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posted by Colby | June 17, 2010

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Ralph has written his first fiction book titled: "Only The Super-Rich Can Save Us" 736pages. "This book is not a novel. Nor is it nonfiction. In the literary world, it might be described as "a practical utopia." I call it a fictional vision that could become a new reality. . . . I invite your imaginative engagement." -Ralph Nader 06.2009

see here:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781583229033-0

The book starts out with Warren Buffet calling a secret meeting of billionaires to Maui in 01.2006 to develop a plan to change the the world with the monetary power they wield: Warren Buffet, Bill Cosby, Barry Diller, Phil Donahue, William Gates Sr., Joe Jamail, Peter Lewis, Paul Newman, Yoko Ono, Max Palevsky, Jeno Paulucci, Ross Perot, Sol Price, Bernard Rapoport, Leonard Riggio, George Soros, Ted Turner.

They start off with several projects to ignite the public while keeping their secret alliance temporarily veiled. Other billionaires and millionaires join them. . .Oprah etc.

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Gates, Buffett to megarich: Give it up (Wed., June 16, 2010)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37731478/ns/us_news-giving/

SEATTLE - Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, America's two richest people, are embarking on a campaign to persuade their super-rich peers to give half their fortunes to charity in a move that could change the face of philanthropy.

The effort, if successful, could funnel a colossal amount of money into nonprofit groups. If the individuals on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans pledged half their net worth to charity, that would amount to $600 billion, Fortune magazine says.

. . . .Several of the megarich, including Los Angeles philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad; Silicon Valley's John and Tashia Morgridge, whose fortune came from Cisco Systems; venture capitalist John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins and his wife, Ann; and media entrepreneur Gerry Lenfest and his wife, Marguerite, have already committed to the 50 percent pledge, according to program organizers. Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates are sending e-mails and making calls to other billionaires deemed likely prospects to contribute, Fortune reported.

. . .First supper
The campaign began just over a year ago, when Gates and Buffett — who represent a combined net worth of $90 billion, according to Forbes — invited several billionaires to a secret dinner meeting in New York. Among those attending were Hungarian-born hedge fund guru George Soros, talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, David Rockefeller, media mogul Ted Turner and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

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Top billionaires hold secret meeting (May 20, 2009)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30851839/ns/us_news-giving/
Several of the people at the meeting confirmed their involvement, but declined to tell The Chronicle about what was discussed or why they gathered almost in secret.

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Wa Initiative I-1098 Bill

Colby — Jun 23, 2010

Wa Initiative I-1098

Bill Gates Sr. is pissed about taxes and the state legislature, too, but he's coming from a much different direction (see Gates Commission above). He wishes lawmakers could muster the courage to pass a Washington income tax in order to fix the injustice of our state's overreliance on sales taxes, which regressively harm the poor more than the rich. "A more wide-ranging, more thoughtful legislature is what we really need," Gates told The Stranger in April, explaining that while he finds the initiative process generally "unattractive," he's willing to use it to accomplish his aim of instituting an income tax on individuals earning more than $200,000 a year. Gates has put $50,000 of his own money behind the effort and has gathered a total of about $600,000 so far from health-care unions (which stand to benefit from more state revenue being available for spending on health care), familiar donors with names like Alhadeff and Bridge, and even one journalist, Michael Kinsley, who put in $5,000.