Wealthy Americans Prove Pope Francis’ Point by Threatening Economic Blackmail

[struggle4progress]

By: Hrafnkell Haraldsson more from Hrafnkell Haraldsson
Wednesday, January, 1st, 2014, 7:23 am

... Jesus himself, the poor Jew from small-town Galilee, had nothing at all good to say about the rich. And, in point of fact, he said that in order to follow him, a rich person must give up everything they own (Mark 10:21; Matt. 19:21; Luke 18:22). This is hardly a message rich people at any time in history have wanted to hear.

So Home Depot founder Ken Langone, a Catholic, was on shaky theological ground when, on Monday, he complained to CNBC that the Pope is being mean to rich Americans because unlike rich people in other countries, American rich people are benefactors. Langone, who is worth an estimated $2.1 billion, says there is a “vast difference between the pope’s experience in Argentina and how we are in America.” CNBC even helpfully cites the right wing American Enterprise Institute to say that “In places like Argentina, what they call free enterprise is a combination of socialism and crony capitalism.”

I’m not sure which is worse: CNBC citing the AEI or failing to point out that the AEI is a conservative think tank and therefore disinclined to say anything negative about American capitalism.

Langone’s lament is born of this same denialism: that the Pope’s focus on economic inequality and the poor is off-putting to what he calls “capitalist benefactors,” and he cites the case of a “potential seven-figure donor” for the restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, who has been made hesitant by, as CNBC puts it, “statements from the pope criticizing market economies as ‘exclusionary,’ urging the rich to give more to the poor and criticizing a ‘culture of prosperity’ that leads some to become ‘incapable of feeling compassion for the poor’” ...

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/01/01/wealthy-americans-prove-pope-francis-point-threatening-economic-blackmail.html

[annabanana]

1. "By their works . . . ."

What a bunch of spoiled whiners those plutocrats are..

[secondvariety]

2. The Pope is "picking" on the rich.

Cry me a river.

[jtuck004]

3. He told the Cardinal to "Be Careful"?

Be funny if his next board meeting got a plague of locusts...

So they don't build any more cathedrals - ok, so church winds up being held in the homes and villages of these people Pope Francis says are important. They start talking to them about why a few million rich people are able to push 300 million people, who aren't doing nearly as well, around. Maybe they get them thinking about how they could help each other and mitigate the harm the wealthy, by taking the assets of their lives from them in finance charges, are doing to all of us. Maybe they help people set up their own hardware stores and help each other with better jobs in their neighborhood than they might get at Homer.

Wonder who has more standing with Catholics. Langy-boy or the Pope?

Overall, I can sure see this as a win-win for the Catholics and The People.

Hey, Langone. Buh bye.

[JDPriestly]

5. I was planning to go to Home Depot next week. Think I'll buy my hardware and gardening supplies

elsewhere. We have a local hardware store.

[TxDemChem]

6. We were planning on going there soon as well.

I'm with you. There's a lovely local shop 9 miles away. We'll go there instead.

[RKP5637]

8. +1, n/t

[RKP5637]

7. +1, n/t

[Jackpine Radical]

13. BTW, John Menard, the owner of Menards, is just as big a capitalist pig

as any of the rest of them. His headquarters is in the town where i live, and the locals are well versed in true stories of the pettiness, vindictiveness, and all-around low character of the guy.

[dotymed]

34. Ironically, as a Union Carpenter

I helped set-up the interiors of most of the Menard's and Home Depots when they arrived in Indianapolis.
I guess they realized that with a superior trained and well paid Union doing the jobs correctly, they saved money in the long run.
Lowe's was the only chain home improvement store that used their own non-Union crews.
Too bad they don't realize that with Union sales associates (well paid), their stores would run much smoother.

[groundloop]

16. Ken Langone isn't associated with Home Depot any more is he?

I just did a quick search and it appears that he's not associated with Home Depot any more. What I found was that he arranged financing for the Home Depot IPO and sat on it's board for 30 years (which would have him leaving the Board around 2008).

[niyad]

20. no surprise here, but home depot opposes raising minimum wage

Meanwhile, any increase AT ALL in minimum wage has been vigorously opposed. It should also be noted in this context that Home Depot was one of those corporations opposing, with Walmart, Washington D.C.’s Large Retailer Accountability Act, which would have required retailers to pay employees a minimum wage of $12.50 an hour, hardly a princely sum or even, as it is often called, a “living wage,” particularly when stood alongside a its CEO’s hundred million plus.

[valerief]

12. I guess we know who the actual First Estate is now. Well, unless Langone

is outside the estates (monarch? God?).

[QuestForSense]

4. Tell it to the French Revolution, Ken.

[cap]

9. Ken langone should be careful himself

A catholic boycott of Home Depot would cut into his earnings

[Theyletmeeatcake2]

10. Re; capitalist benefactor & potential seven figure donor.....

Fuck him or her if they think that way ....don't they get tax deductions anyway if they give ?? I'd be more impressed if they gave their time anyway...

[stopbush]

17. And only a "potential" donor, at that.

It's not like the Pope is pissing off an existing donor. Now, he's got to "be careful" lest he offend a person who has yet to give him a dime.

Sounds like the crap we Ds always hear from the RW whenever we strike a nerve: "you better be careful or that could backfire on you."

[weissmam]

11. I gess all the people around him don't tell him he sounds like a

whiney two year old

[DallasNE]

14. Entitlement Of The Rich

Here he is echoing the same thing Romney was saying about the 47%. It seems to be a disease that inflicts the rich. They worked hard to create the form of crony capitalism that so benefits them while playing the part of Scrooge to perfection.

[bemildred]

15. That's what they do to everybody. nt

[Rozlee]

18. So of course, Kenny Boy goes whining to Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

The well-fed face of the religious right wing in the US. As an atheist and lapsed Catholic, I like the way Francis is shaking up conservative sensibilities, although I won't give him any real props until he makes actual reforms toward equality for women and gays in the Church and works toward easing the Church's stance on birth control. But, I'd be tempted to kiss his feet if he kicked Dolan out on his keister. Dolan has done more to besmirch the church's reputation by his cover-up of the child sex abuse scandals and protection of abusive priests than any other religious figure, plus he's been at the vanguard of the Church's movement against reproductive choice and other liberal social reforms. It would send shock waves throughout both the conservative Catholic and conservative evangelical milieu if Francis reprimanded or removed Dolan. If Francis does this, I might even buy his T-shirt. It would be like him dropping a house on the Wicked Witch of the West.

[blkmusclmachine]

19. Not to worry. The CONservatives are rewriting the Bible to suit their personal, rightwing agenda:

http://conservapedia.com/Conservative_Bible_Project

[Patiod]

25. I had seen this on FB and assumed it was an Onion-like parody

Yikes. I read the whole entry just to enjoy The Crazy. They see a liberal behind every bush.

They even blame liberals for using "casting lots" in the Bible instead of "gambling". Because people from the Casino/Gambling industry who push the word "gaming" in place of "gambling" are liberals, right?

[zeemike]

21. Expecting them to change is like

Expecting a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.
Greed is like a drug, you can never get enough and you must always protect your stash.

The Power of Gold.

The story is told of the power of gold and its lure on the unsuspecting
It glitters and shines, it badgers and blinds
And constantly needs protecting
Balance the cost of the soul you lost with the dreams you lightly sold
Are you under...the power of gold
The letters and calls got you climbing the walls
And everyone wants a favor
They beg to remind you of times left behind you
But you know the past is a loser
The face you're wearing is different now
And the days run hot and cold
Are you under...the power of gold
You're a creature of habit, run like a rabbit
Scared of a fear you can't name
Your own paranoia is looming before you
And nobody thinks that it's a game
Balance the cost of the soul you lost
With the dreams you lightly sold
Then tell me that you're free of the power of gold
The power of gold
The women are lovely, the wine is superb
But there's something about the song that disturbs you

[Divernan]

22. Bunch of greedy, hypocritical CINOs - Catholics In Name Only

I have a niece who was divorced; laid off from a management level job at a major corporation; her ex-husband lost his job and couldn't make child support payments - home was foreclosed on. Her Dad (my brother) died nearly 20 years ago. His widow had gone through nearly all of her savings helping her daughter and grandchildren. Last summer, niece and her kids ended up in a homeless shelter.

I retired in 2003 and my retirement savings got wiped out in 2008, & I struggle with medical costs, but I sent a check to my sister-in-law to take her grandkids shopping for back-to-school shoes, jackets and supplies. Meanwhile, my niece had gotten 2 part-time, minimum wage jobs, one of which was scrubbing out U-Haul Rental trucks and vans when they were returned to the dealership - in blistering hot summer weather. The air-conditioning on her old car had died.

So I called my younger brother to advise him of the situation, with the specific request that he offer to pay for car repairs. He flat out refused. His reason? Helping the poor only enables them - they all need to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. I don't think this is what the Jesuits taught him at his private high school or Boston College.

Younger brother is the head of his own law firm, in his own professional building - all initially financed by gifts from my Mom. This has enabled him to become a millionaire many, many times over. He has a country estate with an outdoor heated pool, a basketball court, and a custom-designed, two story "barn" his wife and her artsy friends use for their projects in scrap-booking, decoupage, etc. This Christmas, as per usual, he flew his wife, adult children, their spouses, and his grandchildren (13 people total) to St. John's, US Virgin Islands for an idyllic, 10 day tropical holiday at a leased, large private estate, also with pool. He'd previously told me that he strongly disapproved of Occupy Wall Street protestors, and was absolutely shocked and horrified when some union workers at Sea-Tac airport in Seattle were getting their minimum wage raised to $15 an hour.

So what happened to turn this man, whose grandfather was a coal miner, and whose family would never have made it to being middle class without the unions, and whose family were all life-long Democrats - even an uncle who was state Democratic party chairman - what happened to turn him into this heartless, greedy self-centered, smug, CINO prick? Great wealth, enabled by a grasping, greedy, lazy wife.

Decades ago, he gave a stirring eulogy at our brother's funeral - emphasizing what joy our brother had received from his wonderful wife and two daughters. Since then, he makes no effort to keep in direct contact with them - used to ask me how they were, but stopped that once I told him how tough they were having it financially. It would break both my parents' hearts to see his callous indifference.

The good news is that my gutsy niece has gotten a full time job, with benefits, working for a Catholic charities relief group helping immigrants. Probably pays a third of what her corporate job paid her but she is happy and proud of the work she does. She found a house to rent, so no more shelter. I admire her strength of character tremendously.

My brother continues to lead a life centered around whatever gives him pleasure - lots of golf outings, travel - oh, and his wife posted a picture of the 6 foot plus metal sculpture of a dinosaur he bought to add a whimsical touch to one of their estate gardens. Doesn't that just warm your heart?

[skepticscott]

27. No True Catholic, eh?

And are Catholics who use birth control or have extramarital sex CINOs too? Are Catholics who think abortion and same-sex marriage should be legal (like many DU Catholics) CINOs? Is any "cafeteria Catholic", who picks and chooses what parts of Catholic doctrine they will believe and adhere to and what parts they won't, deserving of your scorn?

[Divernan]

32. My post is about greedy rich who ignore the poor & Jesus' teachings on same.

Where are YOU coming from? There is not one single reference to birth control, extramarital sex, abortion or same-sex marriage in my post. After 16 years of formal Catholic education, I personally am agnostic and happen to support the use of birth control, freedom of choice re abortion and same sex marriage. Very curious how & why you slipped extramarital sex in there. I'm well aware of cafeteria Catholics - was one myself until I left the Church. But I never, NEVER, saw or heard any Catholic try to slip extra-marital sex into the cafeteria selection.
Basically my point is that great wealth corrupts. Try to focus. Try to keep up. If you want to talk about those other topics, start your own thread or respond to a thread dealing with those topics.

Returning to the topic of greed & the teachings of Jesus, I quote Will Pitt:
More than a million people lost their unemployment benefits today, because Supply-Side Jesus says helping the needy is no longer the Christian thing to do. By way of contrast:
Deut. 15 : 7. If there is a poor man among you, one of your brothers, in any of the towns of the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.

Lev. 19 : 19 Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger.

1 John 3 : 17 But if someone who is supposed to be a Christian has money enough to live well, and sees a brother in need, and won't help him--how can God's love be within him?

Prov. 14 : 31 Anyone who oppresses the poor is insulting God who made them. To help the poor is to honor God.

Prov. 21 : 13 He who shuts his ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in his own time of need.

Luke 3 : 11 "If you have two coats," he replied, "give one to the poor. If you have extra food, give it away to those who are hungry."
2 Cor. 9 : 9 It is as the Scriptures say: "The godly man gives generously to the poor. His good deeds will be an honor to him forever."

Isa. 58 : 7 I want you to share your food with the hungry and bring right into your own homes those who are helpless, poor, and destitute. Clothe those who are cold, and don't hide from relatives who need your help

Luke 6 : 20-21. Blessed are you who are poor, for yours in the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

Prov. 22 : 9 He who is generous will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor.

Ezek. 22 : 29,31. "The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice... Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads," declares the Lord GOD.

James 5 : 1-6. Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. ...Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and with you have withheld, cries out against you; and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

[skepticscott]

35. YOU specifically branded certain people as CINOs, not me

"Catholics in Name Only". If your "point" is simply that "great wealth corrupts", why bring anyone's Catholicism into the argument at all? Apparently that smear has some special meaning for you, apart from anything in the Bible or anything that Jesus allegedly said, because the teachings of Jesus are not equivalent to Catholic doctrine.

If you're going to raise the issue of whether certain people are REAL Catholics (as you did, as the focus of your post), as opposed to simply followers of Jesus's teachings, then it's you, and not me, that has made the issue of why people ignoring some parts of Catholic doctrine (which does teach that extramarital sex is wrong, as you're well aware) are CINOs, but not those ignoring other parts, relevant to the discussion.

Now...try to focus, and answer the questions I posed without further dodging and dancing.

[DallasNE]

36. Stop Being So Petty And Obnoxious n/t

[skepticscott]

37. Talk to the poster

Who led off with "Bunch of greedy, hypocritical CINOs - Catholics In Name Only" about being "petty and obnoxious". They raised the point that was an insult to many Catholics, including a lot of DU Catholics, not me.

And if you'd like to contribute something to the discussion other than insults, feel free. I won't be holding my breath, though.

[Divernan]

39. Thank you Dallas NE

There's no rational discussion with this one. Happy New Year!

[skepticscott]

40. You apparently thought so until

your statement about CINOs was exposed as mean, nasty indefensible nonsense. But what you seem to be acknowledging now is that there is no way you can have a rational discussion about your post without admitting that. Not surprised that you're running away from it instead.

Tell us again what gives YOU the right to declare who is a real Catholic and who isn't.

[Divernan]

41. Very funny. I'm running away from you like King Arthur from the Black Knight!

BLACK KNIGHT: Come here!

ARTHUR: What are you going to do, bleed on me?

BLACK KNIGHT: I'm invincible!

ARTHUR: You're a looney.

BLACK KNIGHT: The Black Knight always triumphs! Have at you! Come on, then.

[whop]

[ARTHUR chops the BLACK KNIGHT's last leg off]

BLACK KNIGHT: Oh? All right, we'll call it a draw.

ARTHUR: Come, Patsy.

BLACK KNIGHT: Oh. Oh, I see. Running away, eh? You yellow bastards! Come back here and take what's coming to you. I'll bite your legs off!

[skepticscott]

42. Nice try

The only problem is, you're the one without an intellectual leg to stand on. As this whole post rather lamely attempted to distract from.

Focus. Keep up (as you rather condescendingly told me to). Answer the questions I posed, or be honest and admit you can't.

[penndragon69]

23. This is not Argentina...

In America we Socialize the losses of the rich and Privatize
the wealth (to the Rich)
Nope, this is not Argentina, it's called AMERICA.

[skepticscott]

24. Not sure how this became "Pope Francis' point"

The injustices of gross inequality of wealth and the perils of capitalism have been pointed out by many, for many centuries, including many on this site in more recent years. Good for Francis for agreeing, but no one should pretend that this is anything special for him.

[Patiod]

28. Because it's coming from a source that rich Catholics had thought was "safe"

But then again, I had a super-Catholic cousin who was downright obsessed with abortion and strongly in favor of the death penalty. (Picture the dad in "The Family Guy" - he looked exactly like that)

When he quoted the pope (at the time) about abortion, I said "so I guess you agree with his strong stand against the death penalty?" he backpedaled furiously, saying "he doesn't understand out situation in the US."

[skepticscott]

30. Why would they think that?

It's not like the last two popes haven't also spoken out in favor of the poor.

[mountain grammy]

26. CBS, striving to become as "fair and balanced" as Fox.

This is a very good article. I hope everyone takes the time to read it all.

[Laelth]

29. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[BeyondGeography]

33. Well, it IS in a struggling neighborhood

Spot on. Welcome to DU.

[skepticscott]

38. Well, it's probably as much a tax deduction

as it is actual charity.

[PeoViejo]

43. Cathedrals are for the Rich and well-connected.

The poor and homeless can pray elsewhere.



Francis should have the Cathedral torn down and use the property to benefit the needy.

$180 Million for renovations is money best spent elsewhere.