Warren Buffet, the second richest man in the world is concerned about how small his taxes are, check it out!
Flow with me on this, what are you thinking…
Trickle Down Part 2 “Taxes and the Wealthy”
Published by Drew G. I. Hart, PhD
Drew G. I. Hart is a theology professor in the Biblical & Religious Studies department at Messiah College with ten years of pastoral experience. Hart majored in Biblical Studies at Messiah College as an undergraduate student, he attained his M.Div. with an urban concentration from Missio Seminary in Philadelphia, and he received his Ph.D. in theology and ethics from Lutheran Theological Seminary-Philadelphia. Drew was born and raised in Norristown, Pa and has lived extensively in Philadelphia and Harrisburg, PA as well. Dr. Hart’s dissertation research explored how Christian discipleship, as framed by Black theologies and contemporary Anabaptist theologies, gesture the Church towards untangling the forces of white supremacy and the inertia of western Christendom which have plagued its witness in society for too long. As two traditions that emerged from the underside of violent and oppressive western Christian societies, he found Black theology and Anabaptism each repeatedly turning to the particularity of Jesus in the gospel narratives. From that arises an ethic of solidarity with the oppressed and pursuing liberation in Black theology and an ethic of radical peacemaking and ecclesial nonconformity in the Anabaptist tradition. Each challenge the violent and oppressive logics of mainstream western Christianity and salvage the call to follow the way of Christ. Together in dialogue they deepen our analysis of the churches failures and the need for Jesus-shaped repentance. His work beyond teaching and writing has included pastoring in Harrisburg and Philadelphia, working for an inner-city afterschool program for black and brown middle school boys, delivering lectures and leading anti-racism workshops, collaborating with local faith-based organizers and activists in his city, and doing a broad range of public theology. He is also a co-leader for a local Harrisburg faith-based relational network called FREE Together which has collaborated with POWER Interfaith, MILPA, the Shut Down Berks Detention Center movement, and a little with the Poor People’s Campaign. Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism by Drew Hart, has received great reviews by Publisher’s Weekly and Englewood Review of Books. Endorsing this resource, Shane Claiborne said, “This book is a gift from the heart of one of the sharpest young theologians in the United States. Hold it carefully, and allow it to transform you--and our blood-stained streets.” As a text, Trouble I’ve Seen utilizes personal and everyday stories, Jesus-shaped theological ethics, and anti-racism frameworks to transform the church’s understanding and social witness. Trouble I’ve Seen focuses on white supremacy as an overarching framework for understanding racism, with careful attention to its systemic and socializing dimensions. However, unlike sociology textbooks on the subject Dr. Hart also considers the subversive vocation of Jesus and the nonviolent yet revolutionary implications his life ought to have for his followers today. His newest book project is entitled Who Will Be a Witness?: Igniting Activism for God’s Justice, Love, and Deliverance and will be published September 1, 2020. Who Will Be A Witness? invites the church to liberate its centuries long captivity to supremacist practices, and to expand its restricted political imagination in view of Jesus’ messianic reign. The book guides disciples of Jesus into joining God’s delivering presence through scriptural reasoning, historical reflection, practical theology for congregational life, social change theory, and the Christian call to love our neighbor. It is written for congregations, leaders, and students that understand that pursuing God’s justice goes way beyond waiting around for electoral seasons to come around. It is about the ongoing vocation of the Church right now, at the grassroots level, seeking after the wellbeing of their neighbors through faithful, strategic, and concrete action. Drew recently joined the Inverse Podcast team serving as a cohost along with Australian peace activist Jarrod Mckenna. Together they interview interesting people and explore how scripture can turn our ethical imagination and the violent and unjust systems of our world upside-down, which contrasts with interpreting the Bible as a tool for the status quo. Dr. Drew Hart was the recipient of bcmPEACE’s 2017 Peacemaker Award, a 2019 W.E.B. Dubois Award from a Disciples of Christ congregation, and in October 2019, Dr. Hart was chosen as Elizabethtown College’s 2019 Peace Fellow. Each award recognized him for his local and national justice work and public theology. You can find Drew Hart on Twitter and Facebook, or you can catch him as he travels and speaks regularly across the country to colleges, conferences, and churches. Drew and Renee, and their three boys (Micah, Dietrich, and Vincent) live in Harrisburg, PA and attend Harrisburg First Church of the Brethren. View more posts
Drew G. I. Hart 
Very nice – but what does Warren Buffet wanting to pay more taxes have to do with trickle down economics? If you want to talk about government enforced confiscation and redistribution of wealth than do so – name your figures – Who should pay – how much do you want – what is fair to you? Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson shake down corporations and individuals all the time and I’m sure they name their price – come on – stop dancing around the issue – propose your solution – tell us how many people, at what income level, at what tax rate and how much you will bring in by it. Then tell us how it will pay for better education, more, better, cheaper health care . . . etc…etc… I’m all ears. I’ve lived long enough to see what happens when government gets involved in anything. You want better education??? Support vouchers – it wouldn’t need any taxes to be raised to produce better schools through competition for the money already out there for education. You want better, more affordable health care??? #1Tort reform (frivolous lawsuits drive up health care costs – I know of an Ob-Gyn practice in NJ that pays over 1 million dollars a year in insurance against lawsuits – who do you think pays for that ?)… #2 Access to insurance companies nation wide… free-market competition. No taxes would have to be raised and prices would be cut close to half.
How’s that – or would you still rather get Big Brother involved even further – like when President Johnson started his “Great Society” program… He threw so much of my daddy’s hard earned money at poverty it should have wiped out the very word – “poor” from the human language – but it didn’t , because as Jesus said – “The poor you will have with you always”. What Jesus neglected to add was that governments would be the main purveyors of keeping people that way… ask the folks in Haiti, Uganda, Russia, Albania and any of the communist satellite states. Raising taxes does not equal elimination of the poor, it simply gets more people from the middle class to experience the misery of having less money. At one point in our history the wealthy paid a top tax rate of 91% . . . and guess what – there were just as many poor then as now.
So – go ahead – trickle up that misery. OH I’m sorry – Obama has already assured that will be a reality – you kids are gonna get stuck with the biggest debt any country has ever had to pay back – good luck – hope you get the chance to pay taxes at 91%…
“It’s patriotic you know” Biden… “Everybody has to have some skin in the game” Obama…
Love ya :-]
D
Not quite sure that is related to much I said… Nor related to what Warren Buffet said. It seems as though you want to ignore Mr. Buffet’s point. There is an injustice in burdening low and middle class tax payers with a higher percentage than those who are “super rich” to use the classification Warren Buffet used to describe himself and his peers. Middle and lower class families are not going to pay more they will pay less or stay the same. It’s the state taxes and local taxes that are rising. Bush spends money and doesn’t tax the rich and nobody has a problem, but Obama spends money (on more important issues overall in my opinion) and plans to pay for much of that through raising the taxes on the filthy rich who are paying less of a percentage than those who work for them. I am missing the problem. I have disagreements with some of Obama’s policies, and have been quick to critique him, I even wrote a blog post a few months ago on the subject of critiquing him. However, I really can not fathom any real explanation for the disgust and hostility towards him from so many people who benefit in tax cuts from his plan, especially in these hard times. It is 95% of all Americans who receive this tax cut.
Oh and I would re-read the passage where Jesus says “the poor you will always have with you”. That is often taken out of context, and the passage is definitely not trying to say that we can’t do anything to alleviate those who are in poverty.
While I have taken Economics classes back in college (years ago that is) I do not think it would be helpful for me, who is not in discussion with all the economists at hand to suggest specific rates or numbers, that exercise of brain power would be futile and worthless. More important, is that we are working towards principles that are just and equitable. Their are probably several different solutions that I would be ok with, not just one, so long as they seemed equitable and fair, not favoring the rich. In fact I think I would always error in favor of the poor if I were to show partiality at all. But justice and equality need to be at the heart of the discussion, and that is what Warren Buffet was trying to address.
I just think that it would do you well to think outside the box for one day maybe.
The government is not the solution to man’s problems. It creates no wealth–it only hinders it’s production.
The real question is: why should there be corporate and income taxes at all? If you can wrap your head around that new kind of thinking you might see things you’ve never even dreamed of before.
Obama might be a nice guy; but just because something is “desirable” doesn’t man the government has a right to provide it.
On a basic level taxes can be said to be immoral because it is a confiscation of the fruits of the labours of others. People who understand this would tax with caution not abandon.
I think you should take another shot at economic theory once more and not leave it to people who claim to be “experts”. Read the gamut on the issue. Just don’t forget to read stuff by people like Thomas Sowell and Milton Friedman while you’re at it.