And yet you have totally failed to show he was lying, and had to give up on the attempt. Kinda interesting...
Buffett is lying, and here's the proof.
Buffett pays a percentage on the income that he earns initially (his salary). Assuming that he makes considerably more than his secretary in salary (not a giant leap in faith to realize this), he does pay a higher
income tax than his secretary. Therefore, his secretary pays a lower
income tax than he does. Where Buffett is perpetrating the lie and the liberals get so easily confused and swallow it hook, line and sinker, is that
capital gains tax and
income tax are very, very different. If his secretary was paying
capital gains tax on any investments she makes, then she would be paying the same
capital gains tax that he does, but would still be paying a lower
income tax because she still makes less money.
So unless Buffett is paying his secretary more money than he makes in salary, he's lying. But let's take this a little further to clear up any further misconceptions regarding capital gains (and for that matter, losses as well).
Capital gains tax is levied when a profit is made in either the short-term or long-term. The short-term rate is the exact same rate as income tax. The long-term rate is what is lower (15% currently) than the income tax. Two things to point out here to clear up the confusion over all of this:
1 - The money that was invested had already been taxed, so it is a risk that the person takes by investing the money.
2 - Capital losses can only be claimed at a maximum of $3,000 per household per year on their taxes. So if a person loses $100,000 in investments, they only get to claim $3,000 worth of it. The other $97,000 is just gone (poof).
So those who pay long-term capital gains tax on profits (remember, they pay the exact same percentage on short-term capital gains as they do for income tax) are being taxed on money they invested at a substantial risk. If they make money, Obama wants more of it. If they lose money, so sorry, have a nice day.
So unless Buffett is paying his secretary more than he is paying himself in salary (highly unlikely), he's lying - plain and simple. Investors take a risk when they invest, some win and some lose. Buffett has a better record than most when it comes to winning, but it doesn't change the fact that he's lying and so many left-of-center folks are buying it blindly.