You know what REALLY bugs me?

When really rich people get free stuff..

I just saw a promo for Oprah..they do a home-makeover for Kirstie Alley...

Excu-uuuuse, but I don't think Kirstie is ready to go on welfare anytime soon..

I would rather see people who really need help, get the help..

GRRR..At top restaurants too, OF COURSE

He's "one of us".

He's quite the showman, but when an interview gets in-depth, Trump reveals his annoyance with a society that demands so little from the super-rich like him, and squeezes blood from the poor.

He regularly funds Democratic politicians and liberal causes, and is an outspoken critic of Bush. While his acquisitions in Atlantic City certainly caused pain for many people, what is seldom discussed is the money he's sunk back into the community directly. I have relatives who live there, and they were stunned to find out that he is an active, and very quiet, philanthopist.

Bill Gates is a similar case. He's already given a boatload of money to deserving causes, including education and AIDS treatment. I'd still like to see the DOJ take anti-trust action against him, but I'm not going to damn him to hell over the Browser Wars. George Soros, Richard Branson, and much of the Heinz family have similar ideas on the use of "their" money. For every mean little scion of Sam Walton walking around and pissing on the po' folks, there is someone like a Soros or a Gates or a Trump who remembers to Share The Wealth.

Even Andrew Carnegie, one of the fabled Robber Barons of his era, felt that it was anti-Christian and blasphemous to die super-wealthy. He became a philanthropist, and one of his endowments, Carnegie-Mellon University, is a world-class technological learning mecca. John D. Rockefeller had similar opinions and also turned to philanthropy.

Trump has (and most of these other guys have) feet of clay, it can not be denied, but don't be deceived by the glitter. The rich are not universally evil. A system which lavishes its love on the rich, while punishing the poor, is evil. And we ought to consider the perspectives of the rich who understand this -- they may yet help us build a society based on justice rather than naked power.

--bkl

...70% of their income. Just my humble opinion.

At public fetes where high-profile entertainers and other "important people" show up, they receive bags stuffed with expensive swag like high-quality cosmetics, digital cameras, iPods, free Sirius/XM service for life, jewelry, and certificates good for an amazing variety of expensive goods and services.

It's gotten to the point where the entertainers themselves have begun to complain about the practice.

Here's an idea: Instead of a Swag Bag, why not give entertainers certificates worth $X that they can have donated to some deserving charity?

--bkl

Apple gives away the iPods hoping people that watch TV about TV (WTF) will see the iPod Eminem just got and run out and buy one. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple pays to get in the gift baskets. Giving away a bunch and hoping Extra mentions them is cheaper then buying 30 seconds of air-time on the WB.

Pay-as-you-go for the middle and working classes.

Nothin' for the poor.

It's especially aggravating at the pharmacy, when the rich guy ahead of you gets his Viagra for $5 with a prescription card, while you and I have shell out $200 we had to borrow from relatives for an antibiotic that was developed with tax money and then given to a big company.

I have even more gripes, but I think I'll stop here. :)

--bkl