics aside and do what is right for all of the future of this generation and for this country. thank you, i yield the floor. mr. reid: mr. president, i'm going to terminate my remarks very quickly. i want to say to my friend from west virginia, he's been a great addition to the united states senate. we, of course, know he replaced the great, legendary robert byrd. the people of west virginia should be happy with the peformance of joe manchin. his executive experience as governor of the state of west virginia which had an impeccable record of surpluses every year he was there. he's brought this talent to washington and has been very helpful to us all. mr. mcconnell:

want to be clear that i do not lump all of these folks in the bill gates jr., le pwropb james, warren buffet or gilligan's island's resident millionaire. i'm using the president's definition of rich because most of my friends on the other side use it. he also claimed tax expenditures reside disproportionately with rich taxpayers. the democrats rhetoric on expenditures does not jibe with reality of our tax code. the data is clear. tax expenditures tend to skew towards taxpayers below the president's definition of the rich. if my friends on the other side examine the data, they will find that their assertion about who benefits from tax expenditures does not square with the facts. they will find that their assertion that tax expenditures disproportionately benefit the wealthy falls flat on its face. in which of the coverage of tax expenditures, it has been taken as an article of faith that they disproportionately benefit wealthy taxpayers. similar assertions have come from the white house and congressional democrats. the one exception it my friend, the ranking democrat on the ways and means com