Questions: 1. How much money do you have in the bank? 2. Why don't you give it all away to the poor? 3. Does Air America Radio make any money, if it does, do you give to the poor? 4. When you are talking about "poor people" are you talking about a "poor America family" with one car, one tv, one house, one dog, and with lights & water, with A/C & heat OR are you talking about "poor Other people" with NO car, NO tv, NO house, NO water, NO lights, NO A/C, NO heat, NO freedoms. The best place in the world to be "poor" is in America. Why? Because in America I can go get a JOB from a rich man who will pay me money to WORK. 5.If you take all the money from the rich and give it to the poor, the "rich" people will have most of the money back in a few years anyway because they will start companies just like they did the first time. 6. Who are the rich and why are they rich? I think Mr. Drobny and Algore are the same. "Do what they say, not what they do"

by Right is right (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 18 comments) on Tuesday, Aug 22, 2006 at 5:03:04 PM

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There are certainly many rich people in this country who can grasp the concept of giving back to the free system that has allowed them to prosper (one of which is certainly Sheldon Drobny), but far too many who can't. The ones who don't get it are far more likely than not to be children of privilege, born into money, with absolutely no understanding of what it really takes to earn it. Kind of like our current president. The blatant ignorance, arrogance and selfishness of the Bushies and their ilk, whether they have worked hard for their money or had it handed to them, provides the driving force behind the systematic destruction of the American Dream. They have already benefitted; they don't need the system anymore. And they have realized that if they can successfully destroy it, they will be among the few who continue to benefit from the blood, sweat and tears of the many. There's a word for the type of system that appeals to these fortunate sons. It's called fascism.

by John Perry (31 articles, 32 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 81 comments) on Wednesday, Aug 23, 2006 at 8:45:57 AM

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A few questions for Mr. Rush... You said... 4.When you are talking about "poor people" are you talking about a "poor America family" with one car, one tv, one house, one dog, and with lights & water, with A/C & heat OR are you talking about "poor Other people" with NO car, NO tv, NO house, NO water, NO lights, NO A/C, NO heat, NO freedoms. The best place in the world to be "poor" is in America. Why? Because in America I can go get a JOB from a rich man who will pay me money to WORK. 5.If you take all the money from the rich and give it to the poor, the "rich" people will have most of the money back in a few years anyway because they will start companies just like they did the first time. 6. Who are the rich and why are they rich? I think Mr. Drobny and Algore are the same. "Do what they say, not what they do" From me>>>> The problem with the rich is they are blind. I have seen lots of Americans without homes, T.V.'s a dog, living under a bridge. I see racial discrimination. I see gas prices going higher and higher..so what good is a car? And to think I can go to work for a Rich guy is the problem. I the poor guy want to have my own business, but the Rich guys force me out...they don't want my competition. They prevent me in getting the money I need to start a business..And when it is started...the word is out to not support it. In case you didn't know it is the Rich Mans Club...that keeps out those who are doing honest businesses. Don't give me the crap you are giving us no taxes. Because you will set the market to your price levels above a tax level, then rake in your inflated profits and tell the world how great you are for eliminating taxes..when in fact taxes keep the public business arena honest..and prevents inflated profit raking. Something Gates and Buffet certainly know and practice. They will send guys to try and rob me, beat me up, threaten me, prevent me from doing a business I deem my way to lifting myself toward success. Don't give us the crap that Rich guys in American are nice fellows and providers for the disenfranchised. Far from it. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are hoarders...people who suck money out of the economy so there is less money...then they buy off politicians to support their hoarding and control the banks to force people to their controlling tactics. They give money to each others foundations and forget about people who would be happy making 25,000 a year in their business. Instead you get Walmarts, Communication Shops, Automotive, Computer business's, etc that force mom and pop into servitude. If that is not dictatorial then my middle finger is up your nose hole.

by Dom Jermano (20 articles, 0 quicklinks, 40 diaries, 930 comments) on Tuesday, Aug 22, 2006 at 9:05:07 PM

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The Gates foundation has given over a billion dollars to charitable endeavors. Thats ONE BILLION and counting. How much have you proferred? Whether or not your rather outlandish and strange claims have even the slightest validity is dubious, and your motives are a mystery to me but calling such overwhelming charity a scheme is a simplistic and suspicious endeavor at best. Given that Gates has stated any number of times that he intends to give away the great majority of his vast wealth before he dies I find him to be praiseworthy while your claims are borderline neurotic. Warren Buffet has given his children excellent educations and then cuts them loose to sink or swim on their own, doesnt much sound like a super capitalist plot to hold onto his wealth......

by ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2377 comments) on Wednesday, Aug 23, 2006 at 7:22:30 AM

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that rich need poor to get rich. Charity... if you suck out billions it is easy then to give something back or pretend to give. Gates and Buffet and others first make poor people then they ' help them'. If there were no poor, disenfranchised.. charity would not be needed. Hey, the great American writer John O'Hara defined the code of US business,' I am honest until proven otherwise.'. The great American writer Scott Fitzgerald wrote his Great Gatsby long ago. The rich folks give plenty of materiel to study them and they were studied extensively. They are a cast. Our governments serve them. I would not worry about the rich. They have their own world and we have ours. There is a big stink about the middle clase. But as far as I see it we have no middle class anymore. Hey, those houses, those dogs, those TVs, those cars are not ours. Houses are mortgaged, dogs are to be insured and fenced,TVs are lousy and also you have to have cable,cars are on loan, you have to pay monthly... Look around, what is yours except maybe the gun. And...if you have nothing you have nothing to lose. I don't care for Gates or Buffett. They are dead. Let them rest in peace.

by Mark Sashine (72 articles, 19 quicklinks, 269 diaries, 4101 comments [131 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Aug 23, 2006 at 7:44:07 AM

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We are not speaking about old man Rockefeeler tossing dimes to depression era kids here. We speak about giving billions upon billions. Does this not count for something to you? Both Gates and Buffet made tens of billions, not by piracy or theft but by astute business practice and sheer good luck. Berkshire Hathaway (Buffet's firm) has over 37 billion in cash assets, this speaks to pretty fair management. Why be an elitist and hate everyone with money? Those that stole it or made it on the backs of people they abused certainly, but neither Gates nor Buffet fits this description and they have a far greater social conscience than most. When Bush altered the tax laws to benefit his wealthy friends Buffet stated publicly that this was absurd and unfair, give the guy a break!

by ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2377 comments) on Wednesday, Aug 23, 2006 at 7:53:23 PM

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I do not think Mr. Buffett cares much about my opinion or any other opinions for that matter. So I think, he will survive my criticism. There is a certain nonlinearity in finance, that is starting from some point the actual number is irrelevant. That is $1000 is money but $1billion is something else. You cannot really 'give' billions. Those billions are abstract representations of hard work and not the ' management' or so. Those are just measurands of the human effort. So those are intrinsically opposed to the concept of one person owning then=m, no matter how enlighetened he is. It is like ownning humans. I think, the most clever of capitalists understand that. They understand that the rules can change. What are those billions in? Plants and real estate and loan guarantees. Nothing can stop people from burning the plants, take over real estate and tear the loan guarantees. But to do that people have to have at least min. sustenance on their own. That is why our friends in high places make it more and more sure that people cannot have even that. You might have noticed that there are more and more people in the world who are not just poor: they cannot survive on their own. And now the God out of Machine, Mr. Gates or Mr. Buffett or Mr. Soros come and give them some (not much) food and some water and some advice on how to keep in touch with him and no questions asked. Soros, for instance is widely praised for helping the scientists in the former Eastern Europe. What they do not say that his help is based on the total lack of any other alternaatives for those individuals in many cases. And he and his cronies make sure that there will be none in the years to come. He pioneers the total destruction of the Russian education system, the one which was the best in the world and really was to be used in other countries too. And why do we here have to give those folks a break? I own four computers. Not because I need those but because I cannot afford to buy software, the newest versions. So my oldest computer has engineering software of hiss time, then the middle one has some other engineering software of that time and then the newest has Internet which does not like the engineering software. I am struggling with Bill Gates and he wins. His billions have my time in them. I want my time back. Come to think of it, time is the most precious commodity of all and Gates and others can surely be called time- suckers or time vampires, whatever you prefer. I am not an elitist, they are. I do not tell people that I can and will solve their problems as soon as they do not ask questions why I alone can do it. In my field I just say that I have here some thoughts and if you, folks, join me, we together maybe will make cheap water pumps on every corner of the African desert. And if they have those pumps, maybe, just maybe they will have time to ask meaningful questions.

by Mark Sashine (72 articles, 19 quicklinks, 269 diaries, 4101 comments [131 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 at 7:23:53 AM

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The real target is Capitalism, and not some random captitalists. I would urge you to google the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and take careful note of the things that "imaginary" billions have wrought. Both Buffet and Soros are in no way obligated to give but do so, perhaps out of good will perhaps for the more sinister reasons you hint at above, yet the monies gifted do great works, far greater than my annual pittances awarded to several charities do by far. That is good enough for me.

by ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2377 comments) on Friday, Aug 25, 2006 at 7:24:44 AM

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The trend continues to be to set up these foundations to avoid taxation while giving back to needy causes. It's not illegal - it's just smart. One organization that is providing tools to do the same thing that Gates and Buffet are doing is The American Foundation - www.americanfoundation.org

by Tee Murphy (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Thursday, Aug 31, 2006 at 1:11:00 PM

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I followed that link. They feature this quote prominantly on their top page: We are pioneering and leading a movement that we call the "privatization of philanthropy®". I read some of their material. I found it hard to follow. It's full of financial mumbo-jumbo, and it sounds like it's designed to appeal to someone looking to MAKE MONEY. It sure doesn't sound like a pitch to someone who wants to give money away. What would really happen if Mr. Buffet liquidated half his wealth and simply gave every poor third world sod five US dollars? Most of them would quickly convert it to the local currency and inject it straight into the local economy wouldn't they? There, shouldn't it circulate a while creating prosperity? The banks that raked in all those US five-spots could probably make good use of them somehow too. In Sudan, let's say 40 million get the five-spot. That's about 1 percent of the GDP for the country. If it were all deposited in local banks that reloaned it locally, it should have a multiplier effect that could really help lift the country up. Of course this is totally unrealistic hypothesizing, and surely the free money would crawl its way back home faster than we could imagine, what with globalized free trade and such. But sometimes I have to wonder, with all the charitable donations supposedly happening, how come I can take my backback and go to some poor corner of Asia, and have a damn hard time finding any significant infrastructure built by these famous global dogooder agencies. Most of what I find will have been built by local governments, or the communities of poor people themselves. So where do all the billions go? I remember reading on my Unicef box that just a hundred dollars can build a well for a whole village. Why hasn't Bill Gates gone and bought every village a well yet?

by Peter Dearman (10 articles, 32 quicklinks, 9 diaries, 144 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Sep 20, 2006 at 2:44:22 PM

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