Do Wealthy Liberals Use Tax Advisors?

You have probably noticed that there is a large amount of high power, extremely wealthy artists who are deeply committed to liberal causes. Many of these causes are private, supporting non-governmental organizations that largely do good things throughout the world. But it seems clear that these artists are also pushing for a larger role for the federal government in our lives. Nationalized health care, more federal money poured into charitable causes like cancer research, disaster relief, education, serving the poor. All of these are good causes, the question is whether federal funds should be looked at as the principle source of funding. Increasing federal funding on anything translates into a need for higher taxes, unless Congress reduces funding somewhere else, which never happens. So when these artists ask for more federal funding for their favorite cause, especially when that cause is something extremely expensive like health care for all, they are basically asking Congress to increase their taxes. And this has been what Obama and democrats in Congress have been saying all along . . we are going to increase taxes on the rich, including these artists.

So here is my question: do these liberal artists have tax advisors preparing their tax returns? I ask this question for this reason: most people who hire a tax advisor to prepare their returns are looking for someone who will minimize their tax obligations. By establishing foundations, investing in certain commodities, shifting money into different accounts, and then taking advantage of all the various deductions and tax breaks available, tax advisors are making sure that their client (the artist) is paying the least amount of taxes possible. But why do this if you trust the federal government with your money? If you are calling for the federal government to take more of our money in order to fund projects that you believe only the federal government is capable of managing and funding, why hold back your own funds?

I have no idea what these artists think when it comes to how much taxes they pay each year. Do they sit around and complain about it like most other people do? Do they go to great lengths to protect their money from taxation? Or are they cheerfully handing it over to the government, believing it will do the most good in the hands of Congress rather than in the hands of a charitable organization? Do these artists, and other very wealthy people, who publicly say to the government that they should be taxed more . . do they now willingly give more to the government than they are required? I'm just wondering.