NO WONDER WARREN BUFFETT IS SMILING

As they say "if you wonder why things happen it is always useful to ask who benefits?"
The Washington Post announced that it will be paying it's 2013 dividends early. Here is the money quote:
"WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Washington Post Co. will pay its 2013 dividends before the end of this year to try to spare investors from anticipated tax increases.

The media and education company said Friday that its dividend of $9.80 per share is payable Dec. 27 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 17. The payout is instead of regular quarterly dividends next year."- AP

Guess who is the biggest shareholder in the Washington Post?

"Warren Buffett's firm Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire is its largest shareholder with an estimated 1.7 million shares, which means it could get a roughly $17 million dividend payment."

To all the liberals  and liberal media outlets who love Buffett's call for increased taxes on the richFile this under "Hello Suckers"

A whole lotta shaking goin on!

You can almost hear the sound of shaking newspapers all over the country as the financial workers read things like this in the Washington Post:

"The turmoil in the U.S. credit markets turned global Thursday, prompting central banks in Europe and the United States to pump more than $150 billion into the financial system to keep it operating smoothly."

Looks like the financial Homer Simpsons forgot that if you give loans to people who have extremely low credit ratings, illegal immigrants and others who are barely able to make payments that maybe it might just be a house of cards. You can almost hear them say "Doh!" as they sit in their offices in Manhattan looking at the numbers. Like Homer Simpson these "masters of the universe" are coming to the realization that they are not as smart as they think they are and are looking for someone to save their butts:
"U.S. stocks suffered their second-worst decline of the year as the cost of borrowing for corporations continued to rise and some investors urged policymakers to help."

Been there done that. It was called the "savings and Loan Bailout". Not with my tax dollars you don't.

Memo: To my mutual fund managers

Skip lunch today and make sure the portfolio you manage comes out ok. This is why I am paying those fees remember? As for me I will be taking Warren's advice. That is Warren Zevon not Buffet:

"I think it's important not to get sidetracked from the immediate goal of having a really pleasant afternoon."
=

Only the little people pay taxes.

My neighbor announced several months ago that he was giving up the business he ran out of his home and went back to working as a manager of a Supermarket. He then offered all he knew is when you work for someone else you pay a hell of a lot more in taxes. I told him welcome to the club. David Ignatius in today's Washington Post has an insightful piece about how we in the middle class are getting screwed or at least paying our fair share taxes while some of the "masters of the universe" go out and get to buy another home. Here is just one of the money quotes:

The most prominent critic is mega-billionaire Warren Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway and a director of The Washington Post Co. He famously admonished his fellow moguls a month ago that they were paying a lower tax rate than the people who cleaned their offices -- and offered them $1 million if they could prove otherwise.

Or as Leona Helmsley said:

We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes- Leona Helmsley