Need 37 Billion Dollars?

[PapaBear]

<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060626/bs_nm/finance_buffett_charity_dc_5" target="_self">Buffett gives $37 billion to Gates and family foundations</a> </p><p>No... Not Jimmy.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>NEW YORK (Reuters) - <span class="yqlink"><a title="Related information on Warren Buffett" href="http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Warren+Buffett" onclick="activateYQinl(this);return false;"><strong><font color="#003399">Warren Buffett</font></strong></a></span>, the world's second-richest person, is donating about $37 billion -- more than 80 percent of his fortune -- to foundations run by his friend <span class="yqlink"><a title="Related information on Bill Gates" href="http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Bill+Gates" onclick="activateYQinl(this);return false;"><strong><font color="#003399">Bill Gates</font></strong></a></span> and by the Buffett family. <p>&nbsp;</p>The move is the biggest-ever single act of charitable giving in the United States. <div /><p>Sunday's announcement by Buffett, 75, comes just days after Microsoft Chairman Gates said he would move away from his day-to-day role at the software giant to focus more on charity work, and highlights the close friendship of the world's two richest men </p>

<span class=post_edited>This message was edited by PapaBear on 6-26-06 @ 12:55 AM</span>

[FezPaul]

<strong><font face="courier new,courier,monospace" size="2">Just imagine how pissed the people in his Will are.</font></strong>

[PapaBear]

<p>If I'm not mistaken, Gates himself is giving his own kids 1/2 of 1% of his money when he dies. The rest goes to the foundation. I'm sure Buffet is doing something similar. They'll still be filthy rich.</p>

[narc]

Also, the philanthropy involved is mostly bullshit. He's just trying to avoid the massive estate tax hit that his relatives would take. ALSO, a lot of money is going to foundations owned by his relatives which they get completely tax free. Plus he gets nice PR out of this. But his motives certainly aren't pure.

[Yerdaddy]

<strong>narc</strong> wrote:<br />Also, the philanthropy involved is mostly bullshit. He's just trying to avoid the massive estate tax hit that his relatives would take. ALSO, a lot of money is going to foundations owned by his relatives which they get completely tax free. Plus he gets nice PR out of this. But his motives certainly aren't pure. <p>Buffet actually has a long history of charitable giving regardless of tax benefits. In fact, when Bush's fist tax cuts for the rich were being run through congress, Buffet was a public opponent of them specifically because they benefitted his rich ass while hurting his $30K/year secretary. He described how it was his opinion that without the american system he would never be what he is today, and for that he felt he owed it to america to pay more in taxes rather than less. </p><p>The Gates foundation gets extremely high marks for efficiency and practicality of purposes. In fact they have used their celebrity status to bring publicity and thus aid to many issues, like malaria, which kill more people and bring more suffering than most more well-known issues. The Gates' are also personally involved in the issues in a way that get them labelled &quot;tree-huggers&quot; and &quot;publicity-whores&quot; by large segments of the population by actually travelling to poverty-stricken areas, getting involved in the issues, criticizing polititians and governments, and doing things that are, well, unforgivably liberal to much of america. And we all know it aint cool to be liberal.</p><p>I'm as distrustful of the rich as anyone, (and I curse Bill Gates' name every time I try to transfer my own fucking MP3 using someone else's computer),&nbsp;but these people, and those like them, deserve all the respect in the world. They've used their wealth to actually make the world a better place. </p><p>On a sidenote, I was working on an article about Somali refugees a few weeks ago and reading a UNHCR global funding report and in a list of major donors to the refugee agency around the world - which was mainly made up of rich countries, world bank, IMF, open society, etc. was Angelina Jolie. She had apparently just given over $40K to UNHCR in Egypt and probably the only publicity she got for it was the global funding report that I was probably the only one to ever read. And yet, for all her charitable work, she probably gets more accusations of being crazy or liberal than anything else. </p><p>First time I ever batched to a global funding report. And it was good.</p>

[A.J.]

<strong>Yerdaddy</strong> wrote:<br />Angelina Jolie. She had apparently just given over $40K to UNHCR in Egypt and probably the only publicity she got for it was the global funding report that I was probably the only one to ever read. And yet, for all her charitable work, she probably gets more accusations of being crazy or liberal than anything else. <p>Not by me.&nbsp; I give her credit for putting her money where her mouth is.&nbsp; I was skeptical of her being named a UN Goodwill Ambassador at first but she has been an excellent choice.</p>

[walking joint]

<strong>FezPaul</strong> wrote:<br /><strong><font face="courier new,courier,monospace" size="2">Just imagine how pissed the people in his Will are.</font></strong> <p>i know..how will they be able to work out splitting up&nbsp;only around 9 billion dollars.</p>

[narc]

<hr color="cococo" align="left"></font><strong>Yerdaddy</strong> wrote:<br><strong>narc</strong> wrote:<br />Also, the philanthropy involved is mostly bullshit. He's just trying to avoid the massive estate tax hit that his relatives would take. ALSO, a lot of money is going to foundations owned by his relatives which they get completely tax free. Plus he gets nice PR out of this. But his motives certainly aren't pure. <p>Buffet actually has a long history of charitable giving regardless of tax benefits. In fact, when Bush's fist tax cuts for the rich were being run through congress, Buffet was a public opponent of them specifically because they benefitted his rich ass while hurting his $30K/year secretary. He described how it was his opinion that without the american system he would never be what he is today, and for that he felt he owed it to america to pay more in taxes rather than less. </p><p>The Gates foundation gets extremely high marks for efficiency and practicality of purposes. In fact they have used their celebrity status to bring publicity and thus aid to many issues, like malaria, which kill more people and bring more suffering than most more well-known issues. The Gates' are also personally involved in the issues in a way that get them labelled "tree-huggers" and "publicity-whores" by large segments of the population by actually travelling to poverty-stricken areas, getting involved in the issues, criticizing polititians and governments, and doing things that are, well, unforgivably liberal to much of america. And we all know it aint cool to be liberal.</p><p>I'm as distrustful of the rich as anyone, (and I curse Bill Gates' name every time I try to transfer my own fucking MP3 using someone else's computer), but these people, and those like them, deserve all the respect in the world. They've used their wealth to actually make the world a better place. </p><p>On a sidenote, I was working on an article about Somali refugees a few weeks ago and reading a UNHCR global funding report and in a list of major donors to the refugee agency around the world - which was mainly made up of rich countries, world bank, IMF, open society, etc. was Angelina Jolie. She had apparently just given over $40K to UNHCR in Egypt and probably the only publicity she got for it was the global funding report that I was probably the only one to ever read. And yet, for all her charitable work, she probably gets more accusations of being crazy or liberal than anything else. </p><p>First time I ever batched to a global funding report. And it was good.</p><hr color="cococo" align="left"><p></p>

He just doesn't want the government to have his money. And trust me, this is all just a tax shelter thing. This is why it actually pays for the incredibly wealthy when they die to pay out money to charities rather than their own relatives. I certainly respect Buffett as an investor and businessman. But not really as a philanthropist. Sorry.

[SatCam]

He just doesn't want the government to have his money.

Why should he? The money is better spent by the Gates family in Africa than on a war in Iraq that's getting no where.

[narc]

There's nothing wrong with not wanting the government to have your money. But I disagree with you completely. But personally I'd much rather spend $37 billion wasting scumbags in Iraq. There ain't no amount of money in the world that can fix what's gone wrong in Africa.

[FMJeff]

<strong>SatCam</strong> wrote:<br />He just doesn't want the government to have his money. Why should he? The money is better spent by the Gates family in Africa than on a war in Iraq that's getting no where. <p>If that, is indeed, how is money is to be spent. It basically comes down to this. Buffet said in a quote something along the lines of &quot;i don't believe in fortunes passed down from one generation to the next&quot;, yet leaves sizeable chunks of cash in the bank accounts of at least 3 organizations run by his children. </p><p>I'm sorry, but that's shady. Why not the Red Cross? Salvation Army? The NEA? I mean, just ONE of your billions might make a significant impact in the hands of those organizations. Why not invest in rebuilding New Orleans levees yourself? Or direct contributions to AIDS research, cancer research, homelessness, education? </p><p>Also, why make it a story? Yes its a lot of money, yes its newsworthy and I don't blame the media for printing it, but it seems like the last grand gesture of a dying billionaire to get some national attention, stick it to the government, set his kids up forever, and kiss Bill Gates' ass. </p>

[Recyclerz]

<p>He just doesn't want the government to have his money. And trust me, this is all just a tax shelter thing. </p><p>Warren Buffet on why the estate tax is a good thing</p><p><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="351" border="0"><tr height="17"><td width="351" height="17"><font face="Arial" size="2"><a href="http://newmexiken.com/archives/2006/02/007635.php">http://newmexiken.com/archives/2006/02/007635.php</a></font></td></tr></table></p><p>National Review Online humanoids hating on Buffet for supporting Estate Tax</p><p><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="351" border="0"><tr height="17"><td width="351" height="17"><font face="Arial" size="2"><a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/issue/berlau200408180838.asp">http://www.nationalreview.com/issue/berlau200408180838.asp</a></font></td></tr></table></p><p>Buffet on why the rich already have enough tax breaks</p><p><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="351" border="0"><tr height="17"><td width="351" height="17"><font face="Arial" size="2"><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0306-01.htm">http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0306-01.htm</a></font></td></tr></table></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Now Narc, if you had claimed it was the Waltons of Wal-Mart fame and&nbsp;fortune who were against the estate tax you would be correct.</p><p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2005-04-05-waltons-usat_x.htm">http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2005-04-05-waltons-usat_x.htm</a></p><p>As far as I'm concerned, Buffet and Gates are acting the way the ruling class should act - donating to causes they support that benefit the commonweal.&nbsp; I tug my forelock to them without hesitation. And I agree with their judgement that their family names over time will be better served by well-funded and well-run foundations rather than trust-fund skank grandchildren like a certain innkeeper family that we could name.</p>

[FMJeff]

<p>It has always been my opinion that the rich who lament about the poor yet still continue to live rich are fucking hypocrites. </p><p>He should've done this years ago and live happily with a couple of million dollars. I have no problem with that. But to hoard billions? You get no fucking respect from me. All those years he could've solved famine, disease, death, ignorance, illiteracy...all the people he could've helped...sat in a fucking bank accumulating interest...</p><p>nah im sorry, this is just horseshit...</p>

[Don Stugots]

P.diddy too.&nbsp; do something with your money besides fancy clothes and cars.&nbsp; they are not the true measure of a man.&nbsp;

[Recyclerz]

<strong>FMJeff</strong> wrote:<br /><p>It has always been my opinion that the rich who lament about the poor yet still continue to live rich are fucking hypocrites. </p><p>He should've done this years ago and live happily with a couple of million dollars. I have no problem with that. But to hoard billions? You get no fucking respect from me. All those years he could've solved famine, disease, death, ignorance, illiteracy...all the people he could've helped...sat in a fucking bank accumulating interest...</p><p>nah im sorry, this is just horseshit...</p><p>I'm not real comfortable to be in the position of defending billionaires but here&nbsp;I go&nbsp;anyway:</p><p>In both Buffet and Gates cases, &nbsp;the vast majority of their wealth has been tied up in the companies that they at least co-founded.&nbsp; Even though both are publicly traded, ownership of their shares has meant effective control of the firms; I could understand why both men wanted to keep the pimp hand. If they sold off or even donated much of their stock earlier they would have lost that control.&nbsp; At 75, Buffet is probably getting ready to cede control of his company, Gates is bailing out of Microsft much sooner than he had earlier indicated.&nbsp; </p><p>I don't understand the hate for these actions.&nbsp; This is a lot more than token donations just for the&nbsp; public acclaim (see Trump, Donald).&nbsp; There is no way these two could escape scrutiny with the disposition of their fortunes.&nbsp; I think they should be commended especially if they insist that the Gates Foundation is run as effectively as is claimed (See Yerdaddy's earlier post.)</p><p>[edit] But here is a guy who did it FM Jeff's way and tried (but failed) to keep his generosity on the down low:&nbsp; Charles Feeney</p><p><a href="http://www.time.com/time/special/moy/grove/runnerfeeney.html">http://www.time.com/time/special/moy/grove/runnerfeeney.html</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p>

<span class=post_edited>This message was edited by Recyclerz on 6-26-06 @ 4:31 PM</span>

[HBox]

<p>&nbsp;</p><strong>FMJeff</strong> wrote:<br /><p>It has always been my opinion that the rich who lament about the poor yet still continue to live rich are fucking hypocrites. </p><p>He should've done this years ago and live happily with a couple of million dollars. I have no problem with that. But to hoard billions? You get no fucking respect from me. All those years he could've solved famine, disease, death, ignorance, illiteracy...all the people he could've helped...sat in a fucking bank accumulating interest...</p><p>nah im sorry, this is just horseshit...</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Why does that example only apply to the super rich?
Why do you need that TV when people are starving? How could you
possibly spend any money on yourself with all the suffering in the
world? Aren't you then a hypocrit? By this standard, anyone who ever
did anything or spent anything for their own pleasure is a
hypocrit. <br /></p>

[FMJeff]

<strong>HBox</strong> wrote:<br /><p>&nbsp;</p><strong>FMJeff</strong> wrote:<br /><p>It has always been my opinion that the rich who lament about the poor yet still continue to live rich are fucking hypocrites. </p><p>He should've done this years ago and live happily with a couple of million dollars. I have no problem with that. But to hoard billions? You get no fucking respect from me. All those years he could've solved famine, disease, death, ignorance, illiteracy...all the people he could've helped...sat in a fucking bank accumulating interest...</p><p>nah im sorry, this is just horseshit...</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><font color="#000080"><font size="2">Why does that example only apply to the super rich? Why do you need that TV when people are starving? How could you possibly spend any money on yourself with all the suffering in the world? Aren't you then a hypocrit? By this standard, anyone who ever did anything or spent anything for their own pleasure is a hypocrit.</font></font> <br /></p><p>I figured this arguement would come up. It applies to the super-rich because thier net worth far exceeds the cost of a upper class lifestyle. I'm talking about lifestyle&nbsp;freedom. Right now, I am shackled to my debts...my home, my car, my family. I do not have the luxury to give away any of my money right now. I wish I did. Unfortunately, responsibilties to the people I love and the future people I will love take precedene over the pain and suffering of others. Whatever money I could spare would make very little difference in the grand scheme of things...a turkey baster droplet in the pond of human suffering. </p><p>Now, take a multi-million or multi-billion dollar fortune and you can really do some good work. The question really is, when does a fortune become too much for any one person to have? In my opinion, the day you can say you never have to worry about money ever again is the day you should start giving it away. </p><p>This has nothing to do with treating oneself. In fact, my point is everyone should have the opportunity to feel what it's like to treat oneself. </p>

[DarkHippie]

i used to work in the Charitable Giving department for one of Buffett's companies.&nbsp; You wouldn't believe how much money they gave away.&nbsp; He's also very good to his employees--threw us a big party every year (in addtion to christmas) just for working for him.

[FMJeff]

<strong>DarkHippie</strong> wrote:<br />i used to work in the Charitable Giving department for one of Buffett's companies.&nbsp; You wouldn't believe how much money they gave away.&nbsp; He's also very good to his employees--threw us a big party every year (in addtion to christmas) just for working for him. <p>Look, I don't know the guy, I'm sure he's super swell. I'm just saying all those years he could've liquidated at least HALF of that multi-billion dollar company and bought enough HIV cocktails to treat entire populations of a handful of african countries. I mean there's things you can do with that, man. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>1 billion dollars = thousands of kids who could never go to college enjoy a college education.</p><p>1 Billion dollars = textbooks for every school in the country. </p><p>When you have so much money you can't even concieve what that number is, you have too much. What is a billion to the average man? Can you even wrap your head around it? </p><p>Fucking Puffy spends&nbsp;3 million on a birthday party. Elton John spends 10 million+ on his wardrobe.</p><p>This isn't sustainable. People just can't throw away money like this and expect the world to be ok. It's fucking selfish and miserly. </p>

[HBox]

<p>&nbsp;</p><strong>FMJeff</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>HBox</strong> wrote:<br /><p> </p><strong>FMJeff</strong> wrote:<br /><p>It has always been my opinion that the rich who lament about the poor yet still continue to live rich are fucking hypocrites. </p><p>He should've done this years ago and live happily with a couple of million dollars. I have no problem with that. But to hoard billions? You get no fucking respect from me. All those years he could've solved famine, disease, death, ignorance, illiteracy...all the people he could've helped...sat in a fucking bank accumulating interest...</p><p>nah im sorry, this is just horseshit...</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><font color="#000080"><font size="2">Why does that example only apply to the super rich? Why do you need that TV when people are starving? How could you possibly spend any money on yourself with all the suffering in the world? Aren't you then a hypocrit? By this standard, anyone who ever did anything or spent anything for their own pleasure is a hypocrit.</font></font> <br /></p><p>I figured this arguement would come up. It applies to the super-rich because thier net worth far exceeds the cost of a upper class lifestyle. I'm talking about lifestyle freedom. Right now, I am shackled to my debts...my home, my car, my family. I do not have the luxury to give away any of my money right now. I wish I did. Unfortunately, responsibilties to the people I love and the future people I will love take precedene over the pain and suffering of others. Whatever money I could spare would make very little difference in the grand scheme of things...a turkey baster droplet in the pond of human suffering. </p><p>Now, take a multi-million or multi-billion dollar fortune and you can really do some good work. The question really is, when does a fortune become too much for any one person to have? In my opinion, the day you can say you never have to worry about money ever again is the day you should start giving it away. </p><p>This has nothing to do with treating oneself. In fact, my point is everyone should have the opportunity to feel what it's like to treat oneself. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Your concerns don't mean much of anything next to all the people starving to death. How can you spend money on broadband when people are freezing to death? How can you spend time surfing the web and posting on message boards when you could be volunteering for the Foodbank? It's an unreasonable position to enforce upon anybody.<br /></p><p>Gates and Buffet are giving away most of their money, almost all of it, to tackle some of the worst problems in the world. They are doign this willingly, of their own accord, out of a sense of social responsibility. What they are doing is unprecedented on their scale, and should not be mocked or dismissed.<br /></p><p>And as for you not making a difference. That's an easy escape. Because you can't feed a person for a year you'd deny them a meal for a day? When people focus on just the little they can do and give up, the biggest power of them all, the power of the masses, is lost and useless.<br /></p>

[torker]

<p>He should give it to the Chinese.&nbsp; </p><p><img height="242" src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y201/torker1313/bk.jpg" width="244" border="0" /></p>

[HBox]

<p>&nbsp;</p><strong>FMJeff</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>DarkHippie</strong> wrote:<br />i used to work in the Charitable Giving department for one of Buffett's companies. You wouldn't believe how much money they gave away. He's also very good to his employees--threw us a big party every year (in addtion to christmas) just for working for him. <p>Look, I don't know the guy, I'm sure he's super swell. I'm just saying all those years he could've liquidated at least HALF of that multi-billion dollar company and bought enough HIV cocktails to treat entire populations of a handful of african countries. I mean there's things you can do with that, man. </p><p> </p><p>1 billion dollars = thousands of kids who could never go to college enjoy a college education.</p><p>1 Billion dollars = textbooks for every school in the country. </p><p>When you have so much money you can't even concieve what that number is, you have too much. What is a billion to the average man? Can you even wrap your head around it? </p><p>Fucking Puffy spends 3 million on a birthday party. Elton John spends 10 million+ on his wardrobe.</p><p>This isn't sustainable. People just can't throw away money like this and expect the world to be ok. It's fucking selfish and miserly. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Liquidating half his company? Yeah, and then he would essentially cripple it, he'd make less money in the long run, put into question the survival of the company and in the end he'd contribute less money overall to charity. He has responsibilities to his fellow shareholders and the employees of his company to keep the company running. He made his money, and now that he's retiring and is able to have access to the billions of dollars he's worth on paper, he's giving it away.<br /></p>

[FMJeff]

<p>Oh stop it. If Bill Gates made 40K with a mortgage and kids, he wouldn't give away shit. Neither would Buffet. They do it because they can, it's easy and there's no sacrifice. You honestly think Bill's feeling the pinch? Think he's sitting there looking at the cable bill and the electric bill wondering which one to pay next? Stop preaching. In a capitalist society, it is the responsibility of those in power financially to help the poor. Communism, bless it's heart, was a great idea but it never acknowledged the fundamental truth of man and that was its downfall...that people, in&nbsp;a position&nbsp;to revel in excess,&nbsp;&nbsp;are naturally power hungry, corrupt and greedy...there's no denying it. </p><p>The reason we don't have the money is because they hoarded it. ONE MAN has over 70 billion dollars. It's insane.&nbsp;It should be an equal playing ground, but its not..and it never will be...&nbsp;</p><p>It's not unreasonable to ask people for money when they have more than they could possibly spend on themselves in a lifetime. </p>

[FMJeff]

<strong>HBox</strong> wrote:<br /><p>&nbsp;</p><strong>FMJeff</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>DarkHippie</strong> wrote:<br />i used to work in the Charitable Giving department for one of Buffett's companies. You wouldn't believe how much money they gave away. He's also very good to his employees--threw us a big party every year (in addtion to christmas) just for working for him. <p>Look, I don't know the guy, I'm sure he's super swell. I'm just saying all those years he could've liquidated at least HALF of that multi-billion dollar company and bought enough HIV cocktails to treat entire populations of a handful of african countries. I mean there's things you can do with that, man. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>1 billion dollars = thousands of kids who could never go to college enjoy a college education.</p><p>1 Billion dollars = textbooks for every school in the country. </p><p>When you have so much money you can't even concieve what that number is, you have too much. What is a billion to the average man? Can you even wrap your head around it? </p><p>Fucking Puffy spends 3 million on a birthday party. Elton John spends 10 million+ on his wardrobe.</p><p>This isn't sustainable. People just can't throw away money like this and expect the world to be ok. It's fucking selfish and miserly. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><font color="#000080"><font size="2">Liquidating half his company? Yeah, and then he would essentially cripple it, he'd make less money in the long run, put into question the survival of the company and in the end he'd contribute less money overall to charity. He has responsibilities to his fellow shareholders and the employees of his company to keep the company running. He made his money, and now that he's retiring and is able to have access to the billions of dollars he's worth on paper, he's giving it away.</font></font><br /></p><p>Why not retire when he hit 30 billion? I'm glad he was able to enjoy a lifetime of insane wealth and suddenly realizes having 75 bil isn't very easy to spend when you're dead.</p>

[Sheeplovr]

<p>37?</p><p>try not to donate any money on the way to your car&nbsp;</p>

[FMJeff]

<p>I admit though, I am talking out of my ass, I really did no research into the philanthropic history of the man, so he may very well liquidated large sums of money throughout his life, i don't know. I just could never see myself letting it get that big. </p><p>Again, this is really just a personal viewpoint and not an attack on the man himself. I just don't think people should be that rich. </p>

[HBox]

<p>You're the one who's preaching, chastising Buffett and Gates for giving merely tens of BILLIONS of dollars! I'm not sitting here calling them hypocrits. Where is this line? If a guy buys a yacht that's OK but if he has a private jet that's too luxurious and he should have used that money for charity? If a guy buys a $800,000 home that's OK but if it was a million dollar house then its too much? Again, where is this line?</p><p>It's easy to sit here on a message board and say that it should be no problem giving away BILLIONS of dollars. A billion dollars is a billion dollars no matter how rich you are.</p><p>As for Gates not giving to charity if he were just some middle class guy. No one knows that. But the fact remains that there are plenty of people almost as rich as these two who aren't doing anything even remotely like these two. That they are so generous as opposed to their conetmporaries counts for a lot.</p>

[HBox]

<p>&nbsp;</p><strong>FMJeff</strong> wrote:<br /><p>I admit though, I am talking out of my ass, I really did no research into the philanthropic history of the man, so he may very well liquidated large sums of money throughout his life, i don't know. I just could never see myself letting it get that big. </p><p>Again, this is really just a personal viewpoint and not an attack on the man himself. I just don't think people should be that rich. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It's not hoarding. Just about everything he was worth was in stock. He built the company up and as it got bigger and more successful and more profitable the value of the stock he held skyrocketed. If he up and all of a sudden sold it all at once it would send the stock price of the company in the toilet and destroy it. </p><p>And everything he is giving is stock. And he has to jump through hoops just to sell it off. What he announced today was that he was giving away 37 billion of his 44 billion worth. And that's just what he announced today for the Gates foundation, it doesn't mean that the other 7 billion isn't going to other charities.<br /></p>

[Bulldogcakes]

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><strong>narc</strong> wrote:<br />Also, the philanthropy involved is mostly bullshit. He's just trying to avoid the massive estate tax hit that his relatives would take. ALSO, a lot of money is going to foundations owned by his relatives which they get completely tax free. Plus he gets nice PR out of this. But his motives certainly aren't pure.<p>&nbsp;</p><p>If you had a choice of giving your money to people who are trying to help others, or giving it to the shitheads in Washington, what would YOU do?</p><p>Most of the super rich set up trust funds which set up their heirs for generations to come. Which then turns them into useless coke sniffing shmucks who buy little dogs and make green porn videos that get distributed online. He's very aware of this, and wants his money to do some good for people who need it (unlike his children). BRAVO BUFFETT!&nbsp;</p><blockquote /><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>BTW-The estate tax is fucking criminal. Dont get me started on that issue.&nbsp;</p>

[HBox]

<p><span class="postbody">BTW-The estate tax is fucking criminal. Dont get me started on that issue.</span></p><p>I agree. It's not nearly high enough.<br /></p>

[Bulldogcakes]

<p> </p><strong>narc</strong> wrote:<p> </p><p> </p>He just doesn't want the government to have his money. And trust me, this is all just a tax shelter thing. This is why it actually pays for the incredibly wealthy when they die to pay out money to charities rather than their own relatives. I certainly respect Buffett as an investor and businessman. But not really as a philanthropist. Sorry.<p> </p><p>He has paid taxes on everything he has bought, traded, and sold his entire life. Now he has to give the sanctimonious scumbags in Washington half of whats left? Fuck them. I trust his judgment with his resources more than ANYONE in Washington. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p> </p>

<span class=post_edited>This message was edited by Bulldogcakes on 6-26-06 @ 6:42 PM</span>

[FUNKMAN]

<strong>narc</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>Yerdaddy</strong> wrote:<br /><strong>narc</strong> wrote:<br />Also, the philanthropy involved is mostly bullshit. He's just trying to avoid the massive estate tax hit that his relatives would take. ALSO, a lot of money is going to foundations owned by his relatives which they get completely tax free. Plus he gets nice PR out of this. But his motives certainly aren't pure. <p>Buffet actually has a long history of charitable giving regardless of tax benefits. In fact, when Bush's fist tax cuts for the rich were being run through congress, Buffet was a public opponent of them specifically because they benefitted his rich ass while hurting his $30K/year secretary. He described how it was his opinion that without the american system he would never be what he is today, and for that he felt he owed it to america to pay more in taxes rather than less. </p><p>The Gates foundation gets extremely high marks for efficiency and practicality of purposes. In fact they have used their celebrity status to bring publicity and thus aid to many issues, like malaria, which kill more people and bring more suffering than most more well-known issues. The Gates' are also personally involved in the issues in a way that get them labelled &quot;tree-huggers&quot; and &quot;publicity-whores&quot; by large segments of the population by actually travelling to poverty-stricken areas, getting involved in the issues, criticizing polititians and governments, and doing things that are, well, unforgivably liberal to much of america. And we all know it aint cool to be liberal.</p><p>I'm as distrustful of the rich as anyone, (and I curse Bill Gates' name every time I try to transfer my own fucking MP3 using someone else's computer), but these people, and those like them, deserve all the respect in the world. They've used their wealth to actually make the world a better place. </p><p>On a sidenote, I was working on an article about Somali refugees a few weeks ago and reading a UNHCR global funding report and in a list of major donors to the refugee agency around the world - which was mainly made up of rich countries, world bank, IMF, open society, etc. was Angelina Jolie. She had apparently just given over $40K to UNHCR in Egypt and probably the only publicity she got for it was the global funding report that I was probably the only one to ever read. And yet, for all her charitable work, she probably gets more accusations of being crazy or liberal than anything else. </p><p>First time I ever batched to a global funding report. And it was good.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>He just doesn't want the government to have his money. And trust me, this is all just a tax shelter thing. This is why it actually pays for the incredibly wealthy when they die to pay out money to charities rather than their own relatives. I certainly respect Buffett as an investor and businessman. But not really as a philanthropist. Sorry. <p>i saw Warren Buffet interviewd with the Gates's today (i believe on CNN) and Warren said that after age 35 he did not have to pay taxes due to the 'shelters' and that could be passed on from generation to generation...</p>

[Sheeplovr]

<p><span class="postbody">BTW-The estate tax is fucking criminal. Dont get me started on that issue.</span></p><p>please get&nbsp; started</p><p>why
should paris hilton not pay taxes on money she didnt earn? if her
parents died money in stocks and bonds that would of been taxes paid
upon if they were sold to someone and not just past down <br />
</p>

[Bulldogcakes]

<p>&nbsp;</p><strong>STUGOTS1</strong> wrote:<br />P.diddy too. do something with your money besides fancy clothes and cars. they are not the true measure of a man. <p>&nbsp;</p><p>As gross as that is, someone has to make, deliver, and sell those clothes and cars. And if you want to take away his ability to spend so much, all of those people lose their jobs. Be thankful for guys like him, one of those jobs might belong to someone you know. <br /></p><blockquote /><p>&nbsp;</p>

[narc]

I know someone quite well who used to work on the financial end of things for one of Buffett's companies. There are few people more miserly or driven by the need for more money than this guy, which is why I refuse to see this as anything more than a PR coup/I don't want to pay taxes thing. <br><p>
Bulldogcakes, I agree. I don't want to pay taxes either, and I certainly don't blame him for not wanting to either. But there's a few things that are being glossed over here: all his kids are older and independently wealthy themselves (and there's not much risk of them turning into cokeheads), he gave a great deal of his money to not only the Gateseses, but to his kids charities so nobody has to pay taxes on it, and other people that would have stood to gain more are dead. <br><p>
I understand lots of you want to have your great liberal conquering hero, but this guy is NOT it. Regardless of how he feels about the estate tax. It's called billionaire's guilt. Buffett, like Gates, is a long time democrat, certainly not for any political reasons, but largely because he can afford to believe in broader social welfare. He's certainly no George Soros, both he and Gates give plenty of money to the Republicans as well. And $37 billion is still a drop in a lake sized bucket when it comes to Africa.

[SatCam]

<strong>narc</strong> wrote:<br>I know someone quite well who used to work on the financial end of things for one of Buffett's companies. There are few people more miserly or driven by the need for more money than this guy, which is why I refuse to see this as anything more than a PR coup/I don't want to pay taxes thing. <br><p>
Bulldogcakes, I agree. I don't want to pay taxes either, and I certainly don't blame him for not wanting to either. But there's a few things that are being glossed over here: all his kids are older and independently wealthy themselves (and there's not much risk of them turning into cokeheads), he gave a great deal of his money to not only the Gateseses, but to his kids charities so nobody has to pay taxes on it, and other people that would have stood to gain more are dead. <br><p>
I understand lots of you want to have your great liberal conquering hero, but this guy is NOT it. Regardless of how he feels about the estate tax. It's called billionaire's guilt. Buffett, like Gates, is a long time democrat, certainly not for any political reasons, but largely because he can afford to believe in broader social welfare. He's certainly no George Soros, both he and Gates give plenty of money to the Republicans as well. And $37 billion is still a drop in a lake sized bucket when it comes to Africa.<p></p>

I don't understand why you have to make this into a personal "billionaire guilt" thing. I don't care who the guy is. It's $37,000,000,000 going towards a good cause. Do you think the money is better spent with the government and his kids?

Also, $37 billion can put a significant dent in Africa's problems (especially coupled with the Gates Foundation current $29 billion endowment). Do you have any better ideas of what to do with it?

[narc]

Give it to me?<br><p>
Honestly, I think I would have had more respect for him if he spent a lot of it in his hometown of Omaha for various charitable concerns. I'm a big "think globally, act locally" type of guy. I know there are so many great programs domestically that are worthy of such funds that could do a lot better with it than pissing it away in Africa. The problem with Africa is that any resources provided by charity can be trumped by famine/civil war/AIDS at any moment. Think about all those relief shipments in Somalia that just never got there because they got hijacked in order to wage more of a war of attrition. In my opinion what is needed in Africa is political and agrarian reform on a massive scale, and I actually think that to the extent they receive handouts, it lessens the ability to actually effectuate such reforms.

[CuzBum]

<p>Jokes on Gates, he said doll-hairs, not dollars!</p>

[FMJeff]

<strong>narc</strong> wrote:<br /><p>&nbsp;It's called billionaire's guilt. </p><p>Oh my g-d, that's exactly it. That's exactly what I had in mind but I couldnt come up with a label for it. </p>

[WRESTLINGFAN]

I would love to have about 20 of Buffetts berkshire hathaway class A shares. Closed at 91,500 today. This stock IPO'd at 200 back in the early 80s

[Bulldogcakes]

<p>&nbsp;</p><strong>HBox</strong> wrote:<br /><p>&nbsp;</p><span class="postbody">BTW-The estate tax is fucking criminal. Dont get me started on that issue.</span><p>&nbsp;</p><p><font color="Navy"><font size="2">I agree. It's not nearly high enough.</font></font><br /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Wow, there's a real &quot;Profile in Courage&quot;. Raise the other guys taxes and spend it on me.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I'll tell you why its criminal. He starts a business. He succeeds because of his talent and wisdom. </p><p>He then</p><p>Pays taxes when he buys a business</p><p>Pays taxes to run his business</p><p>Pays regulatory &quot;fees&quot; and &quot;fines&quot; to operate his business&nbsp;</p><p>Pays Capital Gains taxes when he sells his stock&nbsp;</p><p>Pays Federal income tax on every dollar he earns</p><p>Pays State income tax on every dollar he earns&nbsp;</p><p>Pays Corporate taxes on every dollar his business makes</p><p>Pays Property taxes on his house</p><p>Pays sales taxes on everything he buys&nbsp;</p><p>Pays taxes on his phone bill</p><p>Pays taxes on his cable bill</p><p>Pays water and sewage taxes for his house&nbsp;</p><p>Pays sales taxes when he buys a car<br /><br />Pays taxes when he puts gas in his car</p><p>Pays parking tickets when he parks his car <br /></p><p>Pays sales tax when he sells his car</p><p>Pays taxes when he gets on a plane to go on vacation</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>And then, after paying taxes on everything he did his entire life,&nbsp; he gets walloped with a <a href="http://www.kiplinger.com/personalfinance/features/archives/2003/04/rules.html?" target="_self" title="47% "><font size="5">47%</font> </a>tax on everything he managed to save over the course of his life and hoped to pass along to his children. <br /> </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>They never earned a dime of this money, now they want to spend half of it. &nbsp;</p><p>The GREED of the scumbags in Washington is endless.&nbsp; <br /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote /><p>&nbsp;</p>

[FMJeff]

Yeah I pay all of those too and I don't have 75 billion dollars so don't expect me to cry any tears for his life long ass fucking from federal taxes. We all get ass fucked.