Warren Buffett

We all know who Warren Buffett is (he's only the third richest man in the world) and we all know about his constant push for heavier taxes on the wealthy. The Buffett Rule, proposed by the Obama Administration last year, is a tax law that is meant to raise taxes for millionaires. For those who need a quick and simple primer, here's a rundown of the issue.

Why call it the Buffett Rule?

Last August, billionaire Warren Buffett wrote an op-ed in the New York Times, which called for action to "stop coddling the super-rich" and start taxing them more. To demonstrate the need to raise taxes, the renowned investor says that he's paying only 17.4 percent of his taxable income, a lower rate than what his secretary is paying.

Buffett proposed the idea of raising tax rates for those who are making more than $1 million and even higher rates for those earning over $10 million. His words spurred President Obama to pitch the Buffett Rule a month later (or perhaps it was already in the works and the timing of the op-ed was perfect), a tax plan that's meant to even out the income equality and hopefully make a dent in our $15 trillion debt.

What does the law say?

The Buffett Rule proposes to raise the tax rate on people who make more than $1 million to $2 million annually and raise rates up to 30 percent for those who make more than that. The idea is that the wealthy should be paying tax rates equivalent to what middle-income Americans are subject to.

Why are millionaires paying less taxes?

Right now, the current tax law taxes ordinary wages up to 35 percent, while capital gains and dividends are at 15 percent. Those who make most of their money through investments have enjoyed a lower tax rate. The new law will include people who make millions on their investments every year.

Read on for more.

In an op-ed piece in The New York Times today, billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett eloquently advocated his belief that the superwealthy should be taxed more and that the government should quit "coddling" them. Here's an excerpt:

Our leaders have asked for "shared sacrifice." But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my megarich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched. While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we megarich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks.

Buffett stated that he was taxed lower than his employees percentage-wise and that although he paid $6,938,744 in taxes last year, it only made up 17.4 percent of his taxable income. Why should he and the other wealthy individuals be protected by the government when the rest of the country is struggling to earn a living? He proposed tax rates should be raised immediately for those making over $1 million, and those who make over $10 million should get an even higher tax rate.

It has long been argued that taxing those in the highest income bracket will lead to less job creation because there is less incentive for them to invest, but Buffett says he and other investors didn't invest less back in the '80s and '90s when tax rates were much higher for the richest. The higher tax rates weren't much of a deterrent. Do you agree with Buffett — is the government "coddling" the rich?

Wow, I knew money could get you far, but who knew it would be able to snag you a highly coveted guest star spot on the hit TV show The Office? Warren Buffett is set to appear in the season finale of The Office. He's not the only big name who will be featured in that episode, but certainly the most surprising one. Buffett is just one of the many guest actors who are competing for Michael's job as manager of the Dunder Mifflin office. Other stars lined up for the season finale include Ricky Gervais, Jim Carrey, Ray Romano, and James Spader.

Variety explains how Buffett got the gig:

Buffett enlisted the "Office" cast for a skit shown in April at the annual shareholders meeting for his company, Berkshire Hathaway. Carell appeared in the skit, in which Buffett pretends to take over for Michael Scott as the head of the Scranton branch of fictional "Office" company Dunder Mifflin.

This is not Buffett's first time appearing on TV. The billionaire has made cameos in two episodes on the All My Children soap opera. Personally, I think Buffett will make a bigger splash on The Office. After all, management is definitely his forte!

It seems that even though Warren Buffett's company invests in American Express, he's not afraid to hide his disdain of credit cards. Here's what he told CNBC:

"I tell every student class I get, high school students, university students, you know, they'd be better off if they never used credit cards now. Now if you use them and you pay at the end of the month so you don't start revolving, that's another question. But I can't make money if I'm out borrowing, you know, at whatever the rate may be — 12 percent, 14 percent, 16 percent . . . I think if credit cards didn't exist, I think probably the economy would be better off."

You would think Peter Buffett, 52, would be upset over not inheriting his father's billions (Warren Buffett pledged to give most of his fortune away to charity), but Peter actually views it as a positive move. He believes that because he knows there is no billion-dollar inheritance waiting for him, it has actually driven him to make something of himself — a musician with an Emmy on his belt who has composed scores for movies and albums.

However, Peter did receive some financial benefits that come with being the son of America's richest man. When he was 19, his father gave him Berkshire stock worth $90,000, which came from the profits of the sale of his grandfather's farm. His father's financial mastery has caused the stock to shoot to today's valuation of a hefty $70 million.

Too often, we see kids with trust funds or inheritance feeling a sense of entitlement. Just take a look at VH1's You're Cut Off! or MTV's My Super Sweet 16. Kids on those shows are used to having things handed over to them without having to work for it, and a large influence in their behavior is their upbringing. Peter seems to feel glad that he didn't face the same route, and he tells the Sarasota Herald Tribune that "there's not a minute that I would choose the money over the experiences and lessons I've had . . . My life has been so much richer, and that's dead-on true."