Kakki wrote: "You can download the Forbes 400 at their web site. My point is that the list of the very richest, mega billionaires, not country club millionaires, has been comprised of mostly Democrats for a number of years now. Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Summer Redstone and so on. I just think the myth that all or most of the rich are Republicans went out of date (or should have) many decades ago. I have a sense that the perception may differ based on geography. Certainly the mega billionaires and millionaires out here in the west are mostly Dems. Virtually all of the media, film, music and high tech big business moguls out here in the west are Dems. Maybe in the mid-west and the east it is different."
Perhaps geography does have something to do with perception. I certainly see exponentially more wealthy Republicans than Democrats where I live in the Midwest. Nevertheless, my point remains the same. I'm less interested in the Forbes 400 than the Fortune 500; in the Democrat "super-billionaires" in the L.A.-based entertainment industry than the far greater number of Republican "country club millionaires" scattered throughout the nation. And if we looked at the compensation packages, benefits, "golden handcuff" packages, etc., of CEOs and other top executives, I don't doubt that quite a few Republican super-billionaires, or at least, extremely rich millionaires, would tumble out. I realize that not all Republicans are wealthy. Several in my family wouldn't make the cut if that were the criterion. As Brenda astutely pointed out, businesses today attempt to curry political favor with both parties: look at the well-documented dealings of Enron, before it fell flat on its face as a result of its misdeeds. And there are certainly reasons other than financial ones for allignment with the Republican Party, as religious conservatives, some libertarians, and others will attest to. But overall, the Republicans have been, and are still, the party of business and of wealth. One need look no farther than its platform and favorite issues to see this, again and again and again. Mary P. P.S. Sorry for forgetting the NJC tag earlier. That was originally my mistake, not Kakki's.
