Buffett just now on CNBC "We (the rich) are waging class warfare and our soldiers are the lobbyists"

[banned from Kos]

pretty damn good quote, I say.

The man so rich he can tell the truth and remain untouchable.

[OneGrassRoot]

1. I'm so conflicted about this.

First, I'm one who feels OWS is (or should be) about being against a SYSTEM that enables and perpetuates such obscene inequality, not the individuals themselves unless they are actively trying to subvert the system for their own gain (Koch Bros).

That said, there are many like Mr. Buffett who freely admit the system works in their favor and want to be taxed at a higher rate.

Their charities are all well and good, but we need a systemic change or the charities are simply a Band-Aid.

I'm conflicted because, while I appreciate Mr. Buffett and other wealthy people speaking up in support of OWS, the reality is that their bank accounts continue to grow as they speak, while suffering grows for more and more people.

What can they DO RIGHT NOW to actively support OWS and a change in the system?

Hire lobbyists tasked to promote OWS's principles in DC??? I want to see them DO something, but what, I really don't know.

:shrug:

[banned from Kos]

3. Good thought provoking question. I don't know what else he can do.

He just called for the ultra-wealthy's tax rate to double.

That is pretty significant.

[PETRUS]

8. Yes, the problem is the system, not bad apples.

A witch hunt won't change anything. People who have violated the law (large scale financial fraud, high-level war criminals, etc.) should be prosecuted, though.

Also, while many charities do indeed provide essential services, more than a few of the foundations funded by deep-pocketed 1%ers are at least partially influence-peddling cloaked in do-gooder outfits. And it would be dishonest to overlook the fact that the system that funneled huge sums into the hands of a few - enabling them to engage in high-profile philanthropy - is the very same system that creates such desperate need.

[OneGrassRoot]

9. Well said. n/t

[MedicalAdmin]

10. Very well said.

To very loosely translate from the Japanese:

"the enemy is the system, not the people." Miyamoto Misashi.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Actually by speaking out

they are actually helping as they help to change story lines about the persecuted one percent. They will be seen, (rightfully so by that crowd), as traitors ot their class.

Their voice, no pun, is worth more than a thousand stories I could write, and it has all to do with the system.

Now don't get me wrong... a few also understand that we either have peaceful change or heads might roll, and I mean actual heads.

[deadinsider]

15. Excellent, excellent post n\t

[Overseas]

2. K&R.

[Tansy_Gold]

4. He can afford to mouth platitudes

because he's an enabler of the rest of the rich.

Pay no attention to him. he's a liar and a manipulator and when you start thinking he's all right and he's a good man, then you forget how evil all the rest of them are, and he's really just like them.

Is he giving away his wealth? Is he stopping his investment companies? Is he doing anything to stop the rape?

All talk, no action.
All hat, no cattle.
Take your pick.

[banned from Kos]

5. you are seriously misguided. Buffett is telling the truth - not a "platitude"

and he IS giving away all his wealth (for vaccines and education to aid the poor)

[Tansy_Gold]

6. He is enabling his own system, his own cronies.

His own stockholders.


He's BS.

[unblock]

7. it's not clear how to be a saint when the entire system is completely corrupt.

buffett at least is calling for higher taxes on the rich, calling out lobbyists, willing his kids only about $5 million each (a staggering sum by ordinary standards, yes, but a tiny fraction of his total wealth) and is not only giving away the rest but he is also getting other billionaires to sign a pledge to similarly give away huge chunks of their wealth.

he also, for the most part, tries to make money by supporting companies based on fundamentals rather than gimmickry and quick-buck tactics.

yes, it's true that a good chunk of his wealth has been and continues to be acquired by leveraging of some advantages he has that the rest of us don't, because we work in a money-gravitates-to-money system.

but what would you have him do? sure, he could retire, ask forgiveness, and give it all away tomorrow and live the rest of his life on social security only. but then, we also live in a system that would quickly ignore him and his story and whatever else he would have to say.


the real monsters are the wal-brats and the kochs and others who are nothing but shining examples of naked, self-absorbed greed.

[MedicalAdmin]

11. Like many Buffett is neither sinner nor saint.

He is a man who has manipulated markets and made good buys and yes, been a vulture capitalist and taken over companies and fired those who worked there, broke up the parts and sold them off for a profit.

But mostly, he is just a man.

We should evaluate the message. That it's source lends it some credence is a bonus.

[Tansy_Gold]

16. Let's see

He's manipulated markets.

He's been a vulture capitalist.

He's put workers out of their jobs so he could make more money.

He's profited from bail-outs and then bailed out the bailees.

He's done a lot of "bad" things -- by a liberal/progressive standard -- but because he chirps about raising taxes on the rich, he's now a "credible" source?



Right. By that standard, maybe Joe Paterno should be canonized; after all, he did LOTS of good things and only a few bad and he's "just a man," too. :sarcasm:



sorry, but I'm not buying Warren Buffet as a credible source of anything.

[MedicalAdmin]

18. I agree with every point you made.

But do you agree with the message?

If you do then Buffett becomes more than of a tool in discussions rather than an icon. He's just a name to use. I've gotten over my feeling on this and am focusing on the big picture. Would you rather be angry or would you rather win this fight?

[Tansy_Gold]

19. I don't agree with the messenger

If the message is "We have to raise taxes on the rich," why deliver that message via a corrupt messenger?

Buffet hasn't changed his ways, is still raking in money hand over fist in ways that do not benefit the 99%ers, continues to benefit other 1%ers who are far less likable than he, and he has done nothing to alter the system that so richly benefits him and his friends. There's an unspoken wink and nod and nudge in everything he says.

I really don't give a rat's ass what he says if his actions are the exact opposite.

And I really don't want one of the .000001%ers speaking for me.


I mean, seriously???


TG

[MedicalAdmin]

22. If you can afford to hire WB as your messenger then ... wow.

But if you can't then he isn't a messenger, he is a tool for you to use if you do so choose to. If you choose not to, then don't. I don't always trot that one out, but there are times where it is effective and I refuse to let a rich asshole dictate how I use his name and quotes.

If you choose to let your feeling rule your decisions then I respect that. I hope you will do the same when I make another decision.

[LanternWaste]

23. I too can make a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Wish I knew someone... anyone who wasn't corrupt. And those that deny their corruption? They're the most corrupt.

See, I too can make a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[girl gone mad]

13. Exactly.

He's amassed significant wealth through insider trading and was a major, major beneficiary of the government bailouts. I can't take him seriously when he makes these pronouncements, yet continues to engage in corrupt and crooked business practices.

[banned from Kos]

17. all garbage. Insider trading is a serious crime - you have nothing.

and Buffett didn't profit a dime through TARP or Fed loans - he paid.

[girl gone mad]

21. Ah, from the 1%'s number 1 ass-licker on DU.

Wrong as always.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008986981_stimbuff05.html

[slipslidingaway]

14. He also said that Medicare and SS will have to take cuts...

I only heard part of the interview, think it was close to an hour long.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15837856/site/14081545/

[Occulus]

20. He needs a good media team of his own, so he can put together a documentary

showing us all just exactly how everything works. He seems to be the sort that could accomplish that with ease.