In the spirit of equal time, here is how some of America’s wealthiest are sharing the pain of Janelle, Joe and Justin from my recent journal “It’s Midnight in America.”
Lloyd C. Blankfein of
Goldman-Sachs has had more than his share of hardship. Forced to part with 15 days of his company’s profits in order to settle charges that his company defrauded investors with guaranteed-to-fail mortgage backed securities, Blankfein has sought solace in a multimillion dollar condo in New York’s prestigious 15 Central Park West.
The Zeckendorfs had figured out that nothing appeals to people, particularly rich people, like something new that doesn’t look too new. Stern laid out the apartments almost exactly like classic apartments from the 20s, with semi-private elevator halls, large entry foyers, formal dining rooms, and libraries. But they also have huge, eat-in kitchens instead of small kitchens and a warren of maid’s rooms, and they have lots of big, marble bathrooms, and central air-conditioning. What Stern actually designed, it turned out, was a building in which every apartment looked like an old Park Avenue apartment after someone had renovated it. That held much more allure to an investment banker than a Richard Meier building with floor-to-ceiling glass.
Thanks to Mr. Blankfein’s sacrifice, at least one American has a job---as a domestic servant. Too bad he does not have time to swim in his building’s luxury pool. Making money by defrauding investors is so time consuming!
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/09/centralparkwest200809#gotopage3http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/lloyd_c_blankfein/index.htmlhttp://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/no-pool-parties-for-blankfein/http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/the-business-of-swimming-or-not-swimming-at-15-cpw…. Alicia Watkins. A veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, she wound up homeless while struggling to cope her physical and emotional wounds.
"Your family, they want the person that they sent off to the war. And they will never get that person back," Watkins said. "So it's just a matter of trying to get them to understand that I will never be the same."
There are an estimated 6,500 homeless female veterans on America's streets, double the number of a decade ago, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Women veterans are four times more likely than their male counterparts to wind up homeless. http://abcnews.go.com/WN/homeless-female-veterans-americas-streets/story?id=10099653Poor
Bill Koch. He could not find anyone to buy his 2009 12 Metre World Championship Grand Prix winning yacht, Kiwi Magic, so he had to give it away.
“I spent a fortune trying to down-wind her and we finally got her so that she was competitive, but she didn’t have a groove, wasn’t properly balanced, etc,” says Koch. “We were lucky enough to win the World Championship and I said I was going to either sell it or give it away. I couldn’t sell it because there were so many 12 metres on the market, and I had a hard time giving it away because anyone who was willing to take it wanted a cash endowment to go with it. So in that case I might as well just put it in a shed and pay rent on the shed.”
No wonder billionaire Koch found it necessary to flee from the tax and spend state of Massachusetts.
"That's the reason I came here (Florida) it's tax friendly," said Palm Beach's William Koch, 63. He makes no bones about why he moved Oxbow to Florida after Massachusetts tried to raise his taxes. He said, "If they're going to treat me that way, screw 'em."
Talk about sacrifices. Imagine being forced from your home by high taxes. Easy to understand why he became a wife beater. Poverty is a major cause of domestic violence.
http://www.challengeandadventure.com/archives/category/skippers-boats-and-records/boats/kiwi-magic-boats-skippers-boats-and-recordshttp://www.thedailysail.com/inshore/10/56617/1/bill-koch-interviewhttp://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2005/10/07/title_22?blog=21A man distraught because he could not find work shot and killed his mother-in-law, his wife and three sons and then killed himself inside a home in an upscale San Fernando Valley neighborhood, police said.
Authorities said the man had an MBA in finance but appeared to have been unemployed for several months and had worked for major accounting firms, such as Price Waterhouse….
"He attests to some financial difficulties, and he takes responsibility for the taking of the lives of his family members and himself as a result of those financial difficulties," Moore said.
Neighbors, family and friends told police that the suspect, who had not worked for several months, had said in recent days he was having had extreme financial difficulties, Moore said.http://articles.cnn.com/2008-10-06/justice/california.murder.suicide_1_killings-mother-in-law-shot-eldest-son?_s=PM:CRIMEPity
Rick Scott. Because he was in charge of the Columbia HCA hospital chain when it defrauded Medicare for billions, he was let go…with a measly $10 million severance package and $300 million in stocks. But his story has a happy ending. He is now the Governor of Florida. Though he once made a killing off the federal government’s single payer health care system, he has changed his ways. Recently, he turned down $3.4 million to fight child abuse and neglect in his state. Because he knows that we all have to share the sacrifice, even children.
http://www.wusf.usf.edu/news/2010/06/18/whistleblowers_say_rick_scott_knew_about_medicare_fraudhttp://thinkprogress.org/health/2011/07/20/274261/florida-gop-rejects-money-to-fight-child-abuse-and-neglect/… the little girl, Nubia, was dead, wrapped in plastic bags in the back of her father's exterminator truck parked alongside Interstate 95. Her brother, Victor, was in the front seat, coated in a toxic chemical with critical burns….
Authorities are focusing on the parents in the latest case, Carmen and Jorge Barahona, investigating claims that they starved their 10-year-old daughter and locked her and her brother in the bathroom with their feet and hands tied.
It's unclear how Nubia died or how long she had been dead before her badly decomposing body was found Monday.
The couple, who adopted the twins from foster care in 2008, have been the focus of three abuse allegations in the past few years, but the agency said they were unfounded. State officials said the Barahona's home visits and other documents were "stellar."http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-02-18/news/28555076_1_carmen-barahona-jorge-barahona-child-welfare
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