Buffett bets on Hillary Clinton

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett gave $25,000 to the pro-Clinton group Ready for Hillary last quarter, Bloomberg reports. 

The sum is the highest donation that the group allows. It could mark a shift in Buffett’s thinking on donations to outside groups such as super-PACs, because Buffett has previously declined to give to them.

{mosads}“I don’t want to see democracy go in that direction,” he said on the subject in 2012.  

Buffett would have a huge amount of funds available to back Clinton if he decided to get heavily involved in spending. 

He would help offset major Republican donors such as Sheldon Adelson and Charles and David Koch. 

The donation is also a mark of Ready for Hillary’s coming of age. While not formally affiliated with Clinton, the group has gained credibility after uncertainty around its founding. 

A range of long-time Clinton advisers gathered at the group’s event in New York last month.

Clinton has faced unease on the left from some who argue that she is not outspoken enough on income inequality and too close to Wall Street. 

Buffett has become somewhat synonymous with the income inequality issue because of the “Buffett Rule,” named after his argument that he should not pay a lower tax rate than his secretary. 

Buffett has argued that because maximum tax rates on dividends and capital gains are lower than ordinary tax rates, he and other very wealthy people are hit with a lower tax rate than many.