How would the media attack Warren Buffett if he was running against Hillary Clinton?
Donald Trump’s campaign should be a cautionary tale for any entrepreneur seeking the presidency. The political and media elite will NEVER standby and allow a non-politician ascend to the presidency. Previously I wrote about how Mark Cuban would be treated — now let’s look at how the darling of the Democratic Party would be attacked by the left if he was running against Hillary Clinton.
Lawsuits
The media had a field day with the 4,000 or so lawsuits that involved Donald Trump and/or his companies over the past thirty years — Trump is a chump when it comes to lawsuits compared to Warren Buffett. Buffett and/or his companies are involved in more than 3,000 active lawsuits today alone — over the past thirty years he’s be involved with more than 30,000 lawsuits for everything from racial discrimination to tax evasion. Just last month Warren Buffett was slapped with an $18M lawsuit for a “reverse ponzi scheme”. From the complaint,
“Berkshire Hathaway illegally siphons off premiums through an unlicensed, unregistered and under-collateralized Hawaiian entity, leaving New York employers and injured workers without the funds that New York State requires to be available to cover losses due to worker injuries.”
The plaintiffs are confident the court will agree as Warren Buffett was sued for running the same “reverse ponzi scheme” in California. The California insurance commissioner found Buffett’s actions to be illegal and ruled against the billionaire. Does the fact that Warren Buffett has been found guilty of racial discrimination, theft of worker’s compensation funds, theft of worker’s pensions, running ponzi schemes, wrongful death, and tax evasion disqualify him?
Taxes
Donald Trump lost more than $900 million in the 90’s and as a result he was able to use the tax code to reduce his future taxes. Once again, Trump is a chump when it comes to tax avoidance compared to Warren Buffett. Just last year Buffett owed more than $7 billion in taxes but he used a specific provision of the tax code to “defer” payment of those taxes to sometime in the future — in the meantime he can use the $7 billion to buy new companies. Over the past decade Buffett has deferred more than $60 billion in taxes — money that he STILL owes, but gets to keep by using tax loopholes. Imagine how many schools, roads, and bridges could have been built with $60 billion in taxes — instead that money stays in Buffett’s pocket so he can get even richer. How much money is enough? Does that fact that Warren Buffett actually pays an effective tax rate of .05% disqualify him?
Sexual Assault
Once again, Donald Trump is a chump when it comes to women compared to Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett cheated on his wife endlessly. According to the media reports sexually harassed employees, investors, and vendors. During his marriage he regularly slept with one of his investors who owned the Washington Post. The women who may have been kissed, groped, or fondled included Sharon Osberg, Carol Loomis, Katharine Graham, Dolly Parton, and Princess Di. While still married he hired Astrid Menks, a restaurant hostess, and moved her into his home. Soon after Buffett’s wife died and he married the hostess. Buffett didn’t attend his wife’s funeral — instead spending the day with his mistress. Does Warren Buffett’s horrible treatment of women disqualify him?
Failed Businessman
Donald Trump’s business failures pale in comparison to Warren Buffett’s. Wall Street accuse Warren Buffett of poor corporate governance. Buffett admits that his purchase of a textile business called Berkshire Hathaway (now the name of his holding company) cost his investors $100 billion. He lost more than a billion on Tesco. He bankrupted Dexter Shoe Company losing more than $5 billion. He helped Energy Future Holdings buy the electricity business in Texas and lost a billion dollars when the company went bankrupt. Just this summer Buffett’s holding company lost more than $20 billion in value. In just the past few months Warren Buffett has lost more than $20 billion of his investors money — investments from fire and police pension funds, teacher pension funds, widows, retirees, and everyday Americans — do his reckless business practices and poor corporate governance disqualify him?
Clearly Warren Buffett isn’t qualified…
To be clear, I think Warren Buffett would make a great president. I think we need someone with a good business mind to take the reins for 4–8 years. To help get us back on the right track. Mark Cuban or Donald Trump would be great too. The point of this post is to show how NONE of them would pass muster with the left or the media.
