Bill Gates is considering voting for Trump? WTF?

[Quixote1818]

I will never have any respect for him again. Period! Fuck him!

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/billionaires-democratic-primary-bill-gates-mike-bloomberg_n_5dc4f07fe4b00927b2308d5d

[tman]

2. Nah. I watched the interview.

Last edited Sat Nov 9, 2019, 09:05 AM - Edit history (1)

It's clear he isn't.

[NCLefty]

3. It's a bizarre manifestation of greed.

"If her wealth tax had been in effect since 1982, Gates would be worth about $13.2 billion today, instead of the $107 billion he actually controls."

I know he's giving away a lot of money but HE COULD STILL HAVE GIVEN AWAY A FUCKTON AT 13.2 BILLION. Just sayin'.

[Eliot Rosewater]

26. Wait, isnt her tax like half of one percent over a certain amount, there is NO way he

would be worth that much less, is there?

Anybody have the math and the exact info so we can check?

[lapfog_1]

30. not going to do the math here

but the wealth tax is an annual tax... compound interest in reverse.

we would need to know his rate of return on his wealth, how much was taxed at the various income and investment tax rates that have existed over that time period... subtract the wealth tax from the result, and make assumptions about Gates investment strategies with the remainder.

Also, he could have reduced his contribution to the Gates Foundation (tax deductible) over that same period...

It is possible that he would certainly see a large drop in his "wealth", but it is also possible that he would be worth anywhere from the 13B to 100B, given the potential for different decisions along the way.

I think what he really objects to is that rather than HIM making the decisions about what to spend his billions on to solve issues in the world, the US government would fund things with his money instead.

[KPN]

33. Yeah, he would have still had

13,200,000,000 DOLLARS to give away as he saw fit.

In terms of overall income I earned over the course of my career, that equates to about:

... oh, I don't know ... only 5,280 - 6,300 or so of my lifetime earnings that would have been available to him right now in his bank account if Warren's wealth tax would have been in effect since 1982.

That's instead of the actual 42,800-53,000 x my overall lifetime earnings that are available to him now, at this very moment in his accounts.

NOTE: Keep in mind, since I've spent 90% of my income earned during my lifetime for stuff needed for me and my family of 5 to live reasonably well, he actually has about 420,800-530,000 times what I have been able to amass and have available to me right now after my lifetime of work spanning 40 years or so.

Well, no wonder he's ambivalent about voting for a Dem like Warren. That's far too little than he deserves!

- - - -

That was fun figuring (and put his fortune in perspective for me). But what really bothers me about this is not so much his opposition to a wealth tax per se as much as his concern about him being able to decide what are appropriate societal uses for the wealth he and billionaires like him have personally amassed. No accountability to the society and democratic environment that made his and their personal mind-boggling fortunes possible in the first place.

[tirebiter]

4. He didn't indicate Trump in any way

"Whoever I decide would have a more professional approach."
What about that statement indicates anything similar to Trump? Sounds to me like the Left feels like they already stormed the castle.

[tulipsandroses]

5. Did he actually say that? Nowhere in the article does it say it.

I see he has concerns about Elizabeth Warren's tax plans for billionaires and whether she will be willing to sit down and hear them out. But I don't see in the article where he says he is considering a vote for Trump.

[still_one]

7. Gates said he will not make 'political declarations' about who he will vote for.

and in typical Zach Carter style, he injects his own interpretation that meant Gates is considering voting for trump, which ISN'T what he said

In that same article Zach Carter also implies that the Democratic party is attracted to people like "Harvey Weinstein"

Let's make a broad brush generalization and imply the Democratic Party is attracted to sexual predators

Sorry, but I don't need Zach Carter to interpret for me what someone meant or didn't mean.

[onetexan]

8. Agree. Twisting of words. Gates is not what the article makes him out to be.

[Thekaspervote]

9. Bill and Melinda Gates have given of their time and money to a lot very needy causes

Could he have given more...yes. And could those critiquing could you have given more?!

[still_one]

6. It would be nice if Zach Carter actually got Gates quote correct, but of course this is typical Zach

Carter hyperbole, injecting his own bias into his writings.

What Gates said was he will not make ‘political declarations’ about who he will vote for. Does that MEAN he would vote for trump? It could mean he might not vote for anyone, or maybe the Jolly Green Giant.

He did not say he would vote for trump, but obviously that wouldn't allow Carter to take liberties to get attention that he always craves.

This is typical Zach Carter Huffington Post/AOL anti-Democratic party, portraying itself as "news", when it is more like a Zach Carter opinion piece, with such innuendos that the Democratic party supports people like Harvey Weinstein.

[blm]

12. Like clockwork. Injects his idiocy into the article. Every time.

[lapucelle]

10. Bill Gates did not say anything like that.

“I’m not going to make political declarations,” Gates said. “But I do think no matter what policy somebody has in mind … whoever I decide will have the more professional approach in the current situation, probably is the thing I will weigh the most. And I hope that the more professional candidate is an electable candidate.”

[Voltaire2]

11. Damn Democrats are gonna tax his wealth.

Vote fascist in 2020. Save the Billionaires!

[blm]

13. It's a bad headline. Don't react to it.

It’s crafted to cause knee jerk reactions.

[Humanist_Activist]

14. When are working class people going to realize that the capitalist class will side with...

there own class interests over any other consideration when push comes to shove?

[ehrnst]

18. There is a capitalist "class" separate from working class people?

Can you clarify?

[Humanist_Activist]

20. These are the people who own the means of production, usually through legal entities...

such as Corporations. Most no longer or never earned wages, hence they have a different set of interests from wage earners who work for a living. This leads to class conflicts, an example would be the Fight for 15, which is being lead by workers against the capitalist class who are more interested in keeping wages as low as possible. Think of most unionization efforts, or strikes, etc.

[ehrnst]

21. So you call trustifarians who are CEOs "the Capitalist Class?"

And you don't think that those who aren't trustifarians can be considered part of the "capitalist class."

Just trying to understand where you're coming from, because you're using terminology that isn't used by anyone else I know of. "Class" usually involves several indicators, and isn't specific to Capitalism.

I would have used the term Plutocrat, but that's me.

[Humanist_Activist]

22. Here's a soft primer...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxian_class_theory

[ehrnst]

25. Soft...

[Eliot Rosewater]

28. I was really shocked , sincerely when I found out Zuckerberg was a righty, which he seems

to be at least as to who he sucks up to.

I wanna know what happens to them when they get all that money, myself.

Capitalism on steroids is when a handful of people have more money than half the nation, we cant go on like that, we cant. A wealth tax makes perfect sense to me.

I wanna know what Warren Buffet thinks. I would be very distressed to learn he opposes such a thing.

HAVING SAID ALL THAT right now my ONLY concern is REMOVING the disgusting piece of shit from the WH and if that means electing someone who is not in favor of a wealth tax, show me where to vote cuz I am

VOTING BLUE NO MATTER WHO


AND

anyone who doesnt is my ENEMY

[lark]

15. So glad we switched to Apple a few years ago.

Don't want to subsidie this asshole.

[USALiberal]

17. LOL, yes because Jobs was such a class act! nt

[Caliman73]

32. True.

I think maybe you would need to switch to Linux and I don't know who would manufacture the hardware.

[USALiberal]

16. Your post is incorrect! nt

[Joe941]

19. He is another greedy billionaire

[USALiberal]

23. Your post is really misleading! Nt

[jambo101]

24. Its like people come down with a mental cancer

Its where their thinking goes nuts and they believe this con man in office is legit. i just dont get why anyone would think of trump as beneficial to the American way of life.

[obnoxiousdrunk]

27. Clickbait ...

[JoeOtterbein]

29. Bill Gates is a self-entitled creep.

There. I said it again.

[evertonfc]

31. No he didnt

He never said that. He took issue with a Warren policy. Bill Gates will not support Trump. His climate change views, alone, wouldn't allow him to.

[tirebiter]

34. DU in disarray