What happens when a liberal person gets rich?

[liberal N proud]

They give it all away of course in the name of mankind and to better peoples lives who are less fortunate than themselves...

Buffett said his children have known all along that much of their family’s wealth would be given back to society. “They consider themselves lucky. They don’t consider themselves quite as lucky as if they had a father with a different view.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13541144/?GT1=8211


I don't know what Buffett's political persuasion is but he sure as hell sounds liberal to me. If I had that much money, I know I would be doing everything I could to help those who don't

[ccpup]

1. I have a lot of money

and have created foundations (and continue to do so) that help those our Government tends to overlook. But it feels as if DU these days (see the earlier Capping Wealth Post) has turned into a place inhabited by those who would, in olden days, have stormed the castle and come after me with torches and pitchforks! For what? For having money!

Sheesh!

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

2. Ignore Those That Irrationally Demonize Because Of Level Of Wealth, CCPUP,

for they are ignorant and narrow minded.

One's wealth does not define one's character.

[applegrove]

21. Exactly.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[applegrove]

44. I'm noticing more anti-rich wording on the DU. Really the discussion

is about what kind of country you want. Cause if * had his way.. all policy benefitting his particular "base"... it wouldn't be good for them. Their kids would get kidnapped. They would have to live disconnected from their community. Their lives would be diminished a great deal. They wouldn't have the joy of calling themselves "mericains" anymore. Or living in a democracy.

No income tax is a recipe for disaster all around.

[Catherine Vincent]

3. You do?

Can I pm you my phone number? :-)

[havocmom]

4. Nah, we only storm castles of those who abuse & exploit the workers

So long as that's not an issue, you're safe ;)

[fishwax]

39. yes, it's not like people didn't have good reasons for storming

the castle :)

[Schema Thing]

5. The small will always take jabs at the large

[liberal N proud]

And look at you, you are a member of a liberal web site

I applaud you on both your wealth and the fortitude to give back to society.

:applause:

[w4rma]

9. Good. Now go buy a media outlet, please. (nt)

[KharmaTrain]

34. Not Worth The Investment

Take it from one who has the resources...owning a broadcast outlet today is a money-losing proposition...especially radio. Also one person alone can't do it...it requires having a good organization in place and not only ensuring the venture gets off the ground but it succedes. As a very wise person once said...the "rich" are ones who learn how not to spend their money. I'd rather give mine to help handicapped and elderly people who have been shut out by society or to Iraqi war veteran families who are facing more losses than anyone should have to endure.

Blogs have proven to be a far more effective and empowering form of the media...and a lot more cost effective

[w4rma]

41. Foundations lose you money too. Maybe instead you should quit thinking of

media outlets as an economic investments and think of them as the same way as foundations, as a civil service.

Research why the Guardian is able to function as independantly as it is. It is because it's income is subsidized by interest off of a private grant. This small amount of economic independance allows the outlet to turn down ad offers that come with strings.

[KharmaTrain]

45. Commercial Vs. Public Broadcasting

For the past three years here, I've advocated people to get involved with public and community radio...stations that are set up as non-profit and can and do operate as you state. Some get their funding from state and corporate grants or run by foundations or endowments...and since they are non-commercial, they are regarded as a public service. Pacifica is a perfect example of such a foundation, but that's the exception rather than the rule...and most of those stations have been operating for 30 or more years...starting up when property values and start-up costs were a fraction of what they are now.

Commercial radio is free market and right be it so. Unfortunately due to "deregulation" (which meant monopolization) the price of owning and operating radio stations have been taken away from most private entrepeneurs. Most properties are greatly overvalued as the sale of these stations like pork bellies or real estate is how the large corporates like Clear Channel and Salem made money...not off the programming. Now property values have gone flat and advertising revenues have shrunk...making it a fools proposition to buy into any such operation. For example, one property, was purchased for nearly $10 million and barely makes 500G a year in revenues...and that's not counting the costs of a staff, maintaining the facilities and promotion. Only those with deep pockets who can afford to lose such money, like a George Soros or a Warren Buffett could take such losses, not small entrepeneurs or local groups...the people who should be operating those stations.

Also, there's a major transformation going on in broadcasting...digital radio is slowly coming in and this will change the dynamic just like CDs did to vinyl records...making purchasing existing properties even more foolish.

[w4rma]

46. public media is fine and dandy when the whackjobs aren't in control of

the government. But you can't rely soley on public media. Privately funded sources must be available also, that aren't as susceptible to changes in political power. That is why America needs progressive private media outlets, also.

And I think that we are in agreement as I'm only stating what you've stated in your post in a different manner with some extra points of focus.

[Warpy]

10. It's not what you have, it's what you do with it.

Anybody who looks at the difference between Stupid and his brothers and Gates can see that.

However, you have to realize that the working people of this country have been stripmined by the overclass for the last 37 years. Our pensions have been looted, our social security overpayments have been stolen to fudge the numbers on rich men's tax cuts, our wages have been kept artificially low, and all the numbers regarding true inflation in this country have been fudged for a couple of decades. Now the good jobs are disappearing, chasing cheaper currencies so the overclass can have more paper profit.

This is where the resentment comes from. It isn't personal, and I'm sure the same people who want to bring out the guillotines would find you admirable should they hear the whole story.

Some aristocrats in France were spared on the word of their tenants, people whom they had taken care of in hard times.

[brainshrub]

11. I don't see that at all.

What gets my ire is when the rich make their money exploiting the poor.

There is no honor in the Walton family, for example. They could be just as wealthy as they are now, and still pay their employees a living wage.

[liberal N proud]

15. They could be wealthier, if they paid their employees a fair wage

They sell large screen TV's for $2000 +/- The markup on that toy is huge. If every employee of Wal-Mart was paid a living wage a large percentage of those people selling those toys would be buying them. But they are too busy trying to pay the rent, heat, fuel the Auto so they can come to that mediocre job.

Henry Ford knew when he paid his employees that they needed to be able to make enough money to live on and buy his cars.
Wal-Mart wants to sell the high end stuff but they don't want their own employees to shop there. It is pure greed, take from the middle class and don't give any to the lower and lower middle class.

[lonestarnot]

16. Bullshit.

[liberal N proud]

23. I just thought of a good example where the compassion runs deep at DU

Every time there is a fund drive here, you see people who have the ability to give, graciously giving stars to those who can't give at that time or at all. Those stars are accepted with great enthusiasm and appreciation. I think that negative always stands out in the crowd and there is some negativity in any crowd.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

26. Yes, ignore them.

I have one really good friend who has a lot.

This individual IS liberal, is kind, compassionate, helps others.

Thank goodness for those with the money AND the kind heart and generous spirit!!

[Lusted4]

31. It's the opulence that I am repulsed by. n/t

[Scout1071]

32. Sorry, but I doubt it.

I don't know any truly wealthy people that would brag about it on the Internet or anywhere else.

But, I guess it's all relative. What you think is "a lot of money," may not be what I think it is.

[ccpup]

6. I also

love to buy artwork by emerging artists who take an unapologeticly political (and always anti-Bush) tone with their work. Nice to know I'm helping support someone who still gets excited when his/her work sells!

Here's a link to my latest score. :-)

http://www.mdhfinearts.com/mdhfinearts1Detail.asp?ID=292

(the artist, in this piece, is saying that Americans via the hand holding the credit card in the center of the piece are subsidizing State Sponsored Terror -- obviously the dog and the hooded figure)

[TallahasseeGrannie]

7. I always figured he was GOP

His dad was a GOP congressman and he, himself, supported Schwartzeneger.

[OhioBlue]

14. I'm pretty sure he endorsed Kerry. n/t

[TallahasseeGrannie]

17. Sounds like an independent to me, then!

[OhioBlue]

22. yes - it looks like he's an independent

...Investor Warren Buffett, the world's second richest man, is to help Senator John Kerry's campaign to remove President Bush from the White House. ...

...Mr Buffett is pragmatic and endorses individuals and policies rather than parties. ...

..."The sage of Omaha", as Mr Buffett is sometimes known, advised Arnold Schwarzenegger when he won in California as a Republican.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3679627.stm

In other articles - it looks like he was an economic adviser to the Kerry Campaign and is against the Bush tax cuts for the rich.

[murielm99]

20. The conservative jerks seem worried about how

he is going to dispense his money.

I was listening to NPR today, and the tone of the conversation was so one-sided that it was making me ill. It made me feel sure that Buffet was at least a moderate, if not a liberal on some issues.

They were talking about Buffet having an agenda that might harm or influence public policy. Apparently it is unfair for him to do that with his money, just as it is for Soros. Never mind what Richard Mellon Scaife or that Coors idiot do. Forget that they really do try to change policy and influence public thinking. The mainstream media does not tell anyone about that.

Lately, NPR has been making me so angry that I yell at the radio when I am driving. Today, I was quick to find some loud rock. It is better for my blood pressure.

[OhioBlue]

27. The conservative jerks are worried about how

he will dispense his money... lol... their policies help him amass more wealth, yet they don't agree with how he *might* spend it... makes perfect sense....

btw - I didn't listen to NPR - but the overall message that should have been the focus is how we as a Country should not let mega-wealthy people have so much consolidated control over public opinion in general - then I could get on board.

[fishwax]

40. he's supported democrats repeatedly over the years

he signed on as schwarzeneger's economic advisor, but that didn't last b/c arnie didn't like buffett's straight-talk about the tough choices CA's budget would require. He supported Kerry, he's opposed all of bush's tax cuts, and he's got a strong record of supporting other democrats in the past as well. (He has supported repubs, too, but I they are mostly moderates or personal friends, such as tom osborne.)

[calimary]

8. I know what they SHOULD do: Buy up as many broadcasting properties

as possible.

Lace together a new radio or TV network that way - one pledged to be the liberal echo chamber that the republi-CONS have in Pox "news" and the "EIB" radio network. If I had Warren Buffett's money, that's what I would do. First, last, and only.

[Rosemary2205]

12. Now see, I would not do that.

Oh, I'd amass a network, but it would not be liberal or conservative or fair and balanced or anything else. It would be, this is the raw news. You use your own brain to put it in perspective. You know, like CNN used to be back in the dark ages.

[Posteritatis]

13. I'm picturing a televised equivalent of the AP or something.. (n/t)

[otherlander]

33. I might buy a mall and turn it into something commune-like.

I'd buy it, and invite homeless people to live there, and each store could be a house. Then the giant stores like Macy's could be used to set up small shops in, and in the hallways and under the skylights install beds to grow crops in. The people who were able to get jobs would, and then after a time would probably choose to move out, and the ones who couldn't get jobs would be able to just stay and work growing food. Install solar panels on the roofs, and we'd be self-sufficient for electricity and heating.

[TX-RAT]

18. What kind of Tax relief or advantage doe's he get for that.

[liberal N proud]

19. Does it matter? I have not heard any talk about the tax break.

The money is going to help people and if he got away with giving away without paying any taxes, well, I am ok with it.

It is better he get a tax break for this than if the estate tax repealed allowed the kids to get the money.

I don't know what if any breaks there were, although I am sure there were nice ones.

[high density]

36. Who knows

But I watched him with Bill & Melinda at a press conference this afternoon and he came out in favor of the estate tax. He is not a fan of Bush's tax policy.

[Raydawg1234]

24. If I got rich I would buy a house near the beach and a mercedes benz

[NEDem]

28. He's a Democrat

He recently switched parties to vote for Tom Osborn in the GOP primary here, but I have it on good authority that he has already switched back. Osborn lost.

Buffett has always been a very big supporter of former Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska.

He's a big contributor (or at least was ) to Planned Parenthood.

He's a good guy.

[liberal N proud]

29. I have always viewed him as a decent man

Given he was at one time the wealthiest man in the US, I have always thought he was pretty level headed about his wealth. I saw an interview he did several years ago, it was in a deli type restaurant with the hard benches like at McDonald's, when he could have been sitting fat and pretty in some easy chair.
The guy talked then about his fortunes and that his kid probably would not get it, he preferred that they earn their own wealth. Now I am sure he set them up so they could do that with a proper education and nothing holding them back, but never the less he didn't want to create spoiled brats as I think he put it at the time.

Growing up in Iowa it was always fascinating that such a wealthy man lived so close, those types always lived on the coast or in the big city.

[LSK]

30. yep, i read his father was a republican but he switched a long time ago

[zbdent]

35. A few years ago, Rush tried to claim that Clinton made

$30K/year salary as "rich"

of course, Rush probably claims that $25M/year as "middle class" . . .

[blues90]

37. I wouldn't have any idea

If I ever have more than paycheck to paycheck and now if I ever find another job I will be certain to let everyone know .

I do believe if I had a paid off roof and enough to last from my 57 year old age to death then the balance would go to a very good cause . I don't need a lot to live so I would do what I could to help anyone in need .

[Deja Q]

38. I've started to read into Buffet...

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/8/18/155747.shtml

http://archives.cjr.org/year/98/6/buffett.asp

All I'm hoping for is that Mr. B hasn't gone senile.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3149305.stm
(Look who he endorsed... nobody's perfect?)

But I don't trust Gates. I've been in the industry long enough, usually on the wrong side as better products keep getting buried thanks to his shrewd but sadistic "business" tactics. An altruistic predator is a contradiction in terms.

[KingM34]

42. The Problem is...

What does it say about our society when we have a guy with enough money (as CNN reported this morning) to buy a Lamborghini for every person in his home town of Omaha, while at the same time millions of working people are having a hard time paying for housing, food, and other necessities?

I'm actually in favor of the free markets, rather than socialist policies, but there is something seriously rotten with our system when the middle class is eroding into rich and poor and very little inbetween.

[Taverner]

43. Ask Martha Stewart. The feds go after you.