USA Today - Warren Buffett's Congressman: 'We Disagree on Taxes'
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By Gregory Korte
Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., is quite familiar with Warren Buffett's feelings on taxes, thank you very much.
"Yes, I've had that thrown in my face a thousand times," Terry responded at a town hall meeting this week after being asked about his famously wealthy constituent for the second time in half an hour.
Buffett, the Omaha investor who's made billions as chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has long argued that taxes on the wealthy are too low. His comments gained new currency this week via an op-ed piece in The New York Times headlined "Stop Coddling the Super-Rich" and a related appearance on the Charlie Rose show.
Terry doesn't agree, arguing that taxing the rich would serve only to suck money out of the private sector that would probably create jobs.
STORY: Town hall meetings
"Mr. Buffett has my ultimate respect, but we disagree on taxes and takings. If he wants to give more, God bless him. He's certainly contributed to good causes," Terry told a town hall meeting Tuesday in south Omaha, 5 miles from Buffett's boyhood home.
Terry was diplomatic in his disagreement, but there may be some Omaha politics at play here, too. Buffett has contributed to Terry's Democratic opponents over the years, and the non-partisan Cook Political Report has floated an intriguing possibility for a 2012 opponent: Howard W. Buffett, the billionaire's grandson.
Terry said he's not sure the majority of people in Nebraska support Warren Buffett's position on taxes.
One who does is Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, who represents the neighboring district that includes Lincoln and much of rural eastern Nebraska. At a town hall meeting in West Point, Neb., later the same day, a woman asked, "Did you hear what Warren Buffett said?"
"Yes, and I don't necessarily disagree with him, either," said Fortenberry, a Republican.
Fortenberry later told USA TODAY that he doesn't want to see taxes raised on small businesses and entrepreneurs. But he said Buffett is right that loopholes in the tax code "skew in favor of the ultra-wealthy, ultra-wealthy corporations and the overseas aristocracy."
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