Billionaire Home Depot founder Ken Langone has a warning for Pope Francis.
A major Republican donor, Langone told CNBC in a story published online Monday that wealthy people such as himself might stop giving to charity if the Pope continues to make statements criticizing capitalism and income inequality.
Langone described the Pope's comments about a "culture of prosperity" as "exclusionary" statements that may make some of the rich "incapable of feeling compassion for the poor." Langone, who is leading an effort to raise money for the restoration of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan said he relayed these concerns to Cardinal Timothy Dolan in New York. Specifically, Langone said he told the church leader he spoke to a donor who could give millions of dollars to the cathedral project but was worried about the Pope's "exclusionary" remarks.
"I've told the cardinal, 'Your Eminence, this is one more hurdle I hope we don't have to deal with. You want to be careful about generalities. Rich people in one country don't act the same as rich people in another country,'" said Langone.
So to be clear this Langone guy is threatening the Pope to go easy on he and his buddies or they will stop donating money to the poor.
Once again I let me just mention how impressed I am with the morality of the religious.
I still find much about the Pope to be concerning, however I am always gratified when he sticks to the conservatives or exposes them for the raging hypocrites that mos of us already know them to be.
I love how he warns that the rich will lose all the kindly compassion they have for the poor...as if "the poor" are just swimming in all the wealth trickling down on them, now.
ReplyDeleteAnd who helped make them poor in the first place?
DeleteOh yeah, all those rich people buying politicians who pass legislation that benefits the rich and hurts the poor.
It's ironic how many of the rich think they are tough guys, yet when they don't get what they want, then they whine like babies.
ReplyDeleteSo Langone says" either you support us rich bitches havin' billions, or you don't get no new cathedral money."
ReplyDeleteShows it isn't charity that Langone is practicing, doesn't it?
Perhaps Langone would just prefer a straight up revolution of the poor?
The filthy rich can be so arrogant.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually worse than that. They don't care about money for the poor. He's talking about the rich not ponying up for yet another extravagant remodeling of a big city cathedral. I'm sure the pope is quaking in his flip flops
ReplyDeleteFuck 'em. Who needs charity from cheap-ass space-wasters like this one. I, for one, will not shop at Home Depot again.
ReplyDeleteIn a word: chutzpah!
ReplyDeleteM from MD
I so DETEST the rich, Republican, white guys in America. Fuck them!
ReplyDeleteI suggest all of us stop shopping at his store called Home Depot. You won't see me in there ever again! There are other stores just like his!
You can be sure he is donating for the restoration of the church in Manhattan because AND ONLY BECAUSE it is a huge tax write off for him when he files his income tax returns. Does he really think we are idiots?
Agree. It's only about a tenth of a mile farther to buy the same materials at Lowe's, that is, if big-box stores necessitate purchasing very large quantities that local suppliers cannot provide at a competitive price. I buy local when I can anyway. Home Depot doesn't help itself by having an arrogant CEO who hold the poor hostage because of criticism by a religious leader.
DeleteFrankly, I don't mind making one less stop by removing HD from the preferred supplier list. BTW, I've never seen this SOB or any of his people at any of our community and/or charitable events, and our city is among the largest 25 markets in the U.S.
I'm neither Catholic nor poor so he's done me no favors, just as for the other millions of business owners and consumers who would expect a little bit of humility from someone so blessed as Langone.
I stopped shopping at Home Depot in 2008 when this idiot called the president a terrorist.
DeleteI remember when the business model was--don't piss any of your customers off because of politics or religion. Just sell stuff to them.
I did the same. The local Home Depot here is next door to my favorite grocery store and I will get in my car and drive another mile to go to the nearest Lowe's! I haven't been in Home Depot since 2008 also and will continue to boycott that store!
DeleteLowe's management sucks too. They pulled their ads from TLC's All American Muslim program. Pretty much all big business is homophobic, islamaphobic and just out for their bottom line. Hold you nose when you shop any large corporate store.
DeleteHome Despot vs Blowes?
DeleteSHOP LOCALLY OWNED!
damnit !! i totally boycotted lowes after their little racist snafu in 2011 and switched to home depot ... fuk !!
Deleteif it wasn't for these lower 48 corporate monsters i'd unequivocally still be frequenting the best hardware store in Alaska McKay's Hardware in Spenard.
very homey Mom and Pop place that had everything, they'd been in business for 55 years.
then eagle hardware ( later re-named lowes ) invaded Anchorage followed closely by home
depot, and soon after McKay's was no more ...
i really miss how Alaska was before the invasion of these monster corporate koch suckers arrived
8(
Someone should remind Mr. Langone of the Beatitudes and of the parable about the camel and the eye of the needle. That someone should be Cardinal Dolan but I suspect that he wouldn't have the courage to do it.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
Fat Boy Timmy Dolan? Pedophile protector and screw em monetarily AGAIN, Timmy Dolan?
Deletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/us/dolan-sought-vatican-permission-to-shield-assets.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
I'll bet most of their "charitable" contributions don't even go to the poor. They donate more to the arts, museums, universities, in other words, places where they can get their names on a wall, a building, or a program.
ReplyDeleteHas it occurred to anyone how much the pope is admirable in the way Gomer Pyle is admirable?
ReplyDeleteCute but shallow - vapid......"?????
He riles up the teabaggers and makes the wealthy expose what contemptible douchebags they are. I'll settle for that.
DeleteReally? The Pope wields a great deal of power. You don't get the position by being cute, vapid, and shallow. The man has a depth you will never achieve. Love him or hate him, show some respect. No I am not Catholic and I'm pretty much in line with Gryphen's thinking. However, your remark was beyond childish.
Delete3:04pm
DeleteSorry ALL religions are part of the problem. The soon they all go away the better.
vapid? probably not. ruthless? quite likely.
DeleteUnknown1:40 PM
DeleteHas it occurred to anyone how much theSarah Palin is admirable in the way Gomer Pyle is admirable?
Cute but shallow - vapid......"?????
*****
There fixed it for you.
Your welcome troll.
coming from a shallow vapid inbred dumb fuk
DeleteThe people who work at our local Home Depot are so nice, but I won't be shopping there any more.
ReplyDeleteMy DH worked for them 13 years. Nice people, you bet! Ken and policies? Not so much. Think Wal-Mart. I don't give one whit what he thinks.
DeleteNext headline, "Billionaires Buy Pope."
ReplyDeleteI stopped shopping there after his anti union conference call. Look it up
ReplyDeleteI clicked on the TPM link provided by Gryph at the start of this post. Then I went to the CNBC original link provided by TPM.
ReplyDeleteI urge everyone to go to the CNBC link and read the comments. Your stomach will churn at the insults aimed at Pope Francis.
The catholic church is one of the richest corporations in the world. Let them pay for their own cathedral restorations. Rich guy just wants a tax write off and hopefully religious donations became disallowed for tax exemptions sooner than later.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with these TEabagger douchebags - rich or poor they're all wonky- or cross-eyed rats?
DeleteThere are all those diocese bankruptcies due to sex abuse...they either need better financial advice or better sex criminal reporting policies...
DeleteIf Mr. Langone ensured that Home Depot workers were paid a living wage and received adequate health care, sick and maternity leave, and retirement benefits, they would not need charity from the rich. Donating to a cathedral restoration so he can have a plaque with his name on it in the church, rather than paying his workers, is pure selfish greed and not charity.
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DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteLet's be clear, this isn't about withholding money from the poor, it is about withholding money from a church building fund. This HD guy doesn't have compassion for the poor, obviously. Anyone who read Game Change 2 knows this guy likes to try to throw his weight around.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, let's debunk this whole "give to the poor" bullshit that fellow is talking about: he's not giving his money to the poor, he's giving his money to the Church. That's a very different thing.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever walked into a Catholic cathedral?
Or a Mormon temple?
Or the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA?
And then, have you seen the homes (palaces) the Schulers and the Grahams and their ilk live in? The expensive cars they drive - the private jets they own?
And THEN you still think the money you give to the church actually goes to help the POOR?
Bitch, please...
I am certain this new Pope has hit a nerve..... How many years have policies just been chugging along under other Popes and the GOP just wrapping themselves around the cross? Finally the prosecution of the pediphile priests came due and now the church graft and corruption comes to surface.
ReplyDeleteThese rich guys want to buy their way into heaven....oh wait, does heaven even exist? I say give because you want to and try to imagine walking in another persons shoes....
I hate to break it to Mr. Home Depot, but Jesus didn't make such distinctions. Why should the Pope?
ReplyDelete