Who are America’s top philanthropists?
According to
The 50 Top American Philanthropists
Special Report: Philanthropy
Slide show: Top Givers and Their Causes
Slide Show: The Biggest Bequests
“How We Create The List: To measure what donors have given or pledged over the past five years, a team of reporters spends months conducting interviews and scouring databases, news reports, and foundation filings. For consistency, we count pledges in full at the time they're announced, discounting only those that are formally revoked. If a gift is in stock, we value it at the time it's announced. To avoid double-counting, the survey counts gifts to foundations at the time they're given and not when the money flows out of foundations. “
We see that on the top place you will find Warren Buffet, Bill & Melinda Gates, George Kaiser, George Soros,(targeted by Glen Beck as America’s enemy # 1) William Barron Hilton, Walton Family, Herbert & Marion Sandler, Peter Peterson, Donald Bren and in number 10th place is Michael Bloomberg.
The list itself is not surprising; what is surprising is that there is a definite correlation of those who are generous and that of their politics. We could never expect the Koch brothers to make it to this list; oh, yes they do give some of their money to cancer research; but they are most interested in funding political think tank groups and footing the bill for the Tea Bag movement. They are totally devoid of a social conscience. We are also remiss to find many Republicans among the top philanthropists; David Rockefeller being one of the exceptions.
The list goes on and it includes T. Boone Pickens, Oprah Winfrey and other less wealthy. There are those wealthy folks who give in anonymity; the perfect example of this was Salsa Queen Celia Cruz who had been parting with all her wealth while she was alive and at the time of her death there was very little left. It was then revealed that the great Cuban-born singer
had been donating all of her wealth to worthy causes anonymously. I was a bit surprised to find the Walton Family on the list; but then again it may be that they feel so guilty that they are one of the worse employers in America that they need to give some of their wealth away.
What is curiously amusing is that none of the super wealthy who advocate less government regulations, no interference with business are not among those who donate large sums to worthy causes. I have yet to hear any of them say: “We will take care of the poor, the unemployed, the elderly on our own without government providing safety nets” This is significant because these folks are only interested in greed and profit and it makes no difference to them who they screw.
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