Billionaires on The Huffington Post

Martha Stewart Calls Sarah Palin 'Boring And Dangerous' (VIDEO)

2009-11-22T11:37:06Z

By now everyone is getting a word in on Sarah Palin, including Martha Stewart, who used some tough language to describe Palin. Stewart made it clear to CNN HLN's Showbiz Tonight producer Jenny D'Attoma that she's not a big fan:

"She's very boring to me, very boring. And a very, to me, kind of a dangerous person. I mean, she's dangerous. She speaks, she's, she's so confused. And anyone like that in government is a real problem."

Watch D'Attoma's interview with Stewart:

Martha Stewart On Rachael Ray: "Not Good Enough For Me" (VIDEO)

2009-11-20T12:38:54Z

Martha Stewart told Cynthia McFadden that while Rachael Ray may be popular, her style is "not good enough" for the domestic diva.

"She professed that she cannot bake," Stewart told "Nightline" co-anchor Cynthia McFadden. "She just did a new cookbook which is just a re-edit of a lot of her old recipes. And that's not good enough for me. I mean, I really want to write a book that is a unique and lasting thing. Something that will really fulfill a need in someone's library."

Stewart's candid comments were not as much an insult to Ray as it was a clarification of the differences between their styles.

"She's different," Stewart said of Ray. "She's more of an entertainer...with her bubbly personality, than she is a teacher, like me. That's not what she's professing to be...She's a totally different kind of cook than I am. I don't know if she has a garden. I don't think so. But if she does, she doesn't show that on her show so much."

WATCH:

Ray, for her part, was not offended.

"Why would it make me mad?" she told ABC News. "[Stewart's] skill set is far beyond mine. That's simply the reality of it. That doesn't mean that what I do isn't important, too... I don't consider it needling. I really just think she's being honest. She does have a better skill set than I do when it comes to producing a beautiful, perfect, high quality meal. I'd rather eat Martha's than mine, too."

Stewart also told McFadden that the amount of money she lost due to her imprisonment was "inestimable."

"Probably more than a billion dollars, of course," Stewart said. "And if you add in what the company was worth, absolutely. And I'm a major shareholder in the company. When you are prosecuted in such a way and a great portion of wealth is dissipated, all I can think is, so much, what I could have done with that. For the good of mankind. And I hope that I can continue."

But Stewart told McFadden that she doesn't kick herself over the insider trading scandal that sent her to jail.

"How can I kick myself? There are other people to be kicked!" she said.

WATCH:

Number Of Indian Billionaires Doubles Despite Recession, Poverty

2009-11-19T12:26:16Z

In India, the rich just got richer. Despite one of the worst global recessions in history, the number of billionaires in the subcontinent has almost doubled since last year.

Les Leopold: Please Welcome Peter W. Galbraith and Andrew J. Hall to the Billionaire Bailout Society

2009-11-13T10:54:53Z

Peter Galbraith wanted to do well by doing good. He passed himself off as a diplomat who was helping the Kurds to write their constitution and to develop their oil fields. But winning a peace prize was not on Peter's mind. He wanted to secure his place in the Billionaire Bailout Society. So, reportedly, he got himself a $100 million piece (or more) of a Kurdish oil field as he was doing his good deeds. (See New York Times. We're lucky he wasn't negotiating a peace treaty in Jerusalem or he might have sold the Dome of the Rock to the settlers.)

But really, he was only doing what every other member of the Billionaire Bailout Society would do: get filthy rich as fast as you can and screw everyone else. In the twisted logic of the uber-rich, getting rich by any and all means necessary is simply glorious. It's proof positive that you're worthy. It's the only proof that matters.

So what if your actions make it look as if the U.S. is only in Iraq to steal its oil. In this case the anti-American critics would be wrong: America can't steal what Galbraith has already stolen. True greatness at work.

Andrew J. Hall is a different kind of oil speculator who also wants a charter membership in the Billionaire Bailout Society. He doesn't pilfer his booty from the Kurds. Rather, his oil trading scams are picking our pockets by driving up the price of oil just enough for him to make a killing.

Hall once worked for (or is about to leave) Citigroup. He was due to walk off a $100 million as a result of a trading contract he had with that troubled bank. Unfortunately, Citigroup was heading for bankruptcy which would have left Mr. Hall with next to nothing. But we rescued both Citigroup and Mr. Hall with hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars and guarantees.

Mr. Hall faced a ticklish problem as the new Pay Czar took the reigns over Citigroup salaries and poor Andrew's pay package. But our beloved Czar, a billionaire bailout bureaucrat, is a wise and kind ruler. He first announced that Mr. Hall's pay package was exempt because of an arbitrary cutoff date set by the Czar himself. (Czars, of course, can do such things.) Then when many of us raised holy hell about it, the Pay Czar "encouraged" Citigroup to sell Mr. Hall's unit to Occidental Oil. (Czar's can do such things, too.) So now Mr Hall will get his $100 million and then some, and we won't even know about it.

We should brace ourselves for many more such adventures in Billionaire Bailout Society. Now that we've let Wall Street is off the hook for wrecking our economy and sending millions to the unemployment lines, getting super-rich is in fashion again. We should expect a great deal more Galbraith/Hall financial "innovations." It wouldn't come as a shock if diplomats, in honor of Mr. Galbraith, sold an Army division to a needy dictator, or if Treasury officials used Fort Knox to speculate with Goldman Sachs (or did that already happen?)

I don't think this is what Max Weber meant in "Protestantism and the Spirit of Capitalism."

Les Leopold is the author of The Looting of America: How Wall Street's Game of Fantasy Finance destroyed our Jobs, Pensions and Prosperity, and What We Can Do About It, Chelsea Green Publishing, June 2009.

A-List Celebs Line Up For Concert For Autism

2009-11-12T12:15:56Z

What do Jerry Seinfeld, Bruce Springsteen and Donald Trump have in common? They, along with a bunch of other A-List celebrities are making appearances at the Autism Speaks Concert For Autism on November 17 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

This year's star-studded event will feature comedian Jerry Seinfeld, with a special appearance by "The Boss", Bruce Springsteen. The evening will be hosted by NBC's Meet the Press moderator, David Gregory, on November 17, at world famous landmark Carnegie Hall. Your participation in this global cause will benefit the families and individuals who live with autism every day by supporting research, awareness and family services initiatives.

We love celebrities supporting a good cause and this one has no dearth of them: Jamie Foxx, Ellen DeGeneres, Tina Fey, Conan O'Brien, Seth Rogen, Martha Stewart, Katie Couric, Meredith Vieira, Glenn Close, Celine Dion, Will Ferrell, Edie Falco, Troy Aikman, and Harry Smith are a few of the many committee members supporting the event.

Larry King even twittered about the event earlier today.

Read more about the event at Autismspeaks.org or see if you can snag a few last minute tickets by e-mailing ConcertforAutism@AutismSpeaks.org. The site has some great information about autism and how it affects children and families.

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Charlotte Safavi: Met Home Gets the Hatchet

2009-11-11T16:03:05Z

It feels like déjà vu. Metropolitan Home is the latest decorating magazine to go under the guillotine.

Only yesterday Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. announced the closure of the magazine fondly known as Met Home to the urban, sophisticated home decor cognoscenti.

December 2009 will be the last issue of a surprisingly stable publication that has been under the leadership of Editor-in-Chief Donna Warner for 17 years.

Metropolitan Home was not the first shelter magazine closure for the parent company. Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. shuttered Home magazine in 2008, and is in the throes of an open house for increasing ad revenues and maintaining stable readership for its' remaining luxury title Elle Décor.

Mediafinder.com, an online database of North American periodicals, has reported the loss of more than 300 magazine titles this year. In 2007 and 2008, around 1,200 publications folded.

Time Inc.'s Southern Accents, Cottage Style and InStyle Home; Hearst Corporation's O at Home; Conde Nast's House & Garden and Domino; Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.'s Blueprint; and Meredith Corporation's Country Home are some of the better-known decorating magazines that have bit the bullet.

If style-icons Martha Stewart and Oprah Winfrey cannot make it in the home decorating marketplace, there is little chance for style-specific chic magazines like Metropolitan Home.

Problem is people buy décor-based magazines -- as opposed to lifestyle magazines that cover home design, like Real Simple -- when they really want to decorate.

Then they buy individual copies at a premium and/or subscribe to monthly issues for a bargain in exchange for decorating ideas. Unlike with other print media hurt by the Web, people who decorate their homes love to flip through the pages of magazines, and clip 'favorite room' photos and paste them in 'design scrapbooks' to serve as personal inspiration or to show their interior designers. They relish scouring the magazine stands.

Internet sites with imagery also provide creative input, but because color and print quality varies, it is more useful, not to mention more easily portable, to have an actual magazine when shopping for interiors.

The bottom line is people are not seriously decorating much right now. The precursors to decorating -- remodeling existing spaces, moving to bigger homes and having disposable incomes -- are at a low. Recession hurts. The housing market does not help.

Take me. I love home design magazines, I write and style for them, and I like to think I have decent taste. But I am not in the decorating mode.

These days my mindset is to freshen up an old sofa with inexpensive store-bought slipcovers or throw pillows, not to purchase a new pricey custom-made sofa. I shop for accessories with economy in mind -- table lamps at Target or flower vases at Crate & Barrel. Lest I get too generic, I have also taken to regularly hitting flea markets and estate sales; I picked up a beautiful, slightly damaged 1930's iron statue for $45 this past weekend.

Truth is I am truly sorry to see Met Home go, but for now, until the economy recovers, that is just the way it is.

Alexis Stewart's Martha Evolution: Is Daughter Becoming Mother? (PHOTOS)

2009-11-11T10:14:08Z

On her Fine Living Network show "Whatever, Martha!" Martha Stewart's daughter Alexis mocks her mom for her craftiness and perfectionism. But is she becoming her? At Tuesday night's MARTHA STEWART Center for Living at Mt. Sinai 2nd Annual Gala in New York, 44-year-old Alexis bore a striking resemblance to her 68-year-old mother (see the final slide below).

Below, see the evolution of Alexis Stewart and decide just how closely she resembles Martha:

Larry Page Has Son: Baby Boy Born To Google Co-Founder, Rumors Report

2009-11-06T14:47:23Z

Larry Page is now the co-creator of something other than the most important internet site in the world: A tipster whispers he is a father, as of Thursday. (Updated: We have a gender.)

Mario Almonte: Howard Stern: Diamond in a Rough Patch

2009-11-02T13:31:16Z

For a man who almost single-handedly revolutionized the broadcasting industry and profoundly influenced modern American pop culture, radio personality Howard Stern continues to be spectacularly disrespected by his own colleagues and the media itself that he so radically transformed.

While personalities like Jack Benny and Edgar Bergen popularized radio as a medium for entertainment, Howard Stern transformed it into a weapon of mass destruction. He annihilated cultural taboos, relentlessly exposed the hypocrisies and double standards in society and the entertainment field. He confronted the charlatans in religion, politics, and the media -- who often proved to be the worst offenders of the very things they railed against. He treated the physically and mentally disabled, the social misfits and other cast-offs from society like celebrities; while mercilessly ridiculing the rich and famous for their delusional sense of self-importance. His radio show was itself the first true, unflinchingly honest reality series long before the concept was even a glint in the eyes of television producers.

Through all the years and all the controversies -- the obsessive efforts of the FCC to crush him with millions of dollars in fines for indecency; the relentless pursuit of fanatical fringe groups seeking to knock his show off the air because they thought him rude, crude and obnoxious -- he not only persevered, he triumphed. He dominated the entertainment industry as one of the most popular radio personalities in North America -- and in the history of broadcasting -- for more than 20 years. He wrote two New York Times best sellers and starred in a number-one movie about his life. At the peak of his popularity, his radio show was syndicated in more than 60 markets in North America, with a listening audience estimated at 20 million.

When Stern moved his show from terrestrial to satellite radio in 2006, he caused a seismic shift in the dynamics of the two media. He instantly lifted the struggling satellite technology to prominence, while driving another nail in the coffin of terrestrial radio by creating a vacuum of talent that pushed it to bleed listeners faster than ever before. The company he landed on, Sirius Radio, struggling to lure memberships up to that point, saw its subscriber base skyrocket. More than 180,000 new receivers were activated on the day before he launched his show on January 8, and millions of more fans signed up in the coming months. The $500 million paycheck that Sirius gave Stern made him one of the richest persons in show business, rivaling Martha Stewart and Oprah. Time magazine voted him among its 100 "Leaders in the Limelight" and Forbes ranked him in the #7 spot on its annual celebrity power ranking.

If anyone ignored, dismissed or denied the existence or impact of Howard Stern before, they no longer could.

Face the Nation
Yet, all of Stern's accomplishments have apparently never been enough to earn him the respect of the entertainment community. It continues to dismiss him as a minor irritant, a c-list celebrity who does not deserve recognition or attention. Fellow entertainers brazenly steal material and ideas from his show, and when confronted, wave off his indignation -- as if it was coming from a delusional man who believes he also invented the wheel and discovered fire. On-air personalities screw up their faces in mock pain whenever they mention his name, as if he was a dose of bad-tasting medicine they had no choice but to swallow. Industry award organizations like the Radio Hall of Fame routinely pass him over to induct inferior talent. His own alma mater, Boston University, until recently, pointedly excluded him from their hallowed halls, refusing to hang his portrait among the other celebrity graduates.

Today, Howard Stern toils away in the significantly smaller listener universe of satellite radio, which, after a surge in membership following his acquisition, now finds itself struggling to survive. Even the unstoppable force that was Howard Stern could not save the technology, which hit the immovable objects of an economic meltdown and increasing competition from alternative media. Commanding less than ten percent of his former audience, Stern is now marginalized as a cultural phenomenon that has passed his prime.

Yet, driven by a relentless need for perfection, his show remains a masterpiece of improvised dialogue; a mosaic of brilliant observations about society; of exquisite interviews of celebrities and even ordinary people that surgically cut to the heart of their humanity and illuminate their vulnerability as no other interviewer in any other medium ever has -- or ever could. His humor continues to push the boundaries of cultural decorum, running the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous, from the raw to the refined.

Stern readily admits to being bitter and bewildered by the dogged obstinacy -- even hostility -- of the entertainment industry to recognize his contributions and give him the respect he is due. Yet, he refuses to yield or solicit their approval, and rather revels in the role of the outsider -- like the fallen Archangel who defiantly proclaims he would rather be ruler of his domain than serve a vain and capricious God in heaven.

Clifford J. Tasner: The Billionaires' Latest Guerrilla Musical

2009-11-01T13:07:52Z

When CIGNA Representatives refused to speak with protesters at their offices last Wednesday morning, the Billionaires For Wealthcare decided to speak on CIGNA's behalf, and a guerrilla musical entitled "Profits Before People" broke out.

The group conducting the protest was Mobilization for Healthcare for All. They are demanding that CIGNA "immediately cease all spending on lobbying, political ads, and campaign contributions and use that money to pay for all doctor-requested treatment for member patients with life-threatening illnesses."

The rally featured Dr. Matt Hendrickson who spoke about some of the people who have died because CIGNA refused to pay for life-saving procedures. Among these was Nataline Sarkisyan, a high school student who succumbed after CIGNA refused to approve a liver transplant for her. Dr. Hendrickson led a group of 6 other demonstrators into the CIGNA lobby to conduct a sit-in. They were all arrested by Glendale Police.

After Dr. Hendrickson and his group departed for the CIGNA lobby, Laura Flanagan, the main organizer of the event, announced that "someone is coming out to speak with us."

At that point, a group of five CIGNA 'representatives' emerged to address the justifiably angry crowd. Even after they began singing, some folks were so incensed by CIGNA's intransigence that they continued to vent their rage. By the end of the song, however, the Billionaires had won the crowd over. It was a really satisfying street theater performance. The Billionaires serve as the mustache-twirling villain who elicits boos during the curtain call.

The only ones in on the joke were some of the organizers and the folks who were engaging in Civil Disobedience (it was important that they know that their sacrifice and commitment weren't being made sport of).

Here's the video:

And here's the lyrics:

Profits Before People

How dare you criticize this industry we're serving!
You dare accuse us of a monstrous crime!
We're only guilty of commitment that's unswerving:
To maximizing profits every time!

Profits before people:
It's the better business plan.
So we deny your coverage when we can.
We must preserve our way of life
from the approaching storm.
Yeah, that's why we've been crushing health reform!

Profits before people:
The Insurers' bottom line.
And up 'til now it's served us mighty fine.
'Cause jacking up your premiums
is how we're keeping warm.
Yeah that's why we've been crushing health reform!

We gotta stop the Public Option! (Or limit access to it!)
We gotta stop the Public Option! (Let the states opt out!)
We gotta stop the Public Option! (Just put a trigger on it!)
We gotta stop the Public Option!

Yeah, profits before people!
Profits before people!
Profits before people every time!
Oh yeah!

Les Leopold: Geithner Advocates Permanent Billionaire Bailout Society?

2009-10-30T16:26:26Z

Everyone realizes that we have to do something about "too big to fail." But there are two fundamentally different paths: one threatens the very existence of the billionaire bailout society and the other makes it permanent.

The obvious way to end "too big to fail" is to break up large financial institutions so that they are "small enough to fail." Paul Volker, not a radical by any means, argues for this. Even Alan Greenspan -- the very personification of the financial establishment -- agrees.

But to do so threatens the elite status of insiders at giant institutions like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley. They make their billions from the combination of government welfare and their enormous, market-distorting size. Right this moment we are still bailing them out through a series of subsidies that go well beyond TARP.

Also, there are far fewer large financial institutions left in the marketplace which means that the remaining giants have near-monopoly pricing power. But most importantly everyone knows that we won't let them fail. That gives them access to cheaper capital -- they don't have to pay the risk premium other borrowers have to pay because you and I, through Uncle Sam, are implicit cosigners on the downside of the deal. And of course, they have excessive political muscle.

For those of you that believe financial institutions have the very best talent and therefore deserve the very best pay, take a look at Why Do Bankers Make So Much Money?"" by Rick Bookstaber. Here's one memorable passage:

"But I don't buy the notion that there are so many who have the level of talent that justifies tens and even hundreds of millions in compensation. I think this level of compensation, and the notion of talent behind it, is the result of the inherent uncertainty in the financial enterprise, one that makes it very difficult to assess talent. Indeed, I think the invocations of talent for money producers in finance are akin to those that, in times past, were set aside for the mystical powers of saints and witches."

Treasury Secretary Geithner doesn't want a radical departure from that witches' brew. He argues that it's possible to prevent the next meltdown by setting up a new watchdog council of regulators and by increased regulations on the large institutions that are designated (in secret, mind you) as too big to fail. He hopes that the next meltdown can be avoided by monitoring them closely, requiring more capital reserves, and by prohibiting excessive leverage. And if they go under Geithner wants the large institutions to be assessed to pay for the bailouts, after the fact. (Why not before the fact? Geithner thinks they would view it as insurance and gamble even more.)

Sadly, this would make bailouts a permanent feature of our financial system. It would guarantee the perpetuation of our billionaire bailout society for generations to come. (See "Breaking out of the Billionaire Bailout Society" on
Today, our large financial institutions have an even a tighter grip. But our political establishment is afraid to break them up. If Roosevelt or Taft were around today, they'd probably get the same treatment as back-benchers like Dennis Kucinich.

It's not often that we can see such a clear fork in the road. We can either prop up the billionaire bailout society or we can begin the necessary process of breaking it up. You know what the financial interests want. It's now a question of whether popular resentment can be translated into a new populist rebellion.

Granted, it's not looking too good. But to quote Yogi Berra "It ain't over till it's over."

Les Leopold is the author of The Looting of America: How Wall Street's Game of Fantasy Finance destroyed our Jobs, Pensions and Prosperity, and What We Can Do About It, Chelsea Green Publishing, June 2009.

Icahn Loans CIT $1 Billion, Backs Restructuring Plan

2009-10-30T14:47:06Z

NEW YORK — Commercial lender CIT Group Inc. said Friday that billionaire investor and bondholder Carl Icahn agreed to support the company's restructuring plan amid reports CIT may soon file for bankruptcy protection.

Icahn also agreed to provide CIT with a $1 billion line of credit.

Michael DeJong: Halloween? Bah, Humbug!

2009-10-29T18:12:46Z

Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy festive holidays as much as the next person, but we eco-freaks can't help ourselves from sucking the fun out of things -- particularly when it comes to harming children.

Do you remember growing up and the only thing to worry about on Halloween was getting an apple with razor blades in it? First of all, what an Urban Myth. All one kid needed to do was point out which house gave out the fatal fruit, and the entire neighborhood would have been out with pitchforks and flaming torches. And, if anyone on my Halloween route had the nerve to stick a piece of fruit in my Trick-or-Treat bag (razor blades or not) I'd have put it in a paper bag, lit the bag on fire, rang the bell and ran. What kid wants fruit?

So now we come to my fun-sucking dilemma. For the sake of full disclosure, I feel it's important for me to admit that as an adult I hate Halloween. The thought of being in a parade or at a party with drunken strangers in masks is like some people's irrational fear of clowns--it just gives me the willies.

But Halloween, everyone says, is for the kids. And let's suppose for the sake of this blog that that's true. Here is how I see it:

1. Jack-o-Lanterns: Thanks to years of Martha Stewart one-upping herself each Halloween, carving a traditional buck-toothed, triangle-eyed pumpkin just doesn't cut it anymore--it's your kid's equivalent to having last year's X-Box games. So, one either has to have the carving talents of Rodin, or else Mommy goes to the big box store and buys one of those foam "pumpkins" made in China from God-knows-what toxic petrochemicals. The carbon footprint of making, packing, and flying that fake gourd alone could prevent us from ever reaching 350. And now that we no longer carve real pumpkins from the pumpkin patch for fear of being accused of All Hallows Eve banality, we lose out on one of Mother Nature's greatest once-a-year secrets--scraping the pumpkin seeds out, rinsing them off, sprinkling them with salt and then baking them at a low temperature until they are toasty, golden, and crunchy delicious. Foam pumpkins don't even come with foam seeds.

2. Costumes: Here, you have your two types -- Mommy-made or store-bought. Mom-made costumes are going the way of the horse and buggy, 8-track tapes, and analog clocks. First, most of the mom's I know, if they are lucky enough to be employed, are the second breadwinner in the family, and are too exhausted to sew and dye fabrics that any self-respecting six-year old wouldn't be caught dead in. Show of hands--how many moms out there even know how to sew or have a sewing machine? And when did "What Tiffany is wearing for Halloween" become the equivalent of the Bar Mitzvah wars? Now stores of all stripes have racks and racks of adorable, perfectly appointed ready-made costumes that can put mom back anywhere from $15 to $50--and in today's economy, that ain't hay. But what's worse is that unlike pajamas that were mandated to be flame retardant years ago, the materials that most store-bought witches, ghost and goblin get-ups are made from can't be made fire retardant--100% nylon, acetate and acrylic tend to resist flame retarding, and foreign made materials often have unknown chemicals in them to enhance bulk or texture. These "unknowns" can cause problems. So not only isn't junior's Frankenstein or Spiderman costume not flame retardant, it's also off-gassing into his poor lil' pores.

3. Mask or Make-Up? Neither is a good choice for a little one. Remember when you were a kid and you got one of those hard plastic masks with the rubber band that went over your ears and behind your head? And do you remember how wonderful it smelled when you had it on--kind of a kid's version of new car smell. Well, now we know that when plastic smells, watch out--there's toxins in them thar' masquerades. And let's say that you are one of the lucky mom's with kids still young enough to go for the bed sheet-turned-into-ghost costumes. No sewing required, just a scissor to cut out a hole for the head, and to trim off the bottom so baby Justin doesn't trip over himself trying to carry all his trick-or-treat booty home. Well, little Justin can't just have his everyday head sticking out of that ghostly sheet--who would that scare? So, mommy either buys ghoul make-up at the local drug store, or pulls out her old discarded Revlon, Cover Girl, Maybelline, etc., from the bottom of some forgotten bathroom drawer, and paints the kid's face. For anyone concerned about the chemical contents of make-up, I refer you to Womens Voices for the Earth's report, "Pretty Scary," about the heavy metal content in make-up made specifically for kids at Halloween time (http://www.womenandenvironment.org/pdf/PrettyScary_Oct2009.pdf) as well as their report "A Little Prettier" as part of their ongoing Campaign for Safe Cosmetics investigations and lobbying efforts to make the adult cosmetics industry manufacture healthier products (http://safecosmetics.org/search.php).

And if you wanted to be creative in a retro sort of way, and make a mask out of a brown paper bag, try and find one made from either recycled pre- and post-consumer waste or one made with paper approved by the Forest Stewardship Council. Most are still made from virgin trees.

4. The Booty: And even though the "razors in the apples" scare has died down, parents warn their children to not eat anything that is not store-bought and wrapped in its original foil or plastic hermetically sealed protective coating. Industrial sized bags are now available for sale at every big box store and large supermarket. As a kid, my favorite Halloween treat was Candy Corn--and not the yellow, orange and white ones either--no sir--the neighbors that gave out handfuls of the yellow, orange and brown Candy Corn were my heroes. Today, loose candy is immediately thrown away when mom and dad investigate the contents of the night's take. So we're left with individually wrapped miniatures of 60s classic candy bars, and by the time little Allison can unwrap one of those impervious Tyvak-like wrappers, her arms, already tired from carrying the haul home, are numb, and her little fingers are frostbitten from the sudden drop in temperature between 6:00 and 10:00 pm, and she just thinks, the heck with it, I'll handle this in the morning, only to wake and find mommy and daddy sprawled out on the living room floor in a massive sugar crash from having eaten all the goodies. It's probably for the better because mommy has already indoctrinated 10-year-old Allison that she is too fat and if she wants to be the next Miley Cyrus she had best be dieting and not eating all that sugary crap.

5. TPing: Oh the days when throwing roll after roll of toilet paper into the neighbor's tree brought endless joy, and belly-aching, roll-on-the-ground laughter. However, for the 21st Century eco-minded, not just any TP will do anymore. And since the only eco-friendly TP readily available is Seventh Generation, at $2.99 or more a roll, this "trick" is not only wasteful, but becomes a major investment.

But never fear, another Halloween will soon come and go, and lest we even try to hold onto our memories of All Hallows Eve, three weeks ago, the candy aisles were already empty, the only costumes left on the racks were the ripped and rejected, and ever since Columbus Day, it's been beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Bah, Humbug!

Les Leopold: Breaking out of the Billionaire Bailout Society

2009-10-28T08:48:05Z

Democracy, socialism, capitalism, neo-liberalism -- none of them do justice to who we are and where we're headed. Socialism left the planet several decades ago, except in the minds of Fox News pundits. We're not sure what capitalism really is anymore, now that we've bailed out the entire financial sector. Neo-liberalism is so passé, as major governments around the world intervene to halt the financial collapse. And democracy is still with us, we hope, but we wonder for how long as our politicians and policies seem so easily bought and sold.

Perhaps we need a new vocabulary, one that helps us describe a society that promotes the accumulation of vast riches, bails out the rich when they take too many chances, and avoids responsibility for the common good. Even Milton Friedman would have trouble calling that capitalism.

How about the Billionaire Bailout Society?

Here are its salient features:

1. We promote accumulation of vast fortunes without limits.
2. We shun progressive income taxes that could narrow the gap.
3. We keep most of finance deregulated even after it has collapsed so spectacularly.
4. We let the minimum wage atrophy.
5. We discourage unionization.
6. We let middle class jobs disappear.
7. We allow a revolving door between public office and high paying private sector jobs.
8. We let our public infrastructure deteriorate.
9. We belittle government and public service.
10. We promote private gain as the best way to promote the common good.
11. We force our children to pile up debt in order to get an education.
12. We live with a porous safety net.
13. We encourage health care to be a profit maximizing enterprise.
14. We allow institutions to become too big to fail.
15. We bail out the largest financial institutions when they do fail, even if that means transferring trillions to Wall Street.
16. We allow Wall Street to use its bailout money to lobby against the public interest.
17. We let Wall Street keep its bailout-created "profits" and bonuses.
18. We have no clue if the financial sector provides any real value to our economy.
19. We permit financial hucksters to buy up solid companies, load them up with debt, take the cash, and then drive them into the ground.
20. We bad-mouth as protectionist all efforts to keep jobs in this country.
21. We don't have any serious plan for returning to a full-employment economy.
22. We live in awe of billionaires.

Of course, it takes a billionaire to help us understand how the billionaire bailout society really works. Here's what George Soros said recently about Wall Street's latest profit binge:

"Those earnings are not the achievement of risk-takers. These are gifts, hidden gifts, from the government, so I don't think that those monies should be used to pay bonuses. There's a resentment which I think is justified." (Reuters)

Yes, there's resentment, but most of the action has come from the tea-baggers who are the foot soldiers for our new social order. Although the vast majority of Americans are upset about the financial casino, the bailouts and the loss of jobs, we need a progressive infrastructure to mobilize it. Perhaps the recent demonstrations at the American Bankers Association meetings in Chicago signal the start of labor and community mobilizations. It's long overdue.

It would be easy to give up. Apathy is Wall Street's best friend. But we've been here before. It took the populists several generations before they were able to bust the trusts when Teddy Roosevelt rode to office. It took decades of labor agitation and the organization of the Progressive movement before its ideas became the core of the New Deal. It took even longer for African-Americans to build a successful civil rights movement to end Jim Crow. We shouldn't expect it to be easy to build an alternative to the billionaire bailout society.

We drank the cool aid of deregulated markets and private gain as supreme values. We got drunk on its bubbles until they burst. Now we're bailing out the super-wealthy while 29 million of us need work.

Turning that around is going to take hard work and planning for the long haul. It's going to take years of education and organizational development. Twitter is a great tool, but it can't substitute for organizational structures. Most of all, it's going to take a new vision that focuses on the common good, on what ties us together, on something more precious than private gain.

What does that mean? Imagine what we could do if we had the courage to institute steep progressive taxes. Today, the top 400 wealthiest Americans have a combined net worth of about $1.5 trillion. Had progressive taxes reduced their wealth to "only" $100 million each, we would be able to endow every public college and university, two-year, four-year and graduate school, so that all of our children could go to school free, in perpetuity.

Wouldn't that be worth it?

Les Leopold is the author of The Looting of America: How Wall Street's Game of Fantasy Finance destroyed our Jobs, Pensions and Prosperity, and What We Can Do About It, Chelsea Green Publishing, June 2009.

Diane Tucker: Mr. and Ms. Gates Go To Washington, Host Roundtable On Global Health Funding

2009-10-27T15:31:36Z

"We're here to thank the U.S. taxpayers. Your investment in global health is working."

That's the "official" reason Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates are in Washington, D.C., today.

As spin goes, it's a nice line. But obviously the Gateses didn't go to all the trouble and expense of launching a multimedia experience that debuts tonight at 7 p.m. at Washington's uber-chic Harman Center For The Arts (with simultaneous Webcast) simply to thank lil' ol' taxpayin' me. (Couldn't they have just sent a card?)

The Gateses are visiting our nation's capital to reframe the conversation about global health aid. We should spend more time talking about what works, and how to measure it, they said. All too often, the gotcha-obsessed media focuses instead on what Melinda called "slippage."

We've been traveling in the developing world for over a decade. It's so different than it used to be. We're seeing a lot of hope on the ground. It's palatable. And yet so many reports focus on the negative -- people using malaria nets for fishing, or for a wedding dress. Of course you're going to get some slippage on the end. But what about the story that indoor residual spraying and malaria nets are saving lives...lots and lots of lives?

The Gateses met with about a dozen reporters this morning at the Monaco Hotel for a short roundtable discussion about global health funding. Currently, the U.S. budget is roughly $8 billion. The Obama Administration is looking at possibly increasing this aid, which means knowledge of what works is essential.

"Some things, like education funding, are tough to track because of all the management issues. Vaccinations are a lot easier to track, even in a place like Somalia," Bill told our roundtable group. He would like to see the U.S. budget increased, but has no particular number in mind.

Just think about the $8 billion very differently than you might. It's been wildly successful. It shows that if you make these investments early, it has a transformative effect. Hopefully, this will lead people to want to do more, even at a time when there are tough budget trade-offs.

Italy came up during the discussion because that country recently cut its AIDS budget dramatically without much outcry. "It's a terrible thing to have happen," said Bill. "And when a few governments go backwards, it makes it easier for other governments to do the same thing."

The Gateses argue that the further away you are from funding recipients, the less you may know about whether or not your money was well spent. Since the Gates Foundation team goes back and examines whether their programs worked or not, they are able to share this data.

At this morning's roundtable discussion, Melinda was visibly passionate about finding ways to spread the word about success stories. A few weeks ago, she began posting short videos on the Gates Foundation Web site.

But honestly, our talent isn't storytelling. Hopefully our talent is biotechnology, and creation of delivery systems for vaccinations and other life-saving tools. We hope to draw more filmmakers and storytellers into this work, to make sure the budgets for these programs aren't cut just because people don't have an understanding of the difference they can make.

No developing nation has become self-sufficient without first improving their health care delivery system. Often a little aid goes a long way -- for example, vaccinations save millions of lives each year. But according to Melinda, we've still made very little progress on the preventable deaths of newborns in underdeveloped countries. "Nearly four million infants die in that first 30 days. And a half-million mothers die in childbirth every year. We need more American investment in this area."

The world's poor are fortunate to have Melinda and Bill Gates as advocates. Whether or not you agree with the couple's priority list, the Gateses are serious about measuring and duplicating success. Now if only another billionaire philanthropist would come along and create a multimedia experience showing how health care reform could improve the lives of millions of Americans, and create a healthier climate for small business in the United States.

* * *

Melinda Gates speaking at the reporters' roundtable in Washington, D.C. on 10.27.09
(Photo: Diane Tucker)

Global High Wealth Industry Group Created: New IRS Unit Will Target The Very Wealthy

2009-10-26T23:10:56Z

WASHINGTON -- A new Internal Revenue Service enforcement unit targeting the very wealthy will help the tax agency decode partnerships, offshore trusts and other complex techniques used to hide income, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said Monday.

Carl Icahn Quits Yahoo's Board, Praises CEO Carol Bartz

2009-10-23T18:42:23Z

SAN FRANCISCO — Activist investor Carl Icahn has decided his work is done at Yahoo Inc. after muscling his way on to the slumping Internet company's board nearly 15 months ago.

In a resignation letter Friday, Icahn said he felt like it was time to leave Yahoo so he could spend more time on his investments in other companies.

Carl Icahn Extends CIT $6 Billion Loan To Help Stay Afloat

2009-10-19T17:24:18Z

NEW YORK — In another sign that CIT Group Inc. is struggling to restructure its debt, billionaire investor Carl Icahn offered the lender a $6 billion lifeline.

In a letter Monday to CIT's board of directors, Icahn said he would give the company the loan to replace a debt restructuring plan CIT has asked bondholders to approve.

Odd Uses For A Book (PHOTOS, POLL)

2009-10-16T11:36:51Z

You know by now we love books -- everything about them, especially how they transform a house into a home. But it's Friday again, it's cold, windy and rainy in New York and we needed a laugh. These came from Facebook -- we'd love to hear yours.

Filed by: Jessie Kunhardt

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The Most Glamorous CEO Wives (PHOTOS, POLL)

2009-10-12T11:52:00Z

The world's top CEOs are, of course, known for their expensive hobbies, ridiculous spending, and legendary work habits. But what they're not always known for is good taste.

Their wives, on the other hand, don't have that problem. As you'll see below, these women can often overshadow their doughty, work-obsessed husbands.

With that in mind, we took at look at the most glamorous and successful wives of the most well-respected moguls. Take Salma Hayek, for example, an Oscar-nominated actress married to French billionaire Francois Henri-Pinault. Or, Georgina Chapman, the English designer and actress who was already a success in her own right when she wed Hollywood bigwig Harvey Weinstein.

Need more proof? Check out our photos of the most glamorous CEO wives, and vote for your favorite below.

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Danny Groner: Snoop Dogg's Best Lines from Past TV Appearances

2009-10-09T10:13:14Z

Snoop Dogg will appear in tonight's episode of "Brothers" (Fox, 8 ET) as a debt collector. For a well-known hip-hop artist, Snoop seems to spend a lot of time making cameos on TV. In his guest roles, he always brings his own brand of humor - and vocabulary - to spice things up. Take a look at the best of Snoop's past appearances on television, along with his Snoopiest lines from them.

"Martha"

Snoopiest line: "Oh, you want me to take the skizin off it."

"Who Wants to be a Millionaire"

Snoopiest line: "I stay ready so I ain't gotta get ready."

"Monk"

Snoopiest Line: "Motive, yo."

"Entourage"

Snoopiest Line: "Success and nothing less, man"

"The Man Show"

Snoopiest Line: "Ill be see ya, man."

Carl Icahn: Markets "Schizophrenic," Economy "On A Precipice"

2009-10-09T09:49:42Z

In an interview with CNBC today, billionaire investor Carl Icahn warned that the economy is still "on a precipice." Because the market is acting "schizophrenic," a stock recovery does not, he said, necessarily indicate that the economy is cured.

"It's a myth to say the market is a good indicator of the economy. I think individuals are much more of an indicator," he said.

Urging caution, Icahn said that the future of the economy is still uncertain:

"It could really go either way. I don't think anybody can really say which way it's going to go," he said. But Icahn described one grim scenario: "If you get a double-dip recession and they start coming down, it's going to be a bit of a bloodbath."

WATCH:

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Nicole Williams: Celeb Career Thermometer: Kate Gosselin vs. Martha Stewart

2009-10-09T09:48:30Z

Best Career Move of the Week: Kate Gosselin Has a Sense of Humor

Who woulda thunk that nightmare wife Kate Gosselin would come out of her ugly mess of a divorce as the good guy? In a desperate attempt to save TLC ratings and rebrand her image as mildly likable, the reality mom just might have taken a step in the right direction with her spoof video on Jay Leno. In the video, Gosselin pokes fun at the paparazzi and at the public's perception that she is borderline insane. And get this: it's kind of funny! Another few more videos, along with another idiotic public statement from Jon, and Kate will be well on her way to becoming the next comeback queen.

Kate's Girl on Top Rule: Treat Him Mean, Keep Him Keen

Worst Career Move of the Week: Martha Stewart Gets Sued

We always had our sneaking suspicions that Martha Stewart runs a tight ship, but just how tight was uncertain... until now. A former employee at Body and Soul magazine is suing Stewart's company, claiming that she was pressured to work immediately after being severely injured in a car accident. (She also claims she was asked to use her pain to score sympathy points with clients. Ew.) Sounds like Martha is the one wearing Prada these days!

Martha's Girl on Top rule: Get a Life

Google's Post-Recession Culture: Perks Are Out, Just Be Happy You Have A Job

2009-10-07T16:47:51Z

Hey Googlers! All those perks -- the great food, the high-end daycare, the fancy bathrooms -- that the company is famous for? Overrated, your bosses say. So is the dream of getting insanely wealthy at your job.

Instead, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said today, you ought to be happy to work at Google... because it's Google. In that sense, Schmidt said, the recession of the past year has been good for the company, since it's highlighted the difference between working at his company and other options -- including not working at all.

Countries Billionaires Could Buy: Forbes

2009-10-06T12:53:23Z

Castles in France. Islands in the Caribbean. Private jets. With a collective $1.27 trillion at their disposal, the members of The Forbes 400 could buy almost anything