![]() AOC and Warren Buffett find common ground If you don't look very carefully, it would be easy to think that newly-elected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who describes herself as a Democratic Socialist, wouldn't be on the same page as Warren Buffett, the world's third-richest person and a "card-carrying capitalist."
But just under a week ago, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted what amounts to an endorsement of Buffett's public call for bank CEOs to lose all their net worth if a bailout is needed.
Responding to a CNBC.com article about Buffett's comment at this year's Berkshire shareholder meeting, she wrote, "It still blows my mind that the CEOs who crashed our economy + caused millions of people to lose their homes not only escaped handcuffs; but got bonuses, too." That's not the only point of agreement. Like Ocasio-Cortez, Buffett (who often, but not always, votes for Democrats) has often talked about the need to reduce income inequality. (He thinks increasing the Earned Income tax Credit would be more effective than increasing the minimum wage, which would create big market distortions.)
And while Buffett would probably think Ocasio-Cortez's talk of a top marginal tax rate of 60-70% for the wealthiest Americans is too high, he has long complained that the superrich need to pay more than they do now.
He points out that when payroll taxes are included, he pays a lower overall tax rate than his assistant does. That prompted President Obama to propose a "Buffett Rule" in 2011. (It died in the GOP-controlled Senate.)
Here's a clip of exactly what Buffett said about bank CEOs during this year's Berkshire meeting:
While we're talking about the superrich ... You'll need a lot of money to be the top bidder in a "Power Lunch with Warren Buffett" charity auction that begins Sunday and ends on Friday, May 31.
The minimum starting bid is $25,000 and last year's winner paid $3.3 million.
All the proceeds go to San Francisco-based GLIDE, an organization that describes itself as "a radically inclusive, just and loving community mobilized to alleviate suffering and break the cycles of poverty and marginalization." BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET
BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH
Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares closed at $303,000 Friday, down 5.6% over the previous four weeks, and up 3.8% from one year ago. Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares closed at $201.69, down 5.8% over the previous four weeks, and up 3.5% from one year ago. The benchmark S&P 500 index closed at 2826.06, down 3.9% over the previous four weeks, and up 3.6% from one year ago. BERKSHIRE'S TOP STOCK HOLDINGS
Berkshire's top stock holdings by market value, based on today's closing prices. The number of shares held is as of March 31, 2019, as disclosed in the company's May 15 13F SEC filing.
USG Corporation (USG) was listed in the 13F filing (39,002,016 shares) but is not included in this table because the stock is no longer trading following the April completion of the company's acquisition by Knauf.
The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.
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Have a great weekend.
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