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| Warren Buffett sings with University of Nebraska cheerleaders during the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, May 2012. Photo: REUTERS |
The 81-year old billionaire was referring to super political action committees, or Super PACS, which have been allowed to collect unlimited contributions from companies, individuals and unions since a ruling by the US Supreme Court in 2010.
"I
think the whole idea of Super PACS is wrong," Mr Buffett, a Democrat, told
shareholders over the weekend at the annual meeting of his company, Berkshire
Hathaway, in Omaha, Nebraska.
"The
idea that I should toss $10m (£6.2m) into some Super PAC that will spend its
time misleading people about its opponent - I don't want to see democracy going
in that direction," he said.
Those
supporting Mr Obama and backers of Mitt Romney, his likely Republican rival in
November's election, are both raising money for Super PACS that can spend money
on television advertising, for instance, but cannot contribute directly to a
candidate's campaign.
Critics of
Super PACS say they allow US corporations and wealthy individuals to wield too
much influence over the political process.
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Despite his
attack on Super PACS, Mr Buffett's name is set to echo throughout the election
campaign because of a rule named after him calling for all Americans earning
more than $1m in annual income to pay higher taxes.
President
Obama is aggressively campaigning for the rule at a time when questions of
income inequality and how to cut the country's deficit are likely to be central
to the election. The Senate last month voted against the bill, which has been
dubbed by Republicans as a political stunt and unlikely to raise much revenue.
Mr Buffett
was forced to defend the rule at the meeting after one shareholder said that
the billionaire's support for higher taxes was stopping some potential
investors from buying shares in Berkshire.
Mr Buffett
said: "When we are asking for shared sacrifice from the American people, I
would at least make sure that the people with these huge incomes get taxed at a
rate that is commensurate with the rate they got taxed at not long ago."
Berkshire
shareholders who spoke to The Daily Telegraph were divided over whether Mr
Buffett should be taking such a high-profile position on the politically
sensitive question of tax.
"I
don't think it helps my ownership of Berkshire at all," said one, who had
travelled from Illinois.
Edmund Lo,
who has been a Berkshire shareholder for eight years, said that Mr Buffett's
call is "only the ethical thing to do. If I said something like that it
would not carry weight, but when he speaks people listen."
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