Chile has a new president today!Just what the doctor ordered:
Sebastián Piñera
Piñera owns 100% of Chilevisión, a terrestrial television channel broadcasting nationwide; 27% of LAN Airlines (LAN), 13% of Colo-Colo, a football (soccer) club; and holds significant stock positions in companies such as Quiñenco, Enersis, and Soquimich.
Piñera has built an estimated fortune of 1 billion USD as of March 2009, according to Forbes magazine. His wealth is attributed in great part to his involvement in the introduction of credit cards to Chile in the late 1970s and his subsequent investments, mainly in LAN Airlines stock.
This world would be much better off with more media-owning conservative billionaires in elective office (Berlusconi) or heavily influencing the dialog (Murdoch). Piñera is a welcome addition to that trend.
posted by Quiddity at 3/11/2010 10:40:00 AM
The military-industrial-entertainment complex is the wave of the present.
we need to recruit a billionaire progressive to put into the white house. somebody independently wealthy wouldn't be fazed by the chump change banks or insurance industry provide in campaign funding.
a president financially secure would then be able to afford the courage to stick to principle.
FDR gets held up as a model, but it was his wealth that provided the foundation that enabled him to be transformational. can't emulate FDR if you aren't as wealthy as FDR.
