List your progressive millionaire/billionaire here

[dreamnightwind]

Starting this thread per request from the host. Seems like a good idea, I bet there are more than we realize, maybe if everyone contributes we can get a pretty good list.

Money in politics is the problem, not the solution, IMHO, but there is some money on our side, perhaps it could help us towards much needed progressive reforms while we fight to get money out of the system as much as possible.

[dreamnightwind]

1. Tom Steyer

I'll start things off by nominating Tom Steyer.

Democratic Climate Activist Is Election's Biggest Donor — That We Know Of
http://www.npr.org/2014/10/23/358238870/big-spending-democrat-faces-off-with-koch-brothers-in-campaign-ads

Tom Steyer: An Inconvenient Billionaire
http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/tom-steyer-an-inconvenient-billionaire-20140218http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/tom-steyer-an-inconvenient-billionaire-20140218

'Green' political donor vows climate agenda push in 2016 U.S. race
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/06/us-climatechange-election-donor-idUSKBN0MX1J120150406

[delrem]

15. Who, exactly, categorizes (only truthful categorical generalizations allowed here!)

Tom Steyer as a "progressive" and "liberal" and "leftist" politician?

The "climate activism" seems to be a bargain-bin costume. Underneath is $$$ and only $$$.

I expect that now that climate change is ongoing and real, and can't be denied but must be dealt with, big money will come in with a vengeance to claim all the no-bid contracts.

Hell, if I were the Koch Bros. I'd be investing in exactly that. After all, such investments don't mean that I'd have to disinvest in anything.

[Man from Pickens]

2. fuck em all

They don't get to be that wealthy without being deeply evil and broken people. No decent person could accumulate that kind of wealth without spending the vast majority of it to alleviate the suffering of other human beings.

The last thing anyone should do is kiss the ass of another hedge fund manager because after he got his he sprinkles a bit of it on good causes to buy himself a secular indulgence.

They should all be on notice: the era of the billionaire oligarch is coming to an end.

[dreamnightwind]

3. LOL, off to a good start I see

Works for me. Unfortunately it is mostly the other way around, they are having their way with us, and we have yet to find effective strategies to defeat their well-funded yet destructive and self-serving initiatives and candidates.

"the era of the billionaire oligarch is coming to an end"

Really? How so? You and your guillotine will get right on that? I hope you're right, but I don't see it.

What's actually coming to an end is the era of a large percentage of species and lifeforms on earth, if we can't turn this ship around. I think most of the billionaires have plans for their own survival and prosperity, and couldn't care less about our fate. This list would be a place to name the few that actually work toward progressive reform.

I agree with your take on how they got their wealth. The intention here is not ass-kissing. I don't know if Tom Steyer is a good person or not. He is spending a ton of money trying to stop the Koch brothers from spreading their climate change denial and putting their puppets into elected office, an effort where we can use all the help we can get.

If nothing more, this could be a list or reference we can use to expand our knowledge of who is doing what. I can't say exactly how that will be useful, but I'm pretty sure that for some people it would indeed be helpful to know who these people are, and what policies they are supporting. If that doesn't work for you, no problem, good luck with whatever path you prefer. If you were being sarcastic, sorry, I am not familiar with your posting history.

[NYC_SKP]

8. I prefer not to wait for a revolution. Can you offer up some advice on funding?

I feel your frustration, just looking at the Clintons and their daughter's choice of career makes me wretch.

But did you know that, for example, a number of very wealthy folks have pledged to leave 50% of their wealth to charity?

This group is for people to offer solutions, not complaints.

We would appreciate any ideas, realistic ones, you might be able to offer.

Thanks!

[Morning-Sky]

4. Nick Hanauer

Nick has been on BBC Hard Talk and Robert Reich ' s documentary "Inequality For All." So far, I like his message.

"Perhaps the most surprising voice in the film is Nick Hanauer's. He's just your ordinary, everyday billionaire. One of the 1%. Except that he believes – like Warren Buffett – that he doesn't pay enough tax. And that hammering the middle class, the ones who buy actual stuff, who create demand, which in turn creates jobs and more taxes, is simply bad for the economy. "I mean, I drive the fanciest Audi around, but it's still only one of them… Three pairs of jeans a year, that will just about do me."
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/feb/02/inequality-for-all-us-economy-robert-reich

[dreamnightwind]

5. Thanks

I was not familiar with him, which I guess is what this list is all about. I'll read your linked article later to see what he's about. Increasing taxation on the uber rich would (or could, depending on how tax revenue is spent) make things a lot better for a lot of people.

edit to add: First post? If you're new here, welcome to DU!

[Morning-Sky]

6. Newbie here :)

Yes, first post.Thank you for the welcome and an engaging thread topic. I like finding the good in others who do not always share the same story- it means there is hope for multiple ways to the same outcome.

[dreamnightwind]

7. Great, and I completely agree

[NYC_SKP]

10. Here is Nick Hanauer's TED talk, censored and full length. Must Watch!

And welcome to DU!

Longer TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/nick_hanauer_beware_fellow_plutocrats_the_pitchforks_are_coming?language=en

[NYC_SKP]

9. Maybe if we look to philanthropists, some might be politically engaged.

There's a group who are pledging to leave 50% of their estate to charitable causes.

Might a few of them be convinced to support progressive candidates and causes while they're alive?

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/19/business/la-fi-billionaires-charity-20120919

[Dragonfli]

12. It is worth a try IMO, how do you suggest we go about it?

I'm not very familiar with how one approaches such people to ask for assistance and I expect being wealthy they have methods in place to protect themselves from the thousands of people that likely try to contact them both legitimately or to try to scam them out of some of their money.

It is a great idea, now we have to figure out how to get an audience to make the pitch.

[NYC_SKP]

13. First, look to see what efforts might already be in play, like MoveOn?

No need to reinvent the wheel.

But if nothing's happening, then there are a lot of ways to launch a project.

A GoFundMe campaign, a social media blitz with press releases upon launch, using existing networks like occupy...

We could start such a thing right here, using DU members.

[Dragonfli]

11. I imagine there are some, having done design work for some very wealthy people

(I am talking around the level of multi-million in the single digits rather than 100 million and up as a disclaimer)

I have come into contact with a few compassionate liberal minded people that appeared to give back to the community in more tangible ways than charity write offs or the ever popular philanthropy as a business venture (like those "helping" with education).

Because of this anecdotal evidence I would expect there to be some, unfortunately however they were few and far between, most of the ones I met were self-centered, incredible egocentric, narcissistic nasty buggers that were a bit scary in their apparent lack of concern or empathy towards others, one actually threw a hissyfit in the shop because one of our key craftsman's wife was in hospital due to a bad reaction to chemo meds and stopped working on the clients wine room project for a week to be with her. He actually threatened to withhold payment for the job and threatened a law suit if the estimated date of completion was not met. (before you ask, there was no event planned or anything that would have been jeopardized if the work was not completed by the estimated date, he was just an asshole.) This man was the norm among his peers so I doubt we will find enough to champion populist causes if that is the plan.

As far as names go, I don't really keep track of rich people and have heard of a couple that appeared to at least say a few of the right things but don't recall their names.

Interesting iea, but don't get your hopes up too high.

[dflprincess]

14. Mark Dayton

and his ex-wife Alida Rockefeller Messinger - she donates to a lot of liberal groups.

In 2012 the state Republicans were whining and crying about the amount of money she was donating to help the DFL take control of the state legislature (they did) and to defeat the Constitutional Amendments the Cons had put on the ballot to require voter ID and ban same sex marriage (the voters rejected both). One of them complained that she was trying to decimate the Republicans to give Dayton free reign over the state. It's been reported that she's donated more than $5 million to Democratic candidates in the last 20 years as well as supporting environmental and other charitable groups.