The Giving Pledge: Bill Gates, Warren Buffett Visit Obama

WASHINGTON -- President Obama will host the nation's two wealthiest private citizens, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, at the White House on Monday to receive an update on the Giving Pledge, a campaign Gates and Buffett co-founded that encourages extremely rich people to leave the bulk of their fortunes to charity.

The meeting is slated to take place in the late morning and will include a number of Giving Pledge signatories, although the White House declined to specify exactly who would attend. More than 60 of America's wealthiest individuals and families have signed the pledge since it was first made public last year, including the father of 2012 Republican hopeful Jon Huntsman, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and media mogul Ted Turner.

But to political observers, Monday's meeting may mark more than just an opportunity for the president to learn about large-scale philanthropy projects. As the White House and congressional Democrats push for a debt ceiling deal that includes taxes on the wealthiest Americans, the event shines a spotlight on the very people who would bear that burden.

It's not the first time that Buffett and Gates have visited Obama to discuss the Giving Pledge, which has already amassed more than $100 billion in promised funds. In December of last year the three met at the White House, where they exchanged "ideas for growing the economy and making America more competitive," according to a White House statement.

Other Giving Pledge signatories include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and film director George Lucas.

Correction: In an earlier version of this story inaccurately stated that the younger Huntsman was a signatory. The updated version correctly notes that his father was the signatory.

Comments

[danceswithdata]

12:38 AM on 08/24/2011

Hold on a minute, I thought Zuckerberg would be one of those richest? Is he actually poorer than Gates?

[msrt0672]

10:34 PM on 08/12/2011

By the standard of the developed nations , America is really low taxing country. We cannot compare our low taxes to that of Europe ( especially that of UK, Germany or Sweden) and Australia and Canada!! We are still the lowest.

It is the problem of tax evasion by Big Corporations that is engulfing the nation. GOP's support for outsourcing our JOBS overseas is mainly tax driven. We need to have a system of taxation where these loopholes are closed, then we can address the revenue issue!!!

[Sean L Fisher]

04:26 AM on 07/29/2011

Thanks Warren, you are true inspiration. You can donate millions of dollars to charity but cant keep hard working people like myself and 30+ others that just got a 3 day notice we are being laid off from one of your companies.

Another statistic to add to unemployment. Brock Grain and Feed Systems, Kansas City Missouri. Termination date 7-29-2011.

[satanlite]

01:32 PM on 07/25/2011

The only thing  I worry about is exacty WHAT charity? Churches? How many MEGA CHURCHES will get built on this money and do we really need them?

[JerseyGirl4Obama]

11:46 PM on 07/26/2011

I've read a lot about the philanthrophy and the charitable things they support and I have never seen churches mentioned. Should they leave their money to a church though, it would not be any of our business. Of coure, i don't think that is what they intend. Just my guess.

[5050LIFE]

11:32 PM on 07/20/2011

The 50/50 Life is similar to the Bill Gates and Warren Buffett 'Giving Pledge' for billionaires,
but The 50/50 Life is for everyday people like us. Our group is all about living a balanced life and making the choice to help create a better world. http://5050LIFE.ORG

[Linda from Deerfield]

11:36 AM on 07/19/2011

These guys (and Mrs. Bill Gates, who really ought to have been invited, too) are doing charity somewhat better than many do it, but in general, charity makes me queasy. It robs the receiver of dignity, it aggrandizes the giver, and it typically puts the agenda entirely in the hands of the giver. I respect the marketing genius of the man, but I don't have to like Bill Gates for the money he has wormed out of most of us, or for the challenge he has facilitated to talented software people's ability to earn a good living. His vision is not necessarily in the best interests of this nation, but we have granted him the money and the power. Thank goodness we don't have to sit here and read about the Koch brothers, whose charity comes frighteningly close to manipulating humanity's future (e.g. could their support of NOVA turn into public television lying to us about global warming), being lauded by the President, at least not yet.

[MountainPenelope]

01:44 PM on 07/19/2011

Very true. Warren Buffet said it best:

"The 400 of us pay a lower part of our income in taxes than our receptionists do, or our cleaning ladies, for that matter. If you're in the luckiest 1 per cent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent."

"Speaking at a $4,600-a-seat political fundraiser in New York, as quoted in "Buffett blasts system that lets him pay less tax than secretary", Times Online, June 28, 2007."

These are true Americans who believe in giving back to the the country that afforded them tremendous opportunities.

[JerseyGirl4Obama]

11:52 PM on 07/26/2011

Linda,

Your post bothers me. Charity does not make me queasy in the least. Sometimes a bit a charity is what saves ones life. Please don't fall for the bullchit about everyone looking for a handout or if we give to people they won't do for themselves. Those are such small minded thoughts. Bill Gates has not wormed money out of us. He had a product and you did not have to buy it. I think it is wonderful that he has reached a point in his life (long before now) where he can give back on a grander scale than most of us could dream of doing. If you want something to really make you queasy, think Koch brothers which you have already mentioned. They truly want to influence the lives of all of us negatively. At least that is not the desire of the Buffets and Gates.

[mosttruthful]

10:37 AM on 07/19/2011

Just two more evil rich people who don't pay enough taxes.

[MrTop1pct]

09:51 AM on 07/19/2011

jUST LOOKS LIKE HOARDING CASH TO ME , EXCEPT NOW IT'S TAX FREE ...

[Scott Fraley]

09:35 AM on 07/19/2011

I wonder if the President will ever meet with any of our poorest Americans.

[wordsalad12]

09:45 AM on 07/19/2011

To do what? Figure out how they can best leave their inheritance to charity? Read the article.

[shadowgirl52]

09:13 AM on 07/19/2011

If they want to help they should give low intrest loans to all of us small, or mom and pop businesses out here that have been badly affected by the big business practices and greed that got us in this mess!

[FreedomFreedomFreedom]

09:00 AM on 07/19/2011

The next time a right winger challenges you with the question, "When was the last time a poor person created a job?" respond with "Every time that poor person spends his or her hard earned money on bread, gas and milk" Without consumers we have no jobs. This has never been more evident than during this current recession. Ask yourself, "Why don't we have more jobs? The tax cuts for the rich that the GOP say are needed to create jobs have been in place for the past 10 years. Yet we are stuck at 9% unemployment" The answer is that no matter how much money the CEOs earn or how much money the small business owner is loaned there will be no jobs without demand. America is far more dependent on the poor and middle class consumer than we are on the rich. As long as the supply-side conservatives continue to push their failed economic model we will never recover from this recession. We need to put the money into the hands of the poor and middle class where it will be spent and in spending they will be creating jobs.

[Dean77]

08:58 AM on 07/19/2011

Dang those evil rich people and their corporate jets!! Curses!

[parlimentMike]

06:44 AM on 07/19/2011

We've heard from the liar who tells congress that all the American unemployed IT workers don't exist, so he could import cheap foreign labor. Bill Gates, iffy software, displacer of American workers for profit.

[SteveDenver]

04:49 AM on 07/19/2011

Okay, let them represent the top 2% and now Obama should meet with 98 poor Americans to balance the opinions he receives.

[wordsalad12]

09:47 AM on 07/19/2011

its not like he doesn't know what they do or go through. Get the GOP out of the way, so he can actually DO something for those 98. Meeting with them will not pay their bills.

[Shrank]

04:13 AM on 07/19/2011

Kudos to Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. They're wise enough to know that greed is no virtue. Something that Republicans will never learn.

[SteveDenver]

04:49 AM on 07/19/2011

They're interested in national progress. The rich people on the GOP side are interested in power.