????上周六，出席伯克希爾-哈撒韋（Berkshire Hathaway）年度股東大會的股東和記者擠滿了Century Link會議中心，巴菲特現場解答了幾十個問題。很多問題都圍繞著巴菲特的一項提案展開。這項提案建議美國制定法案，確保最富有的美國人承擔的稅率高于美國普通納稅人。大會現場，一位股東稱巴菲特在稅率問題上暢所欲言損害了公司股價，這一說法贏得了一片掌聲。“就沖著你在稅率問題上的立場，我84歲的老父親就不會投資伯克希爾，”這位股東稱。

????甚至連巴菲特的長期合作伙伴、一直經營伯克希爾的查理?芒格似乎也不怎么贊同巴菲特的稅率觀點，雖然芒格聲稱自己“100%”支持“巴菲特法則”。芒格還表示，不僅僅要關注稅收，還要關注政府的支出。芒格說：“我們需要做出更多的犧牲，同時我們需要更合情合理的支出安排。”

????上周五的晚宴上，過去10年一直堅持參加伯克希爾股東年會的投資經理馬里奧?蓋伯里對與會人士說，他認為巴菲特錯在把稅率問題過于政治化了，但似乎只有少數人贊成這種觀點。蓋伯里說：“（他的觀點）全是胡扯。”。他讓屋子里的人舉一下手，看看有誰希望巴菲特從來沒有提交過“巴菲特規則”。結果只有寥寥數人。“大家都心知肚明但不吭聲，我們不能回避這個問題，”蓋伯里說。“這件事對股價產生了負面影響。”

????爭強好辯的巴菲特上周六回應說，他同每個公民一樣擁有言論自由，成為一家上市公司的CEO并不意味著他放棄了這項權利。“聽起來你父親似乎應當去買福克斯（Fox）的股票，”巴菲特說。“我和查理接受這份工作的時候，并沒有人要求我們全盤放棄我們的公民權利。”

????巴菲特說，投資者可以和他有不同意見，但這不應影響人們選擇是否決定購買伯克希爾股票。他說，他不知道、也不關心他和伯克希爾所投資公司的很多CEO們到底秉持什么樣的政治觀點。不過，推斷來看，巴菲特不了解這些CEO政治觀點的原因是，這些人并沒有像巴菲特近來那樣直言不諱。

????巴菲特認為許多人誤解了他的提案，但并沒有就此具體闡述。他說：我的提案只會影響很少的人，但卻能籌集到大量現金。

????巴菲特曾經說過，美國最富有的400人中有約三分之一繳納15%、甚至更低的稅率。他說，收入最高的美國人過去承擔的稅率要高得多，我們應當恢復這種做法。他還說，盡管美國參議院最近投票否決了他的提案，但他很樂觀，相信這個提案未來將以某種形式得到采納。“事情還沒完，”巴菲特說。“人們對不平等深感不滿。一定會發生些什么變化。”

????Warren Buffett says the 'Buffett Rule' has been "butchered a bit." But that hasn't stopped some shareholders from criticizing him for getting involved in the nation's debate over taxes and what the richest Americans should pay in the first place.

????On Saturday, Buffett fielded dozens of questions from the crowd of shareholders and journalists who packed CenturyLink Center for Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKA) annual meeting. A number of the questions were on his proposal that the U.S. should institute a rule that would guarantee the richest Americans pay higher rates than average tax payers. At one point in the meeting, a shareholder was greeted with applause when he said that Buffett's outspoken position on taxes was hurting the company's stock. "My 84-year-old father won't invest in Berkshire because of your stance on taxes," said the shareholder.

????Even Charlie Munger, Buffett's long-time partner in running Berkshire Hathaway, seemed to somewhat disagree with Buffett on taxes, even though Munger says he is "100%" behind the Buffett Rule. Still, Munger says the focus should not just be on taxes, but how government spends its money as well. "We need more sacrifice and we need more sensible ways of spending money," says Munger.

????At a dinner on Friday night, money manager Mario Gabelli, who has attended Berkshire's annual meetings for the past decade, told a crowd of attendees that he thought Buffett made a mistake by getting too political, though he seemed to be in the minority. "It's BS," said Gabelli. He asked the room to raise their hands if they had wished Buffett hadn't proposed the tax rule. Only a few hands went up. "It's the elephant in the room and we should talk about it," said Gabelli. "It's a negative on the stock."

????A feisty Buffett on Saturday responded that he has a right, like every citizen, to free speech and that he didn't give that up when he became the CEO of a public company. "Sounds like your father should buy stock in Fox," says Buffett. "When I and Charlie took this job we weren't required to put our citizenship in a blind trust."

????Buffett says it's fair to disagree with him, but that he doesn't think that should change anyone's choice to buy or not buy Berkshire's stock. He says he didn't know the political stances of many of the CEOs of the companies that he and Berkshire invests in and didn't care. Though presumably the reason Buffett doesn't know their political stances is because those CEOs have chosen not to be as vocal about them as Buffett has recently.

????Buffett said his proposal has been butchered by others, but he didn't really say how. "It would affect very few people, and raise a significant amount of cash," says Buffett.

????Buffett said about a third of the 400 richest people in America pay a 15% tax rate or less. He said rates used to be much higher for the top earning Americans and that we should restore that. What's more, Buffett said despite recently getting voted down in the Senate, he was optimistic that some form of the rule he has proposed would be adopted. "Not dead," says Buffett, "People are bothered by inequality. Something will happen."