Republicans have suggested that if billionaire Warren Buffett is going to be the basis of a "Buffett rule" of taxation, then it would seem obvious that perhaps Buffett should be asked to display his tax returns. If he's going to be the exemplar of class inequities, he should lay his taxes on the table. On Thursday night, MSNBC had a mysterious new term for this demand: "Buffett birther."
It has nothing to do with Buffett's birth certificate, but with his tax returns, but don't bother radical-left Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson with demands for precision. He guest-hosted the Ed Show on MSNBC Thursday night, and launched his lame new term:
SEN. JOHN CORNYN: Well, if he`s going to be the gold standard, so to speak, in terms of what our tax policy should be, yes, let`s look at them.
DYSON: That was Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas talking about billionaire investor Warren Buffett. Cornyn is part of a growing chorus of Buffett birthers, demanding to see Buffett's tax returns. Buffett has been calling for a tax hike on the mega-wealthy because -- well, they can afford it. The so-called Buffett Rule has been a focal point of President Obama`s new plan to increase revenues by taxing the super rich. That doesn`t sit too well with the ultra right wing.
SEN. JIM DEMINT: I would love to see Buffett`s tax returns so we can see what he`s really doing, because he`s kind of operating in the dark here, making some claims.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think he's going to release them?
CORNYN: I don`t think so.
DYSON: Come on, guys. Warren Buffett's actual tax return is irrelevant to the central point that many wealthy individuals pay a lower overall percentage in taxes than some middle class wage earners. Whether he publicly releases them or not, Buffett`s claim has been fact-checked as true.
Earlier on Thursday night, Chris Matthews was thrilled with Professor "Buffett Birther" on Hardball:
DYSON: Yes, the income is still a great disparity, but the wealth gap is astonishing. It`s a travesty of economic justice. It shows you that the crisis in housing really led to the greatest bleed-off of black wealth in the history of this nation.
MATTHEWS: So smart.
As usual, like Julian Bond, Dyson is demanding that Obama overcome his fear of the right wing and start showering some government cash on the blacks:
We understand the reluctance to target African-Americans, because of the fear that the right wing will exploit any attention paid to African American people as somehow some racial gerrymandering....But I think the reality is, is that 16.7 percent unemployment and this wealth gap suggests that there are targeted programs that can be done in the name of democratic procedures to help American citizens.
