In January, a new President, Barack Obama, will be sworn in to office. The challenges he faces are formidable: wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, turmoil in the Middle East, possible nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea, a newly belligerent Russia and, of course, the economy.

As important as the other issues are, it is the economy that’s on everyone’s mind. The federal government has taken extraordinary steps – including a $700 billion bailout package passed in Congress – to keep the economy from slipping into a deep recession. Unemployment is rising and Americans have seen steep losses in their retirement accounts and home values.

Shortly before Congress passed the bailout legislation, billionaire investor Warren Buffet appeared on the Charlie Rose show to argue the need for the rescue package. While I agreed with Buffet on the need for the legislation, I really didn’t like using taxpayer money to bail out some of the same folks who got us into this mess.

What really caught my attention, however, were some of the other things Buffet said, which were pretty remarkable coming from the world’s richest man. His sympathy for the plight of the average working family told me the so-called “Oracle of Omaha” really does get it.

It would be easy for a smart guy like Buffet to look down at everyone caught in the real estate bubble, but he was sympathetic to people whose only sin was trying to get a decent place to live for their families. Fearing they would be priced out of the market, they were easy prey for those offering mortgage deals.

For a numbers guy, Buffet is good at understanding the real pain and suffering those numbers represent. While warning that there would be no quick fix to the economy, he argued that it would be unconscionable for slow action to allow the unemployment rate to go up even further because those percentage points add up to millions of real workers. “Just think of what it’s like to go home (after losing your job) with a mortgage payment and kids and everything else,” he told Rose. “My dad had that happen to him in the early 1930s.”

Buffet is most surprising when he advocates raising taxes on people like himself. “I’ve never had it so good in terms of taxes,” he said. “I am paying the lowest tax rate that I’ve ever paid in my life. Now, that’s crazy. And if you look at the Forbes 400, they are paying a lower rate, counting payroll taxes, than their secretary or whoever around their office.”

Buffet also thinks executive compensation in the U.S. is scandalous because it’s so out of line with what ordinary workers make, and believes tax cuts should go to lower-income households who will spend the money and stimulate the economy.

The straight talking financier has made his reputation in business, but these comments show Buffet has a lot of common sense on public policy as well. He was a supporter and advisor to Senator Obama during the campaign. Senator McCain, who lost the Presidential race, admires him as well.

Let’s hope President Obama continues to listen to the Oracle from Omaha, especially when it comes to understanding the personal pain behind the financial numbers.