I’ve always wondered about Warren Buffett’s political affiliation. He’s a generous, hard-working man who, even at 81, sees a world of fine distinctions, requiring finesse and nuanced analysis. He cares about ordinary folks, favoring the Estate Tax, for example. He lives modestly. He appreciates that the burden of defending the U.S. overseas has fallen almost exclusively on those who have no economic clout. And he understands that he owes a great debt to this great country, as all of us do, rich and poor alike. Sounds like a Democrat to me.
This, from Bloomberg, would appear to settle the matter:
Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor, said Wall Street bankers don’t believe they’ve been embraced by President Barack Obama and are consequently withholding their support.
“Wall Street certainly doesn’t feel loved,” Buffett told Charlie Rose in an interview broadcast on PBS. “I think there was some rhetoric that contributed to that.”
Buffett, 81, is seeking to draw backers for Obama’s re- election and planned to attend a fundraiser for the president in New York. The chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. did at least five television interviews yesterday on topics ranging from politics to the economy to the European debt crisis. On PBS, Buffett said that Obama’s policies helped banks recover from the recession.
“You take the number of people making a million dollars or over on Wall Street and you can fill a very large auditorium,” Buffett said. “I think the president felt, ‘My God, look at all the things we did for business, and they’re unappreciative, and I’m all that stands between them and the pitchforks.’”
Say what you will about the lack of focus and the vague goals of the Wall Street protesters, the demonstrations make the claim about “pitchforks” far more vivid to investment bankers who may be strolling to Buffett’s event at that “very large auditorium.” (One hopes that it’s Madison Square Gardens.)
UPDATE: 116 of the 130 available seats were filled at the $10,000 per plate fundraiser. Although not a sell-out, it raised $1.5 million.
Notes and Rests Make Music 
I am an admirer of Buffett, but i doubt he feels that the wealthy should be taxed at the rates that Obama wants to – I would like to know what tax rate he things the wealthy should pay. The 5% million earner tax I favor but not what Obama proposes.
He should however tackle Obama on overspending and creating and “entitlement class”. I all for helping the poor but there must be limits. Obama is pitting this class against not only the one percenters but against the middle class who do not get the benefits and entitlements, but by and large are paying for it, either by taxation or indirectly by lack of saving dividend.An example is retireees are not getting dividends on their savings from banks while the banks are pressuried to make concessions eg on mortgages
Iam confused if the democrats want to punish the wealthey why r they living in kuxury this is hypocrisy to me in the utmost form but the stupid people will follow– this country is truly on the verge of utter collapse morally ethically and for sure socially it is crumbling around us by the day it was great while it lasted
Mike, Your response is a perfect example of why we need our K-12 students to learn to read and write at a higher level. Punctuation would be the first place to start. It “hurts” to try to read this.
Mike- you’re deluded if that’s what you think Democrats support. Social progressivism isn’t about “punishing” anyone- that’s what a lot of selfish rich people like to think, because they’re used to getting their way and ignoring social responsibilities. Amusingly, conservatives often attribute this lack of responsibility not to themselves, but to the poor- “oh, they MUST be lazy if they can’t find a well-paying job!” “We need to spread the values of America globally- but without accepting anyone who looks different, has different views, or practices a different religion!” THIS is hypocrisy. While there are certainly many imbeciles pushing for radical left-wing policies such as total egalitarianism and the like, they are in the minority. Pseudo-conservative pundits like O’Reilly and Coulter are playing on emotion rather than rationality. Not all rich people have the egotism of a misbehaved toddler, though. Just look at Warren Buffett- he’s rich, and has gotten to that point by virtue of intelligence and hard work. Democrats respect people like Buffett, because they’ve demonstrated that one can be successful (something everyone, even a Democrat, wants) without becoming a cynical and myopic demagogue.