Saturday, December 10, 2005

Bill Gates' Dad is worried---and Clean Gene and Richard Pryor are gone

"Bill Gates Sr., co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, gave a CityClub gathering their money's worth Friday at a luncheon to review the year almost gone.

As a participant on a panel that included Sen. Patty Murray, state Secretary of Health Mary Selecky and Issaquah developer George W. "Skip" Rowley, Gates, along with the others, was asked to tell about someone he'd been impressed by and to say why.

He picked Wall Street big shot Pete Peterson, who, Gates said, has warned against "the pending bankruptcy of the U.S."

His response drew shocked laughter from the crowd. But Gates wasn't kidding, and he would return to that theme later in the luncheon.

Gates said he is worried about a lot of things -- the Bush administration's tax-cutting policies at a time of war, the financial problems forecast for Social Security and Medicare and a national debt that appears to be flying off the chart as it is being underwritten by foreign governments."-excerpted from the P-I story, "Elder Gates is worried about Ameroca."
For a lesson in political history, read the AP account of the passing of Clean Gene McCarthy. Richard Pryor never ran for president, but he offered us "profanely personal insights into race relations and modern life," as noted tonight in this AP story.

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