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heir trust fund

maybe belated redumdent, see family foundations

see sim node

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an 12 24

The children of the richest families in the U.S. are well-known for spending their vast wealth on frivolous luxuries—constructing a replica of a medieval church on their acres of property, in the case of banking heir Timothy Mellon, or starting a brand of T-shirts describedby one critic as "terrible beyond your wildest imagination," as Wyatt Koch, nephew of Republican megadonors Charles and David, did.

But a reportreleased by Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) on Thursday shows how "billionaire nepo babies" don't just waste their families' fortunes. They also benefit from "a rigged system" that allows them to "pass that wealth down over generations without being properly taxed–often without being taxed at all."

In addition, the heirs of the country's biggest fortunes spend vast sums "to elect politicians who protect their unearned wealth and manipulate the country's economy in their favor," said ATF.

Along with Mellon and Koch, the report profiles Samuel Logan of the Scripps media dynasty; Nicola Peltz-Beckham, daughter of billionaire investor Nelson Peltz; Gabrielle Rubenstein, whose family has made its fortune in private equity; and President-elect Donald Trump's son, Eric Trump.

The nepo babies are part of a small group of billionaire families in the U.S. who benefit from tax loopholes that ensure little of their immense wealth ever goes to benefit the public good.

At least 90 billionaires have passed away over the last decade, leaving their beneficiaries $455 billion in collective wealth.

But according to ATF, "$255 billion (56%) of that amount was likely entirely exempt from the capital gains tax because of a special break called 'stepped up basis.'"

"Trump and his allies in Congress are doing their donors' bidding by rigging the system in their favor and pushing a $4 trillion giveaway to wealthy elites and giant corporations."

Without loopholes included the stepped up basis tax cut, the current estate tax on billionaires and centimillionaires would yield enough revenue to fund universal childcare, preschool, and paid family leave for U.S. workers, with hundreds of billions of dollars left over, according to ATF's report.

The wealthy heirs profiled in the report and their families are some of the Republican Party's top donors—contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to candidates including Trump in the hopes of securing even more tax cuts.

Mellon, for example, is Trump's "biggest supporter, giving $140 million to a pro-Trump PAC in 2024 alone," reads the report.

A previous analysis by ATF found that as of late October, just 150 billionaire families had spent $1.9 billion on the 2024 elections.

As the Center for American Progress found earlier this year, Trump's plan to extend the tax cuts that he pushed through in 2017 would cost $4 trillion over the next decade.

"The vast wealth inherited by centuries-old billionaire families is staggering. While these heirs and their billions go undertaxed, enormous sums are squandered on lavish mansions, private jets, and vanity projects instead of funding crucial public investments," said ATF executive director David Kass. "In 2024, these billionaire families used their enormous wealth to make record-breaking political contributions to secure a GOP trifecta. Now, Trump and his allies in Congress are doing their donors' bidding by rigging the system in their favor and pushing a $4 trillion giveaway to wealthy elites and giant corporations—all while advocating for cuts to vital programs that working and middle-class Americans depend on."

The report calls for Congress to pass "proven, pragmatic proposals to unrig the tax system that enjoy high levels of popular support," such as the Ultra Millionaire Tax Actthat was proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) this year. The bill would tax fortunes between $50 million and $1 billion at 2% and wealth above $1 billion at $1 billion.

The small tax on enormous wealth would generate "a whopping $3 trillion over 10 years," said ATF.

The estate tax could also be "restored so that it can play a meaningful role in promoting fairness and equal opportunities" through the passage of theFor the 99.5% Act, which was introduced in 2023 by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.).

Under the bill, the estate tax exemption would be lowered to $7 million per couple and the current 40% flat rate would be replaced with a sliding scale that would charge higher rates as a family's wealth grows.

"None of these tax reforms would impoverish the ultra wealthy, nor even inconvenience them in any meaningful way–but they would reduce the concentration of wealth that is so corrosive to society," reads the report. "At the same time, they would raise trillions of dollars that could be used to reduce inequality and improve the lives of families that can only dream of the kind of security and opportunity enjoyed by the nation’s richest clans."

"And if rich families ever did need to tighten their belts a bit to pay their taxes," the report continues, "the economizing might begin by reducing the flow of money funding the extravagant lifestyles of America's Billionaire Nepo Babies."

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mma 2 23

nepo babies” — short for nepotism babies — are the children of high-profile people who likely benefited from their parents’ connections, fame, and insider industry knowledge to catapult their own careers. From blog contributors to Fox Corp. executives, nepo babies are a staple of the right-wing media universe.

Nepo babies are common across all sectors of business and society, including Hollywood, academia, and politics. The children of nepotists can seemingly rely on their trickle-down clout for a foot in the door, surpassing those who must find their industry footing on their own.

The exploration of nepo babies came to prominence recently after TikTokers began drawing connections between young stars and their parents. A New York magazine story dubbed “How a Nepo Baby Is Born” expanded the analysis of nepotism in American media and spurred content examining nepotism across various sectors.

Nepotism among right-wing media figures informs aspects of the media beyond the echo chamber of conservative platforms. There are nepotistic right-wing media and political connections across the American media landscape, from the mainstream media to the far-right. It also exemplifies the revolving door between the media and the Republican Party, a longtime pattern.

In right-wing media, some cases of nepotism are overt and celebrated, like the father-son duo of Steve and Peter Doocy of Fox News, while others are more clandestine (see: Tucker Carlson). However, it is important to note that not all nepotistic relationships come down to sharing the same job field or title, as prominence and influence don’t necessarily come down to a job title. Sometimes, having a notable last name or the right leverage in one field can bolster the opportunities for younger generations.

Thus it’s not surprising nepo babies run amok in the right-wing media ecosystem -- drawing their influence from parents either in the media business or politics -- considering it’s an industry steeped in lies, conspiracy theories, and questionable hires. Here is a noncomprehensive list of nepo babies in right-wing media:

Rupert Murdoch

Australian conservative media mogul and Fox Corp. Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch is the son of journalist and publisher Keith Murdoch.

Lachlan, James, and Elisabeth Murdoch

Lachlan, James, and Elisabeth Murdoch are Rupert Murdoch’s children. All three have benefitted professionally and personally from their father’s right-wing media empire.

CitationAndrea Austria / Media Matters

Tucker Carlson

Fox News’ white nationalist host Tucker Carlson is son of Richard “Dick” Carlson, former CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and director of Voice of America.

Buckley Carlson

Tucker Carlson’s son, Buckley Carlson, is the communications director for Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN).

According to journalist Judd Legum, Buckley Carlson has received an unusually large series of raises during his employment with Banks.

CitationAndrea Austria / Media Matters

Greg Kelly

Newsmax and right-wing radio host Greg Kelly is the son of former New York City police department Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

Raymond Kelly has appeared on numerous right-wing newsshows as a commentator.

**Donald Trump Jr.**

Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of former President Donald Trump, is a right-wing podcaster.

Lara Trump

Former Fox News contributor and podcaster Lara Trump is Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law.

Peter Doocy

Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy is the son of Fox News host Steve Doocy.

CitationAndrea Austria / Media Matters

Chris Wallace

Former Fox News host and current CNN anchor Chris Wallace is the son of former 60 Minutes reporter and media personality Mike Wallace.

CitationAndrea Austria / Media Matters

Ben Shapiro

Right-wing pundit and editor-in-chief of the The Daily Wire Ben Shapiro is the son of composer David Shapiro. David Shapiro reportedly wrote for Breitbart under the pseudonym William Bigelow.

Additionally, Shapiro’s mother worked as a television executive.

Andrew Giuliani

Right-wing radio host Andrew Giuliani is the son of former New York City mayor, podcaster, and FOX entertainment reality television contestant Rudy Giuliani.

**Alyssa Farah Griffin**

Alyssa Farah Griffin is a CNN political commentator, a co-host of ABC’s The View, and a former Trump administration spokesperson. Her father, Joseph Farah, served as the executive news editor at the now-defunct Los Angeles Herald Examiner and is the founder of the right-wing conspiracy theory website WorldNetDaily.

CitationAndrea Austria / Media Matters

Lisa Boothe

Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe is the daughter of lawyer Jeffrey Ferris Boothe, a former staff member of the Senate Appropriations Committee in the 1980s and a legislative assistant to former Sen. Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR).

Ben Domenech

Editor-at-Large at The Spectator and Fox News contributor Ben Domenech is the son of Douglas Domenech, a former official in both the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations.

Meghan McCain

Former co-host of The View and current DailyMail columnist Meghan McCain is the daughter of the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

CitationAndrea Austria / Media Matters

Harold Ford Jr.

Fox News contributor and former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) is the son of former Rep. Harold Ford Sr. (D-TN).

Danielle D’Souza Gill

Danielle D’Souza Gill, the daughter of right-wing pundit and conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza, hosts a show on the Falun Gong operated outlet The Epoch Times.

**Charles Hurt**

Fox News contributor and The Washington Times writerCharles Hurt is son of author and former Reader’s Digest Editor-at-Large Henry Hurt.

Mark Levin

Mark Levin, a Fox News and right-wing radio host, is the son of the late author and illustrator Jack E. Levin.

Claudia Cowan

Fox News correspondent Claudia Cowan is a daughter of actor Barbara Rush and the late Hollywood press agent Warren Cowan.

CitationAndrea Austria / Media Matters

Jessica Tarlov

Fox News resident liberal commentator Jessica Tarlov is a daughter of the late film producer Mark Tarlov.

Byron York

Fox News contributor Byron York is the son of the late WBRC television personality Tom York.

Jonah Goldberg

Conservative columnist and Editor-in-Chief of The Dispatch Jonah Goldberg is the son of right-wing literary agent and author Lucianne Goldberg.

Daphne Oz

Celebrity chef and FOX entertainment television personality Daphne Oz is a daughter of television host and failed Republican nominee for Pennsylvania Senate Dr. Mehmet Oz.

**L. Brent Bozell III**

L. Brent Bozell III is a right-wing writer and founder of the Media Research Center. He is a son of the late Catholic writer Patricia Buckley Bozell and right-wing activist L. Brent Bozell Jr.

Bill Kristol

Neoconservative pundit Bill Kristol is the son of the late journalist Irving Kristol and conservative historian Gertrude Himmelfarb.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Governor of Arkansas and former Fox News contributor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the daughter of former governor of Arkansas and right-wing media host Mike Huckabee.

Rebekah Mercer

Heiress and Republican media investor Rebekah Mercer is a daughter of hedge fund billionaire and GOP mega donor Robert Mercer.

Jay McGraw

Jay McGraw is the co-founder and CEO of Stage 29 Productions, which produced a show for the right-leaning British outlet Daily Mail. He is a son of television host Dr. Phil McGraw.

Hannah Claire Brimelow

Hannah Claire Brimelow is the daughter of white nationalist writer Peter Brimelow. She is a contributor to YouTuber Tim Pool’s right-wing outlet, Timcast, and was reportedly recruited by Timcast Editor-in-Chief Cassandra Fairbanks (who is linked to white nationalists).

**Rex Jones**

Rex Jones, the son of conspiracy theorist and Infowars founderAlex Jones, has appeared on his father’s outlet to attack left-wing activists.

Bristol Palin

Reality television star Bristol Palin is a daughter of former Alaska governor and reality television personality Sarah Palin.

Kingsley Cortes

Gettr director of operations and right-wing writer Kingsley Cortes is a daughter of former right-wing radio host and former Trump campaign adviser Steve Cortes.

Charlotte Pence Bond

Right-wing writer Charlotte Pence Bond is a daughter of former Vice President Mike Pence.

Maureen Bannon

Maureen Bannon is a daughter of right-wing host, January 6 coup plotter, and former Trump aide Steve Bannon. On Twitter, she describes herself as “CEO of WarRoom,” her father’s podcast.

:{**Latest updated date (2/13/23):** This piece will be continually updated with more examples as they are discovered.:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:

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sonali an 1 23

https://www.alternet.org/nepotism-babies-myth-american-meritocracy/

There is a common feeling that many of us have experienced in professional or academic environments, especially when we struggle against gender or racial bias. It’s called “imposter syndrome”—the feeling that one doesn’t deserve one’s position and that others will discover this lack of competence at any moment. I felt this way as a female graduate student in a science field in the 1990s. I felt it as a young journalist of color in a white-dominated industry.

This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

The rich and the elite among us appear to feel the opposite—that they are deserving of unearned privilege. A recent series of stories in New York Magazine headlined “The Year of the Nepo Baby” has struck a chord among those who are being outed for having benefited from insider status. Nepo babies are the children of the rich and famous, the ones who are borne of naked nepotism and whose ubiquity exposes the myth of American meritocracy. Nepo babies can be found everywhere there is power.

The New York Magazine stories have predictably generated defensive responses from nepo babies. Jamie Lee Curtis, actor and daughter of famed Hollywood stars Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, wrote a lengthy post on Instagram defending her status. Although she admitted that she benefitted from her parents’ fame—“I have navigated 44 years with the advantages my associated and reflected fame brought me, I don’t pretend there aren’t any”—she also clapped back at critics, saying she was tired of assumptions that a nepo baby like her “would somehow have no talent whatsoever.” Curtis went further in claiming that the current focus on people like her was “designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt.”

Curtis is clearly a talented actor, of that there is no doubt. But, in defending her privilege from critique, she reveals just how deserving she considers herself. It is the converse of imposter syndrome—the insider syndrome.

The act of calling out nepotism doesn’t necessarily imply that nepo babies are not talented. (Nepo babies are sometimes talented—and sometimes not.) It means pointing out that some talented people are able to benefit from family connections and fame that other equally talented people are not able to.

The critique is intended to call out elitism, not “diminish,” “denigrate” or “hurt,” as Curtis accuses journalists of doing. Journalism that exposes power and its corruptive influence among elites punches up, not down. Curtis is hardly a disadvantaged person whose well-being will suffer from such coverage. Rather, stories pointing out her parental advantages could potentially help to even the playing field so that it is unacceptable in the future to consider family connections in film and TV auditions.

Recall the college admissions scandal of 2019 when it was revealed—again through good journalism—that wealthy parents like TV star Lori Loughlin used all the power and money at their disposal to bend the rules of elite school admissions for their children. Many of those children may well have deserved to get into the schools they attended. But, in the face of stiff competition, untold numbers of equally deserving youth who did not have powerful and wealthy parents willing to break rules were not admitted. Now, many of those same nepo babies’ parents who were tried and convicted are using their money and connections to win shortened prison sentences.

But Hollywood celebrities, however much they enjoy prestige and privilege, are an easy target. Nepotism is rife in all the halls of power—in the world of art, sports, and even journalism, and especially in corporate and political circles.

Billionaires (especially those in tech) may propagate the myth of the merit-based American dream, but some of the most dramatic success stories began with a parent using their wealth or connections to give their child the upper hand. Take Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, who became one of the world’s wealthiest people in his 30s. Gates’s early success was largely due to the well-documented connections that his parents flexed on his behalf to get his fledgling company off the ground. Other tech nepo babies include Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, whose father loaned him $100,000 to start his company, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose parents were early investors in his online retail business to the tune of nearly $250,000.

Nepotism is part of the fabric of capitalism. For centuries, unfair advantages were available to those who have historically faced fewer hurdles, through the sheer luck of being born into a family with wealth, connections, or respect within their field. Indeed, in order to beat back the imposter syndrome, many advise channeling the unearned confidence of a mediocre straight white man.

Our economy is rigged to encourage nepotism by ensuring that the already wealthy pass their wealth—and by extension the power that their money buys—to their children. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) pointed out how the tax code is written in order to benefit the moneyed classes. According to a CBPP report, “High-income, and especially high-wealth, filers enjoy a number of generous tax benefits that can dramatically lower their tax bills.”

Nepo babies who defend their status reinforce the notion that wealth, fame, and privilege equal brilliance, talent, and genius. The reality is that the privileged among us simply have the means to cheat. The rest of us are sold the lie that working hard will bring rewards—rather than unearned wealth.

This, in turn, encourages cheating among those who cannot rely on nepotism to gain power. One well-known example of the “fake-it-till-you-make-it” approach is Anna Sorokin, a woman whose fabricated lies about wealth and power landed her in prison and made her the focus of a Netflix show. Sorokin faked being a nepo baby—a German heiress—in order to live a lavish lifestyle. Sorokin learned that to gain the edge that moneyed elites have, one must internalize the insider syndrome.

Republican Congressman George Santos, who was recently exposed as a fraud for lying about his work experience, wealth, and even ethnicity, is another prime example. His political party has made a habit of encouraging (real or fake) nepo babies like Donald Trump, who openly admitted to tax avoidance in a debate and whose company was convicted of criminal tax fraud.

The GOP has for years led the charge to protect the interests of the wealthy while insisting on means testing and drug testing for the rest of us to receive benefits.

In truth, the emperor has no clothes. The meritocracy of American capitalism is a myth built on smoke and mirrors, on lies and false confidence. The current long-overdue conversation around nepo babies may help to further class consciousness among Americans who may see a bit more clearly now just how scantily clad the emperor really is.

Author Bio: Sonali Kolhatkar is an award-winning multimedia journalist. She is the founder, host, and executive producer of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a weekly television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations. Her forthcoming book is *Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice* (City Lights Books, 2023). She is a writing fellow for the Economy for All project at the Independent Media Institute and the racial justice and civil liberties editor at Yes! Magazine. She serves as the co-director of the nonprofit solidarity organization the Afghan Women’s Mission and is a co-author of Bleeding Afghanistan. She also sits on the board of directors of Justice Action Center, an immigrant rights organization.

https://www.alternet.org/2021/10/south-dakota/

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How 'insanely corrupt' South Dakota became a magnet for the wealth-hoarding megarich

Brett Wilkins and Common Dreams October 06, 2021

Experts on the wealth-hoarding strategies and subterfuges of the world's superrich are weighing in this week on why "billionaires love South Dakota" after a bombshell report revealed that the Republican-led state is a leading global destination for plutocratic tax cheats.

One of the biggest revelations in the Pandora Papers—a gargantuan cache of nearly 12 million documents revealing the hidden wealth and secret dealings of hundreds of the world's wealthiest people, published Sunday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)—is just how much of a fortune-magnet South Dakota has become.

Drawn by low taxes and some of the nation's most generous trust laws, "shady billionaires from around the world are going to South Dakota," said Chuck Collins, author of The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions, and co-editor of Inequality.org at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS).

As a result, the Mount Rushmore State "now rivals Switzerland, Panama, the Cayman Islands, and other famous tax havens as a premier venue for the international rich seeking to protect their assets from local taxes or the authorities," The Guardian reports.

Writing for Common Dreams Monday, Collins further explained:

Findings suggest that South Dakota has sheltered billions in wealth linked to wealthy individuals previously accused of serious financial crimes and labor violations. Two examples: Brazilian orange juice baron Horst Happel was fined $88 million in 2016 for underpaying his workers. In 2017, he moved substantial wealth to a trust in South Dakota. Carlos Morales Troncoso was the former vice president of the Dominican Republic. He ran a sugar company called Central Romana... that was accused of human rights violations. He set up trusts for his daughters in the Bahamas that were moved, after his death, to South Dakota.

Vehicles including granter-attained annuity trusts (GRATs) and so-called "dynasty trusts"—through which wealth can be sequestered for generations, even centuries—attract the über-rich to South Dakota by design.

Suzanne Garment, author of Scandal: The Culture of Mistrust in American Politics, wrote for NBC News Tuesday that "spurred by economic need," South Dakota has become "a leader in abolishing the rule against perpetuities—the old doctrine that limits the lifespan of a trust. One version of the rule says a trust must vest—that is, it must distribute its assets—within a stated amount of time."

"But not in South Dakota," she continued. "In South Dakota today, a trust can last, well, forever. The state couples this permissive regime with strict secrecy. As opposed to records in states like New York, court documents relating to South Dakota trusts are permanently private: Even the existence of such a trust is not public."

"As a result, it is virtually impossible to discover who has established a South Dakota trust, who benefits from it, or whether legal challenges to it have been filed," Garment added.

Collins is calling on Congress to address the issue.

"Lawmakers should act at the federal level to shut down or discourage the formation of dynasty trusts and GRATs for the purposes of tax avoidance and dynastic succession," he said. "Actions could include the passage of a federal 'rule against perpetuities,' banning certain trust arrangements, and taxing income and wealth in trusts."

South Dakota isn't the only place in the United States where the rich are hiding their treasures. Other U.S. states named in the Pandora Papers include Delaware, Florida, Nevada, and Texas.

"The world is going to be looking at us differently after the Pandora Papers," said Collins. "They're going to see that the United States is the weak link now in the system of global financial transparency."

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/scientists-explain-why-the-wealthy-struggle-with-empathy/

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a new study reveals that people from higher income backgrounds struggle with certain aspects of empathy when compared to individuals who have lower incomes, who are better at reading people’s emotions.

The research paper, which was published in the “Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,” asked individuals from different class backgrounds to infer others’ emotional states by looking at images of their eyes and to attempt to assume the visual perspective of other people.

The findings suggest that our socioeconomic status may affect the way we see and interact with other people.

Researchers know that there are many things can make it difficult for one person to effectively empathize with another, including neurological conditions like autism and psychological illnesses like schizophrenia. In their study, researchers Pia Dietze of the University of California, Irvine and Eric D. Knowles of New York University attempted to better understand how social class specifically influences Theory of Mind.

"[Theory of Mind] encompasses a range of competencies that together enable people to solve problems in a world full of other minds,” the authors explain. “Examples of ToM include our ability to infer people’s emotions, understand others’ visual perspectives, trace behavior to actors’ underlying intentions and desires, and grasp the fact that others’ beliefs might misportray reality. We focus on two facets of [Theory of Mind] in this work: emotion perception and visual perspective taking.”

The authors concluded, both from their research and by analyzing previous research (some of which they felt was unreliable), that “higher social class is associated with attenuated [theory of mind] performance,” with individuals from higher income backgrounds struggling more to ascertain the emotions and empathize with the visual points of view of other people. One possible explanation for this is that “lower-class individuals—owing to their greater levels of cultural interdependence—may appraise other human beings as more relevant to their goals and well-being than do higher-class individuals.”This would also help people from lower classes to “spontaneously calculate other people’s perspectives.”

Dietze and Knowles also point out that their conclusion “stands in clear contrast to the common discourse concerning neurocognitive deficits among the lower classes.” They also note that “decades of research documents that lower-class individuals are more likely to exhibit attentional deficits and display impaired working-memory performance. The evidence provided here suggests that these deficits may be domain-specific. Indeed, we show that lower-class performance outcomes are reversed in the social realm.” The term “domain-specific” refers to the theory of learning which holds that there are multiple forms of intelligence rather than a single way to assess where one has cognitive strengths and/or weaknesses.

This is not the only new research which sheds light on how being wealthy can lead to harmful psychological behaviors and personal habits. In July a different study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that individuals from affluent backgrounds would often deny their class privilege by “increasing their claims of personal hardships and hard work, to cover [their] privilege in a veneer of meritocracy.”

“Flying in the face of meritocratic prescriptions, evidence of privilege threatens recipients’ self-regard by calling into question whether they deserve their successes,” the authors wrote in their study. “Evidence of class privilege demonstrates that many life outcomes are determined by factors not attributable to individuals’ efforts alone, but are caused in part by systemic inequities that privilege some over others.”

Another study, this one published in June in the journal Nature Communications, argued that the consumption patterns of the affluent are so egregiously unsustainable from an ecological standpoint that only a concerted effort by the wealthy to consume less can prevent catastrophes like global warming, pollution and biodiversity loss.

“The affluent citizens of the world are responsible for most environmental impacts and are central to any future prospect of retreating to safer environmental conditions,” the authors wrote, adding that “existing societies, economies and cultures incite consumption expansion and the structural imperative for growth in competitive market economies inhibits necessary societal change.” They advocated “a global and rapid decoupling of detrimental impacts from economic activity,” pointing out that “theworld’s top 10% of income earners are responsible for between 25 and 43% of environmental impact” while “the world’s bottom 10% income earners exert only around 3–5% of environmental impact.”

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/aiming-to-take-down-fox-donald-trump-jr-reportedly-investing-in-far-right-oann/

Investors aligned with Donald Trump Jr. and Republican National Committee (RNC) co-chair Tommy Hicks Jr. have acquired a major stake in One America News Network (OANN), sources familiar with the deal told Vanity Fair.

“Tommy Hicks and Don Jr. have been looking to buy a station for Trump TV,” a person briefed on the negotiations told Vanity Fair.

“This is all about building a Fox competitor. Trump is really aiming to take down Fox,” the person said.

The report is the first to connect the Trump family to the acquisition, discussions of which were first reported in January by the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reported that Hicks Equity Partners, a firm belonging to the family of Tommy Hicks Jr., the RNC co-chair, was negotiating a $250 million deal with Herring Networks, the parent company of OANN, a low-impact far-right network that offers a home to the likes of Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec and has defended Roy Moore and endorsed Russian propaganda.

Sources told Vanity Fair the deal has stumbled along for months and still hasn’t closed, but that the Trump-affiliated group had reportedly talked Herring down to $200 million. VF said it was also unclear whether Donald Trump Jr. invested Trump money in the deal, or was given equity.

As the buyout talks progressed, President Trump has repeatedly expressed his growing distaste with Fox News — long perceived as the only network he likes, and certainly the only network that consciously slants coverage and analysis in his favor.

Last month Trump accused Fox News of “being on a bad path,” and has asked twice now “what the hell is happening” at the network. He attacked Fox reporters twice last month during White House coronavirus briefings, and has taken several potshots at several of the channel’s shows and personalities, tweeting in January that Fox News was “really pathetic” and “so politically correct,” singling out Chris Wallace’s impeachment coverage.

After it was reported that Fox had fired MAGA-world luminaries Diamond and Silk for hawking ludicrous coronavirus conspiracy theories, Trump tweeted his support for the duo: “But I love Diamond and Silk, and so do millions of people!”

In late April, Trump took to Twitter once again to call for an alt-Fox, pro-himself network:

“The people who are watching @FoxNews, in record numbers (thank you President Trump), are angry,” he wrote. “They want an alternative now. So do I!”

During this same period, Trump often promoted OANN, providing the nascent network — which is viewed with disdain by many reputable journalists — with cover against the White House Correspondents’ Association. Trump even plugged OANN by name in a tweet last month as the alternative he has been asking for.

But this isn’t the first time Trump has appeared to be switching media mistresses. When Fox soothes him, he reciprocates. When they rankle him, he pumps OANN.

OANN, which has roughly one-third of Fox’s reach, with ratings reportedly lower than the Tennis Channel, appears to have no problem serving as the president’s megaphone.

For instance, OANN hired former Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo— the newly-hired spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services who recently disgraced himself with a barrage of racist, pandemic-related tweets — who hosted a special program dedicated to “the Ukraine Hoax.” Late last year a network crew accompanied Rudy Giuliani and personal assistant Christianné Allen on a trip to Ukraine, which resulted in a three-part series that mainlined viewers with apparent Russian disinformation.

Spokespeople for Trump Jr. and Hicks denied involvement in the deal to Vanity Fair.

President Trump, who is in no financial position to acquire Fox News, views OANN as a fallback business opportunity should former Vice President Joe Biden defeat him in November, according to Vanity Fair, which reported the president might look to OANN as a “post-presidential television platform.”

The cash from the buyout will reportedly help OANN increase its production values and campaign to expand its viewership, two elements Trump would demand of any home for a post-White House TV home.

Trump Jr. and Hicks have been wrapped in scandal before. The president’s eldest son and his younger brother Eric were — along with Hicks and Dallas-based investment manager Gentry Beach — co-registrants for a nonprofit called Opening Day, which insinuated itself in Trump’s inauguration. Trump’s sons had to abandon the organization weeks after its inauguration event was announced, amid :{allegations that they were s:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}::{elling access:(style="background-color:#ffcc66;"):}: to their father.

An associate ofGentry Beachdeclined to comment when Salon inquired about his possible involvement in the OANN deal.

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aha: recall family foundations were formed in the 1st place as a tax shelter and their primary/initial purpose was to undermine the estate tax (eg mars); kochs weaponized/politicized $;  at odds with self made man free mkt MERITOCRACY BS

kochs built a shadow GOP (then rented out trump admin, more progress in X years than y years;)

waltons #1 in charter schools, // devos: public schools the great equalizer, source of meritocrisy); betsy supports scam colleges and stops debt relief.

mercers gave us trump and brexit (the end of the brit empire?!)

scaife gave us crooked hillary

sparked by

Number 3: Tatnall Hillman, $639,057

Occupation: Retired. Hillman is the son of John Hartwell Hillman Jr., who made his billions from coal, steel and gas.

Residence: Aspen.

2014 contributions: Hillman is a conservative donor. This year, his largest donation of $40,000 went to the Club for Growth Action committee, a national organization that benefits Republicans. The majority of Hillman's contributions in 2014 went to candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in other states. He donated $2,600, the maximum contribution an individual may give to a candidate, to 20 candidates nationwide. He contributed $2,600 each to U.S. Reps. Cory Gardner's U.S. Senate candidacy and Scott Tipton's reelection bid to the U.S. House.

Overall contributions: Hillman has consistently contributed to conservative candidates and political action committees nationally.

Did you know: Tatnall Hillman has kept his life private over the years, despite his many campaign contributions. When I-News requested a comment for this story, Hillman replied, "My best comment is no comment."

Number 4: Joe Ricketts, $618,500

hmn NEWSER) – "Not since before Watergate have so few people and businesses provided so much early money in a campaign, most of it through channels legalized by the Supreme Court’sCitizens United decision five years ago," the :{New York Times:(style="padding:0px;margin:0px;font-style:oblique"):}: states. In an impressive investigative report, theTimes looks at the 158 wealthy families that are providing nearly half of all the money raised in the 2016 presidential race. So far, these donors—largely older, rich, white men—have given $176 million to candidates from both parties. Here's what the Times learned about the families shaping America's political future.

Read the full report here.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/13/your-money/donor-womens-causes-teaches-other-inheritors.html

A CONVERSATION WITH

Joyful Donor to Women’s Causes Teaches Other Inheritors

Image

Tracy DuVivier Gary, who is related to the Pillsbury family of Minnesota, at her home in Tiburon, Calif. She has spent 40 years helping to promote giving for the benefit of women.CreditBrian Flaherty for The New York Times

By Claudia Dreifus

Nov. 12, 2016

In charitable circles, Tracy DuVivier Gary is known as the “Janie Appleseed” of women’s philanthropy. She has spent the last 40 years jump-starting dozens of organizations focused on improving the lives of women and girls.

Among the groups that Ms. Gary — with colleagues — has founded are the Women’s Foundation of California, the Women Donors Network, the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, Women Moving Millions and Funders for Gay and Lesbian Issues.

Ms. Gary, 65, who is related to the Pillsbury family of Minnesota, also has a consultancy, Unleashing Generosity, where she counsels young heirs in money management and helps wealthy families organize their charitable giving. Her book, “Inspired Philanthropy: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Giving Plan and Leaving a Legacy,” is in its third printing.

We spoke by telephone this fall. This is a condensed and edited version of the conversation:

When did you  begin thinking about creating special philanthropies for women?

It started in the 1970s. After getting a degree in mythology from Sarah Lawrence College — I’d studied with Joseph Campbell — I moved to San Francisco where the best job I could find with my liberal arts diploma was at an executive recruiting firm.

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It was there, for the first time in my life, that I saw how blatantly women were discriminated against. If I sent an equally qualified woman and man for a job interview, it was the man who usually got the callback. In my off hours, I volunteered at a battered-women’s shelter. I was on their board, and I was shocked at how hard it was to raise money for it.

Putting this all together, I began thinking that there ought to be philanthropies dedicated to creating change for women. That’s why, in 1979, with the help of friends, I helped start the Women’s Foundation of California.

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What was different about this charity?

The central idea behind it was to locate women with money — often with inherited wealth — and mobilize their resources specifically to support local projects that were focused on creating change for women and girls. The Women’s Foundation of California became a kind of template for others. It launched a movement. Today there are about 170 such funds. Forty of them are international.

Did you grow up with money?

I would describe my parents as socialites who enjoyed their wealth and their generosity. My mother had been a stockbroker. My stepfather’s grandfather had invented the rotary telephone. They had five homes, a helicopter, a private airplane. Wherever they lived, they gave time and money — Southampton Hospital, the New York Botanical Garden. They loved doing that.

When I was 14, my parents sat me down for a talk. They said that starting at the age of 21, I’d receive a trust that would total $1.3 million. In today’s money, that would be the equivalent of almost $6 million. They explained they were giving me a head start, but not so much that I could live off it and not work. And my mother emphasized that this legacy came with obligations: “You are expected to volunteer at least one day a week and to give away 10 percent of whatever you earn.”

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