Mr. Speaker, I listened to my colleague’s speech very carefully, but unfortunately the things he believes in make him more apt to believe in Santa Claus than to stick to reality.
In an article published in the New York Times, well-known financier Warren Buffett wrote, in a letter entitled A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy:
“Between 1951 and 1954, when the capital gains rate was 25 percent and marginal rates on dividends reached 91 percent in extreme cases, I sold securities and did pretty well”.
He also talked about the 15 years after that, when the rate was 70%, and concluded by saying:
“Never did anyone mention taxes as a reason to forgo an investment opportunity that I offered”.
If there is a way to make money, people will do it, no matter what. Mr. Buffett has shown this and he practically calls people fools who believe that raising taxes may cause investors to flee.
How does my colleague respond to that?