Stop Coddling the Super-Rich 停止娇宠超级富豪 
OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.
我们的领导人已经要求“共享牺牲。”但他们要求时，他们放过了我。我查问了我的巨富的朋友们，了解他们期待什么痛苦。他们也被放过。
While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.
尽管在阿富汗 穷人和中产阶级为我们在战斗，同时大多数美国人在入不敷出中挣扎，而我们这些巨富继续得到我们的特殊税收减免。我们有些人是投资经理人，日常收入数十亿美元，但我们的收入被允许列为“附带权益”，从而得到便宜15％的税率。其他人如果他们是长期投资者 拥有股指期货10分钟，他们的收益的60%要征税15％。
These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.
这些和其他的优惠是华盛顿立委们觉得有必要保护我们所赠与的，就好象我们是猫头鹰或其他一些濒危物种。有在高层的朋友真好。
Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.
去年我的联邦税单 - 我支付的所得税，以及我和我的名义支付的工资税 - 6938744元。这听起来像很多钱。但我付出的是我的应纳税所得额的17.4％ - 这实际上是一个较低的百分比，相比我们的办公室任何其他20人所支付的。他们的税务负担从33％到41％不等，平均为36％。
If you make money with money, as some of my super-rich friends do, your percentage may be a bit lower than mine. But if you earn money from a job, your percentage will surely exceed mine — most likely by a lot.
如果你让钱生钱，象我的一些超级富豪朋友那样，你的比例可能会比我低一点。但是，如果你从工作中赚取的钱，你的百分比一定会超过我的 - 极有可能会很多。
To understand why, you need to examine the sources of government revenue. Last year about 80 percent of these revenues came from personal income taxes and payroll taxes. The mega-rich pay income taxes at a rate of 15 percent on most of their earnings but pay practically nothing in payroll taxes. It’s a different story for the middle class: typically, they fall into the 15 percent and 25 percent income tax brackets, and then are hit with heavy payroll taxes to boot.
要理解为什么，你需要检查的政府收入来源。去年大约有80％以上的收入来自个人所得税和工资税。巨富们支付他们的大部分收益率在15％的所得税，但在工资税支付的几乎没有。中产阶层就不同：通常情况下，他们分为15％和25％的所得税范围，然后是沉重的工资税。
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, tax rates for the rich were far higher, and my percentage rate was in the middle of the pack. According to a theory I sometimes hear, I should have thrown a fit and refused to invest because of the elevated tax rates on capital gains and dividends.
早在20世纪80年代和90年代，对富人的税率要高得多，我的税率是在当中。据我有时听到的理论，我应该抛出一些，并拒绝投资，因为楼梯式的资本利得和股息税率。
I didn’t refuse, nor did others. I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone — not even when capital gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 — shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain. People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off. And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation.
我没有拒绝，其他人也没有。我和投资人一起工作60年来，我还没有看到任何人 - 甚至资产收益率在1976年至1977年的39.9％ - 回避一个明智的投资，因为潜在收益的税率。人投资赚钱，而潜在的税收从来没有让他们害怕而放弃。而那些认为高利率损害创造就业机会，我想指出，1980年和2000年之间净增加近40万个就业机会。你知道自那时以来所发生的：低税率和超低的就业机会。
Since 1992, the I.R.S. has compiled data from the returns of the 400 Americans reporting the largest income. In 1992, the top 400 had aggregate taxable income of $16.9 billion and paid federal taxes of 29.2 percent on that sum. In 2008, the aggregate income of the highest 400 had soared to $90.9 billion — a staggering $227.4 million on average — but the rate paid had fallen to 21.5 percent.
自1992年以来，I.R.S.对400个最高收入的美国人报税单中编辑了统计数据。 1992年，400强总额16.9亿美元的应纳税所得额，并支付该款项的29.2％的联邦税。 2008年，总收入最高的400人，猛增到90.9亿美元 - 平均每人$ 227.4万 - ，但利率支付已经下降到21.5％。
The taxes I refer to here include only federal income tax, but you can be sure that any payroll tax for the 400 was inconsequential compared to income. In fact, 88 of the 400 in 2008 reported no wages at all, though every one of them reported capital gains. Some of my brethren may shun work but they all like to invest. (I can relate to that.)
我在这里指的税款是只包括联邦所得税，但你可以肯定，对400强来说，任何工资税相比收入是微不足道的。事实上，在2008年400里 88个报道没有工资，但他们每个人都报了资本收益。我的有些弟兄们可能避讳工作，但他们都喜欢投资。 （我可以和那些联系起来。）
I know well many of the mega-rich and, by and large, they are very decent people. They love America and appreciate the opportunity this country has given them. Many have joined the Giving Pledge, promising to give most of their wealth to philanthropy. Most wouldn’t mind being told to pay more in taxes as well, particularly when so many of their fellow citizens are truly suffering.
我知道很多的巨富，总的来说，他们都是很正派的人。他们热爱美国并欣赏这个国家给与他们的机会。许多人都加入了捐助承诺，许诺把他们财富的大部分捐给慈善事业。大多数人都不会介意被告知缴纳更多的税，特别是在这么多同胞们正在真正地受苦时。
Twelve members of Congress will soon take on the crucial job of rearranging our country’s finances. They’ve been instructed to devise a plan that reduces the 10-year deficit by at least $1.5 trillion. It’s vital, however, that they achieve far more than that. Americans are rapidly losing faith in the ability of Congress to deal with our country’s fiscal problems. Only action that is immediate, real and very substantial will prevent that doubt from morphing into hopelessness. That feeling can create its own reality.
12国会议员不久将承担重新排列我国财政的重要工作。他们已经被指示制定一项计划，降低至少达1.5万亿美元的10年的赤字。它非常重要，但是，他们实现的远不止于此。美国人正在迅速失去对国会的处理能力与我国的财政问题的信心。只有即时地，真实地，非常可观地行动，才能防止从变形到绝望的怀疑。这种感觉可以创建自己的现实。
Job one for the 12 is to pare down some future promises that even a rich America can’t fulfill. Big money must be saved here. The 12 should then turn to the issue of revenues. I would leave rates for 99.7 percent of taxpayers unchanged and continue the current 2-percentage-point reduction in the employee contribution to the payroll tax. This cut helps the poor and the middle class, who need every break they can get.
12个人的工作之一是削减即使是一个富裕的美国也不能履行的对未来的一些承诺。大笔的钱必须在这里节省。 12个人然后转向收入问题。我会让99.7％的纳税人税率不变，并继续目前的对雇员的贡献工资税2个百分点的减少。这种减少可帮助那些穷人和中产阶级，他们需要任何可以得到的休息。
But for those making more than $1 million — there were 236,883 such households in 2009 — I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And for those who make $10 million or more — there were 8,274 in 2009 — I would suggest an additional increase in rate.
但是，对于那些拿1百万美元以上者 - 在2009年有236883这样的家庭 - 我会对应纳税所得额超过100万美元的人立即提高税率，当然包括提高利率，股息和资本收益。对1000万美元或以上 - 在2009年有 8274 - 我建议额外增加税率。
My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.
我和我的朋友已经被对亿万富翁友好的国会娇宠足够长了。现在是我们的政府认真对待共享牺牲的时候了。
Warren E. Buffett is the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway.
沃伦*巴菲特是“Berkshire Hathaway”的总裁和执行主席。
