In Part I of this report is the full statement from the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) website of a letter by Warren Buffett to shareholders that has and continues to make news since it’s release pre-Thanksgiving 2024. In Part II of this article will be additional facts, information, and a critical analysis given that Buffett has been described by some on the left and right as undermining capitalism in the U.S. with what has been called by some as philanthro-feudalism, philanthro-capitalism, or the philanthropic-industrial complex. How that plays out in the manufactured housing industry and America more broadly will be part of the focus of Part II which provides details on each his four named nonprofits with additional facts, evidence and analysis (i.e.: FEA). Those four named nonprofits are: The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, The Sherwood Foundation, The Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation. Third-party details on each are included in Part II, including insights from Buffett’s son Peter.

First up in this two-part article is Buffett head turning and news making letter.  Note that Buffett provides in his statement what might be seen as a mild critique of his own children: “they [Buffett and his first wife Susan’s children] were not ready to handle the staggering wealth that Berkshire shares had generated” when she died.

He also appears to reference his own approaching death. “Father time always wins. But he can be fickle – indeed unfair and even cruel – sometimes ending life at birth or soon thereafter while, at other times, waiting a century or so before paying a visit. To date, I’ve been very lucky, but, before long, he will get around to me.” More on such matters in a detail-oriented Part II.

To frame Buffett’s Berkshire-issued letter, one might keep in mind this pull quote from the more detailed analysis performed by Michael P. Lebowitz in his study of the Oracle of Omaha, a.k.a. Warren Buffett. Lebowitz says it is more important to watch what Buffett does than what he says. Lebowitz’s analysis can be boiled down to two points. Buffett palters, meaning he speaks in a periodically deceptive manner. Lebowitz also indicated that Buffett‘s “moat” strategy is a method for creating and maintaining a monopoly.

 

Part I

 

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC.

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                        November 25, 2024

Omaha, NE (BRK.A; BRK.B) –

Today, Warren E. Buffett will convert 1,600 A shares into 2,400,000 B shares in order to give these B shares to four family foundations: 1,500,000 shares to The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 300,000 shares to each of The Sherwood Foundation, The Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation.

Mr. Buffett’s comments to his fellow shareholders follow:

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The gifts I am making today reduce my holdings of Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares to 206,363, a 56.6% decrease since my 2006 pledge. In 2004, before Susie, my first wife, died, the two of us owned 508,998 Class A shares. For decades, we had both thought that she would outlive me and subsequently distribute the vast majority of our large fortune. That was not to be.

When Susie died, her estate was roughly $3 billion, with about 96% of this sum going to our foundation. Additionally, she left $10 million to each of our three children, the first large gift we had given to any of them. These bequests reflected our belief that hugely wealthy parents should leave their children enough so they can do anything but not enough that they can do nothing.

Susie and I had long encouraged our children in small philanthropic activities and had been pleased with their enthusiasm, diligence and results. At her death, however, they were not ready to handle the staggering wealth that Berkshire shares had generated. Nevertheless, their philanthropic activities were dramatically increased by the 2006 lifetime pledge that I subsequently made and later expanded.

The children have now more than justified our hopes and, upon my death, will have full responsibility for gradually distributing all of my Berkshire holdings. These now account for 99½% of my wealth.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Father time always wins. But he can be fickle – indeed unfair and even cruel – sometimes ending life at birth or soon thereafter while, at other times, waiting a century or so before paying a visit. To date, I’ve been very lucky, but, before long, he will get around to me.

There is, however, a downside to my good fortune in avoiding his notice. The expected life span of my children has materially diminished since the 2006 pledge. They are now 71, 69 and 66.

I’ve never wished to create a dynasty or pursue any plan that extended beyond the children. I know the three well and trust them completely. Future generations are another matter. Who can foresee the priorities, intelligence and fidelity of successive generations to deal with the distribution of extraordinary wealth amid what may be a far different philanthropic landscape? Still, the massive wealth I’ve collected may take longer to deploy than my children live. And tomorrow’s decisions are likely to be better made by three live and well-directed brains than by a dead hand.

As such, three potential successor trustees have been designated. Each is well known to my children and makes sense to all of us. They are also somewhat younger than my children.

But these successors are on the wait list. I hope Susie, Howie and Peter themselves disburse all of my assets.

Each respects my wish that the disposition program for my holdings of Berkshire shares in no way betrays the exceptional trust Berkshire shareholders bestowed upon Charlie Munger and me. The 2006-2024 period gave me the chance to observe each of my children in action and they have learned much about large-scale philanthropy and human behavior. Each has overseen teams of 20-30 for many years and has observed the unique employment dynamics affecting philanthropic organizations.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Wealthy friends have been curious about the extraordinary confidence I have in my children and their possible alternates. They express particular surprise at my requirement that all foundation actions will require a unanimous vote. How can this be workable?

I’ve explained that my children will forever be besieged with earnest requests from very sincere friends and others. A second reality: When large philanthropic gifts are requested, a “no” frequently prompts would-be grantees to ponder a different approach – another friend, a different project, whatever. Those who can distribute huge sums are forever regarded as “targets of opportunity.” This unpleasant reality comes with the territory.

Hence, the “unanimous decision” provision. That restriction enables an immediate and final reply to grant-seekers: “It’s not something that would ever receive my brother’s consent.” And that answer will improve the lives of my children.

My unanimity clause, of course, is not a panacea – it clearly isn’t workable if you have nine or ten children or stepchildren. And it doesn’t solve the daunting problem of intelligently distributing many billions annually.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

I have one further suggestion for all parents, whether they are of modest or staggering wealth. When your children are mature, have them read your will before you sign it.

Be sure each child understands both the logic for your decisions and the responsibilities they will encounter upon your death. If any have questions or suggestions, listen carefully and adopt those found sensible. You don’t want your children asking “Why?” in respect to testamentary decisions when you are no longer able to respond.

Over the years, I have had questions or commentary from all three of my children and have often adopted their suggestions. There is nothing wrong with my having to defend my thoughts. My dad did the same with me.

I change my will every couple of years – often only in very minor ways – and keep things simple. Over the years, Charlie and I saw many families driven apart after the posthumous dictates of the will left beneficiaries confused and sometimes angry. Jealousies, along with actual or imagined slights during childhood, became magnified, particularly when sons were favored over daughters, either in monetary ways or by positions of importance.

Charlie and I also witnessed a few cases where a wealthy parent’s will that was fully discussed before death helped the family become closer. What could be more satisfying?

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

As I write this, I continue my lucky streak that began in 1930 with my birth in the United States as a white male. My two sisters had, of course, been explicitly promised by the 19^th Amendment’s enactment in 1920 that they would be treated equally with males. This, after all, had been the message of our thirteen colonies in 1776.

In 1930, however, I emerged in a country that hadn’t yet gotten around to fulfilling its earlier aspirations. Aided by Billie Jean King, Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and countless others, things began changing in the 1970s.

So favored by my male status, very early on I had confidence that I would become rich. But in no way did I, or anyone else, dream of the fortunes that have become attainable in America during the last few decades. It has been mind-blowing – beyond the imaginations of Ford, Carnegie, Morgan or even Rockefeller. Billions became the new millions.

Things didn’t look great when I arrived at the beginning of The Great Depression. But the real action from compounding takes place in the final twenty years of a lifetime. By not stepping on any banana peels, I now remain in circulation at 94 with huge sums in savings – call these units of deferred consumption – that can be passed along to others who were given a very short straw at birth.

I am also lucky that my philanthropic philosophy has been enthusiastically embraced – and widened – by both of my wives. Neither I, Susie Sr. nor Astrid, who succeeded her, believed in dynastic wealth.

Instead, we shared a view that equal opportunity should begin at birth and extreme “look-at-me” styles of living should be legal but not admirable. As a family, we have had everything we needed or simply liked, but we have not sought enjoyment from the fact that others craved what we had.

It also has been a particular pleasure to me that so many early Berkshire shareholders have independently arrived at a similar view. They have saved – lived well – taken good care of their families – and by extended compounding of their savings passed along large, sometimes huge, sums back into society. Their “claim checks” are being widely distributed to others less lucky.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

With this philosophy, I have lived the way I wanted to live since my late 20s, and I have now watched my children grow into good and productive citizens. They have different views in many cases from both me and their siblings but have common values that are unwavering.

Susie Jr., Howie and Peter have each spent far more time directly helping others than I have. They enjoy being comfortable financially, but they are not preoccupied with wealth. Their mother, from whom they learned these values, would be very proud of them.

As am I.

 

About Berkshire

Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiaries engage in diverse business activities including insurance and reinsurance, utilities and energy, freight rail transportation, manufacturing, services and retailing. Common stock of the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading symbols BRK.A and BRK.B.

— END —

…

The PDF of the Berkshire-Buffett Letter is found at this link here.

 

Part II – Additional Information with More MHProNews Analysis and Commentary

In no particular order of importance are added facts, evidence, insights, and analysis.

1) About the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (STBF), per Influence Watch. Per their website Influence Watch offers: “Information on over 13,500 public policy influencers on demand.” Their focus is various nonprofits that include Buffett’s four foundations and provide information sources that are cited that span the left-right media divide and the organization itself that is being reported on.

The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (STBF) is one of the charitable entities associated with billionaire Berkshire Hathaway investor Warren Buffett, who funds the Foundation. Founded in 1964 as the Buffett Foundation, STBF was later renamed for Warren’s late first wife Susan, whose estate granted the Foundation over $2 billion. ¹

In 2018, STBF paid out over $624 million in total grants and contributions. ² STBF was the third-largest private independent foundation by grants paid in 2013, behind the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Ford Foundation. ³ In 2015, STBF was the 9th-largest foundation in the country by grants paid, according to the Foundation Center, up from the 15th-largest in 2014. ⁴

STBF is a quiet but massive financial supporter of pro-abortion activities and population control policies. It is reportedly the largest non-governmental funder of “reproductive health and family planning” in the world, including substantial investments in abortion and contraceptives. ⁵ One estimate found that STBF had given over $1.2 billion to organizations which advocate for pro-abortion policy, perform elective abortions, or helped develop the chemical abortion pill RU-486. As of 2012, STBF had provided nearly $300 million to the controversial abortion clinic network Planned Parenthood and its national headquarters, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). ⁶

According to data analyzed by the Capital Research Center in February 2020, between 2002 and 2018 STBF paid out $3.94 billion in grants to groups that support abortion and publicly provided contraception. Of that sum, STBF paid out $674.5 million to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, International Planned Parenthood Federation, and various state-level affiliates of the abortion provider. ⁷

The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation is chaired by Buffett’s daughter, Susie (not to be confused with Susan Thompson Buffett, the late wife of Warren Buffett). Susie Buffett’s ex-husband, Allen Greenberg, is STBF’s president. Warren Buffett and Susan Thompson Buffett’s estate are the principal funders of STBF, and the foundation has been characterized as “secretive” by left-leaning observers for its non-transparent grant solicitation practices. ⁸ As of 2015, STBF was an institutional partner in the left-of-center donor convening Democracy Alliance. ⁹

More on the STBF is found at this link here.

 

2) About The Sherwood Foundation, per Influence Watch.

The Sherwood Foundation (SF) is a Omaha, Nebraska-based 501(c)(3) grantmaking foundation founded and chaired by Susan A. Buffet, the daughter of billionaire investor and left-wing donor Warren Buffet. ^1 2 Sherwood Foundation assets were $376,758,547 in 2018 and the foundation provided $147,538,375 in grants in 2018. ³

Sherwood Foundation focuses most of its contributions on Nebraska-based social, cultural, community, and educational organizations but also exhibits a left-leaning political orientation. SF states that its grantmaking promotes left-of-center social policy and expects recipients of SF donations to have similar values, specifically support for abortion. ⁴

The SF donated tens of thousands to the Clinton Foundation, affiliated with former US President Bill Clinton and 2016 Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. SF donated $1 million to support anti-gun-rights protests in 2018, and contributes to social liberal groups including Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union. ^5 6

Sherwood Foundation supports the OpenSky Policy Institute, which focuses on promoting left-of-center budget and tax policies in the state of Nebraska. The OpenSky Policy Institute is a member of the State Priorities Partnership, a coalition of left-of-center, state-based advocacy groups active in 43 states. ⁵

The SF contributed over $200,000 in 2018 to Nebraskans for Civic Reform’s (now Civic Nebraska) efforts to allow convicted felons in Nebraska to be immediately eligible to vote upon release from prison. Nebraska law currently requires released felons to wait two years before having their voting rights restored. ^7 5

More on The Sherwood Foundation at this link here.

 

3) About The Howard G. Buffett Foundation per Influence Watch.

The Howard G. Buffett Foundation is a grantmaking organization founded by Howard G. Buffett, son of billionaire Warren Buffett. The IRS granted the Foundation tax exempt status in 1999 as a 501(c)(3) organization. The Foundation is headquartered in Decatur, IL. Howard G. Buffett has served as chairman of the Foundation since its beginning.

History

In 2006, Warren Buffett pledged to give away 85 percent of his fortune through shares in Berkshire Hathaway, a large holding company founded and controlled by Buffett. ¹ Buffett pledged most of these shares to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but he also pledged shares worth $1 billion each to the three foundations established by his children, including the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. ¹ Warren Buffet has continued to fund the Howard G. Buffett Foundation in annual installments between $100 million and $150 million worth of stock. ¹

Howard G. Buffett, the founder and chairman of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, dropped out of college and spent most of his life as a farmer. ¹ His Foundation provides funding to many agricultural projects, specifically to the promotion of sustainable agriculture in Africa. ¹ Over the past 20 years, the Foundation has given more than $1.1 billion in grants.

In 2020, the Howard G. Buffet Foundation was one of the key recipients of a $15.97 million gift of Berkshire Hathaway stock from Warren Buffett. ²

In November 2022, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation received 300,000 Class B shares in Berkshire Hathaway stock from Warren Buffett, part of $750 million in Hathaway stock that he donated that month to the Foundation as well as several organizations associated with Buffett including the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, the Sherwood Foundation, and the NoVo Foundation. ^3 4

International Activities

The work of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation is overwhelmingly international. In 2017, the organization gave 68.2 percent of all awarded grants to international projects and organizations. ⁵ More specifically, the Foundation concentrates its grants in South and Central America, Africa, and the United States. ⁵ Until 2017, the Foundation focused over half of all grants in Africa, and most focused on technological innovation for farmers in developing countries. ⁵

In 2017, the Foundation gave more grants to projects in conflict mitigation than those in any other area, with 54.7 percent of all grants given to conflict mitigation projects. ⁵ The largest individual grant the Foundation offered in 2017 was $38.1 million, given to APC-Columbia in order to locate and remove land-mines which killed 89 people in 2016 alone. ^6 6 Further projects, both in the United States and abroad, focused on preventing the proliferation of drugs. The Foundation provided a grant for $2 million to swap coca plants (the primary ingredient in cocaine) for coffee crops on nearly 1000 acres of land in Columbia in 2017. ⁷ That same year, the Foundation gave $8.2 million to national police in Ecuador, a nation boarding Columbia through which cocaine is frequently trafficked. ⁸

The Foundation gave 31.6 percent of all grants to projects in food security. ⁹ The Foundation offered most food security grants to projects in Africa, for what Buffett refers to as a “Brown Revolution” which focuses on soil fertility and sustainable agriculture. ¹⁰ To fuel this “revolution,” Buffett started the Sequoia Farm Foundation out of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation in 2013. ¹¹ The Sequoia Farm Foundation is a separate 501(c)(3) research firm, which focuses on using technology to preserve soil fertility and developing agricultural practices to increase food security. ¹² The Buffett Foundation funds research in Arizona to test new farming methods on land with soil similar to that which can be found across much of Africa. ¹⁰ In 2007, chemical company Monsanto launched Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), a campaign to which the Howard G. Buffett Foundation has contributed. ¹³

In 2020, the Foundation committed $200 million toward combatting the cocaine trade in the Catatumbo region of Colombia. ¹⁴

Domestically, the Foundation has provided grants to a variety of projects and organizations, ranging from the Boys and Girls Club of America to local law enforcement agencies. In 2017 alone, the Buffett Foundation gave $8.6 million in grants to US local and state law enforcement agencies in 2017 alone. ⁸

Border Security

Though his foundation focuses primarily on international issues, Buffett has taken a personal interest in border security, specifically the relationship between American drug demand and disorder at the U.S.-Mexico border. ¹⁵ Buffett owns a ranch in Cochise County, Arizona: Over the past several years, Buffett has given tens of millions of dollars to the Cochise County Sheriff’s Officer. ¹⁶

Buffett has written a book about drug demand, illegal immigration, and border enforcement titled Our 50-State Border Crisis: How the Mexican Border Fuels the Drug Epidemic in America’s Heartland. ¹⁷ Buffett criticized “the politics” of border enforcement and President Donald Trump’s proposal to construct a barrier the entire length of the U.S.-Mexico border, advocating “a combination of properly equipped law enforcement, some barriers in places and cooperation with Mexico and other countries.” ¹⁸

In 2018, the Buffett Foundation pledged $30 million to social service and rehabilitation programs in Decatur, Illinois to fight addiction. ¹⁹

People

Howard G. Buffett is the founder and chairman of the Foundation. The son of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. founder Warren Buffett, Howard G. Buffett is the only member of the Buffett family to declare himself a Republican (as of 2011). ²⁰ Buffett dropped out of three different colleges and worked a series of odd jobs before becoming a farmer for most of his professional life. ¹

So, among the takeaways from the above, while Howard G. Buffett is reportedly the only self-declared Republican among the Buffett children, he is an apparently anti-Trump Republican who opposes Trump’s border policies.

More on the Howard G. Buffett foundation at this link here.

 

4) The fourth is the Buffett-funded foundation is The NoVo Foundation that MHProNews and/or MHLivingNews have invested more time focused on in various reports, other than the Gates Foundation, which Warren Buffett and William “Bill” Gates III have jointly funded and Buffett was a longtime trustee on the Gates Foundation board.

The NoVo Foundation is the private foundation controlled by Peter Buffett, son of investor and left-of-center philanthropist Warren Buffett, and Peter’s wife Jennifer. Warren provided the initial donation of 350,000 shares of Berkshire Hathaway valued at $1,000,000,000. ¹ The foundation directs millions each year to left-of-center groups advocating for abortion, LGBT interests, and liberal economics.

Peter Buffett and his wife Jennifer are the co-presidents of NoVo, as well as co-chairs of the board of directors.

Background

Jennifer Buffett has funded community projects in Milwaukee since 1997. ² Jennifer currently serves on the board of V-Day, a feminist advocacy group founded by Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler. ³ Peter Buffett is known as a musician, composer, and television producer. ²

The Buffetts founded NoVo in 2006 when Warren Buffett provided funding as part of his pledge to give away the majority of his fortune to charity. ¹

Ideologically, the Buffetts functionally align with the anti-capitalist left. Peter wrote a New York Times opinion piece condemning micro-lending and financial literacy. “People will certainly learn how to integrate into our system of debt and repayment with interest. People will rise above making $2 a day to enter our world of goods and services so they can buy more. But doesn’t all this just feed the beast?” ⁴

In 2020, the NoVo Foundation was one of the key recipients of a $15.97 million gift of Berkshire Hathaway stock from Warren Buffett. ⁵

In November 2022, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the NoVo Foundation received 300,000 Class B shares in Berkshire Hathaway stock from Warren Buffett, part of $750 million in Hathaway stock that he donated that month to NoVo as well as several foundations associated with Buffett including the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the Sherwood Foundation. ^6 7

Associations with Other Left-of-Center Funders

NoVo supports a number of community foundations, liberal donor-advised funds, and left-of-center incubators which support liberal advocacy. In 2016, NoVo gave $21,913,104 to the Tides Foundation to support a large number of special projects including Feminist.com Foundation, Student Voice, and the European Women’s Lobby. ⁸

NoVo provided Community Initiatives of San Francisco with $250,000. ⁸ Community Initiatives funds many left-of-center projects which support environmentalists, LGBT activists, and liberal media projects. ⁹  NoVo maintains a donor-advised fund through the Greater Milwaukee Foundation; in 2016, NoVo provided the fund with $471,500. ⁸ The Greater Milwaukee Foundation funds left-wing groups and projects such as Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, liberal get out the vote campaigns, and environmentalist groups. ¹⁰

The Ms. Foundation for Women obtained $2,150,000 from NoVo for “general support.” ⁸ The Ms. Foundation gives to a host of left-wing groups including Adhikaar for Human Rights, Blueprint NC, Miami Workers Center, Planned Parenthood, and National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. ¹¹ The Ms. Foundation has presented Jennifer and Peter Buffett with the foundation’s Gloria Award, named after Ms. Foundation founder Gloria Steinem. ¹²

NEO Philanthropy received $216,450 from NoVo. ⁸ NEO is a left-wing clearinghouse that allows progressives to pull their funding to back projects across the country. ¹³ NoVo gave $186,450 to the “just economics playbook” and $30,000 to the End Rape on Campus (EROC) project. EROC opposed Secretary of Education Betsy Devos revoking controversial Obama administration guidance on how colleges were to investigate sexual assault, which critics argued (and some courts agreed¹⁴) did not provide due process for accused students. ¹⁵

Novo gave $2,250,000 to the New Venture Fund (NVF), which spends hundreds of millions on behalf of left-wing causes each year. ⁸ NVF is a “dark-money” group that allows liberal activists to spend millions on left-wing campaigns while being cloaked in anonymity. ¹⁶ Campaigns NVF has funded included a liberal education ballot measure in Mississippi, ads targeting Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), and ballot measure in Colorado increasing taxes on oil and gas companies. ¹⁶

New World Foundation (NWF) was the beneficiary of a $5,441,529 in grants from NoVo. ⁸ NWF supports various liberal initiatives through its funds. The New Majority Fund supports illegal immigrants and often works with the Phoenix Fund for Workers and Communities to aid labor unions. ¹⁷ NWF backs environmentalist projects through the Climate Action Fund. ¹⁸

NoVo is a partner of the liberal mega-donor collective Democracy Alliance. ¹⁹ The group focused on helping Democratic candidates during the 2018 election through turning out young and minority liberal voters. One group funded by Democracy Alliance was Living United for Change in Arizona. The group paid canvassers to go door to door to turn out voters for Arizona Democrats including Kyrsten Sinema for U.S. Senate, David Garcia for governor, and other down-ballot left-wing candidates. ²⁰

According to tax filings, NoVo Foundation has funded a substantial donor-advised fund through the Tides Foundation, a left-wing ideological provider of donor-advised funds. It is reportedly a member of the secretive left-wing donor convening Democracy Alliance.²¹

Project Funding

LGBT Interests

NoVo provided $350,000 to Borealis Philanthropy for its Fund for Trans Generations. ⁸ The fund is used to support transgender activists and organizations. In 2019, the fund provided financial support to over 50 transgender-interests projects. ²²

National LGBTQ Task Force received $100,000 from NoVo. ⁸ Founded in 1973, the task force calls itself the oldest LGBT rights group in the United States and began pushing Democrats towards embracing LGBT interests in the 1970s. ²³ The National LGBTQ Task Force supports legal protections for the LGBT community, abortion, and the inclusion of sexual orientation in the census. ²⁴

NoVo founded the Create, Connect, Transform project with Allied Media Projects (AMP). Over four years, NoVo will give AMP $3,000,000 for local organizing in Detroit to “fuel social justice, media, art, and technology innovations.” ²⁵ AMP, along with the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, gave funding to Detroit REPRESENT! a group that discusses injustices facing LGBTQ youth of color and make media projects to address it. ²⁶

NoVo gave $300,000 to the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP) founded by the Transgender Law Center. ²⁵ The project seeks to highlight how law enforcement and the immigration system targets Black LGBT migrants. The project was started with the support of the Open Society Foundations Soros Justice Fellowship. ²⁷

Pro-Abortion and Feminist Groups

Equality Now received $1,450,000 from NoVo. ⁸ Equality Now advocates for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), a longstanding goal of the American left-wing. ²⁸ The ERA bans discrimination “on account of sex,” which Equality Now claims could codify into the Constitution legal protections for the LGBT community. ²⁹ Equality Now also supports the expansion of abortion. ³⁰

NoVo gave Forward Together, a group that pushes a pro-abortion agenda, $200,000. ^31 8 Forward Together has lobbied for paid leave and the expansion of government healthcare programs. ³²

The Global Fund for Women received $250,000 from Novo. ⁸ The Global Fund for Women advocates for increased access to abortion around the world and celebrated the passage of laws allowing abortion in Chile and Ireland. ³³

The International Planned Parenthood Federation received $296,668 from NoVo. ⁸ The federation supports U.S. foreign aid dollars going to abortion providers and supports global abortion access. ^34 35

Rockefeller Family Fund (RFF) was given $1,500,000 from NoVo earmarked for the Economic Justice for Women (EJW) project. ⁸ Starting in 2008, EJW began advocating for paid family leave and has since expanded to also push for paid medical leave. ³⁶ The other areas RFF is active in are environmental projects focused on global warming and liberal electoral reforms. ³⁷

In 2020, the NoVo Foundation announced that it would be re-examining its grant strategy after it had phased out its “Initiative to Advance Adolescent Girls’ Rights” team. ³⁸ and would ditch its initiative system in lieu of a holistic body. ³⁹

Left-of-Center Economics

Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) received $500,000 from NoVo. ⁸ CPD is connected to left-wing organizations with its board members having worked for the NAACP, AFL-CIO, and the American Civil Liberties Union. ⁴⁰ Past CPD campaigns include providing over $1,000,000 to support a ballot measure in Colorado in increase the minimum wage and “fair workweek” legislation which put burdens on business which made it hard to hire part time workers. ^41 42

NoVo gave Demos $200,000. ⁸ Demos is associated with Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and promotes leftist economic policies such as raising taxes, expanding the welfare state, and socialized healthcare. ^43 44

The Institute for Policy Studies, a left-wing D.C. think tank, takes support from NoVo. ⁸ The group’s connection to left-wing causes date back to when its founders left the Democratic Kennedy Administration and supported the anti-war movement in the 1960s. ⁴⁵ The institute supports a death tax of over 77 percent, a 70 percent income tax, and open borders. ^46 47 48

NoVo gifted $100,000 to the International Labor Rights Forum, which supports increasing the minimum wage, expanding the power of labor unions, and legal protections for illegal immigrant workers. ^49 8

Jobs With Justice Education Fund received $250,000 from NoVo. ⁸ The fund has worked on left-wing projects with UFCW labor union and National Domestic Workers Alliance. ^50 51 Jobs With Justice Education Fund supports illegal immigration, labor unions, and increased economic regulations. ^52 53 54

Miami Workers Center (MWC) was given $66,660 by NoVo. ⁸ In 1999, labor activists founded MWC in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami. ⁵⁵ MWC’s pushes a “Femme Agenda” which focuses on poverty through the lenses of “low-income Black women, particularly LGBTQ women.” ⁵⁶ MWC has advocated for creating renters unions, opposing the patriarchy, and abortion. ⁵⁶

NoVo, in partnership with the National Domestic Worker Alliance (NDWA), is conducting the Women’s Rematch project, a $2,000,000 undertaking. ²⁵ The project claims to be a non-partisan voter engagement campaign. However, the project hopes to build on the efforts of the left-wing #MeToo movement. The projects efforts will be focused on increasing voter engagement in 2020 among traditionally Democratic voters in Georgia, a state featuring potentially competitive races for president and the U.S. Senate. NDWA is part of the “alt-labor” movement supported by labor unions and left-wing funders including the Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Nathan Cummings Foundation, and Marguerite Casey Foundation. ⁵⁸ CCC pushes a liberal economic agenda including expanding welfare programs and Obamacare. ⁵⁹

Education

Through Advocates for Youth, NoVo provided $25,000 to Know Your Title IX which advocates for left-wing education policies. ⁸ Know Your Title IX supports the Obama administration’s Title IX guidance on sexual assault disciplinary procedures which forced colleges to use the lowest evidentiary standard. ⁶⁰ That stance was so radical that “even some liberal legal figures took issue arguing that no student should be punished unless the school was more certain that a line had been crossed.” ⁶¹

Black Lives Matter

NoVo partnered with the Movement for Black Lives for the Electoral Justice Project. ⁸ The $500,000 project was focused on creating campaigns within African-American communities to increase political engagement. ²⁵ The project was used to influence black voters to support the radical left-wing agenda of the Movement for Black Lives. The group’s platform incudes so-called “reparations,” such as free college and guaranteed minimum income for blacks; the redistribution of wealth; divesting from fossil fuels; and reducing military spending. ^62 63 64

NoVo and the Movement for Black Lives support the Movement Strategy Center (MSC). ⁶⁵ NoVo gave MSC $2,000,000 for the Decolonizing Race project. ²⁵ The project hopes “to transform the way conversations around racism and other issues of privilege and power.” MSC partners with anti-energy groups to push left-of-center energy policy. Policies such as ending fracking, divesting from traditional energy sources, and making U.S. energy 100 percent renewable by 2020 are all stances of MSC partner organizations. ^66 67 68 MSC has supported left-wing food and restaurant policy through its work with the HEAL Food Alliance. HEAL supports efforts to end the tipped minimum wage, which is earned mostly by waiters and waitresses; end farm labor by prisoners; and the end of deportations of all illegal immigrants. ⁶⁹

Immigration

Adhikaar for Human Rights and Social Justice received $107,500 from NoVo. ⁸ Adhikaar supports legal status for illegal immigrants and less restrictions on their ability to work in the United States.

NoVo started the Radical Hope Florida project with the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FIC). The $2,000,000 project is focused on bringing a feminist perspective to FIC and other partner organizations’ missions. ²⁵ FIC supports a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants and opposes local law enforcement aiding federal authorities in their effort to enforce immigration laws. ^70 71 During the 2016 election, FIC mobilized a get out the vote campaign in traditionally Democratic areas of the state in an effort to boost Democratic turnout in the closely contested election. ⁷²

Human Rights First has had financial support from NoVo. ⁸ Human Rights First opposes detaining illegal aliens at the border, closing the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, and allowing more refugees into the United States. ^73 74

More on the Novo Foundation at this link here.

 

5) So, the range of foundations mentioned by Buffett in his recent press release are led by generally left leaning and/or by an anti-Trump self-styled Republican. One of Buffett’s biggest causes, based on what is shown above from Influence Watch which details and footnotes its sources, is abortion and other left-leaning initiatives.

MHProNews has noted the same from a documentary video about Buffett that the chairman of Berkshire took an active part in creating. It is also illustrated from a statement that was on the website of his late, longtime partner Charlie Munger, that touts how “progressive” Munger is, even “radically” progressive.

 

Those who embrace the leftist thinking, per research, has proven to be more unhappy than those on the right.

Harvard professor Arthur Brooks explains how data shows that the unhappiest people and the most mentally ill people are mostly on the political left while the happiest are largely on the right.

Liberal women 18 to 30 have a 60% chance of being diagnosed as mentally ill. Discuss. pic.twitter.com/ZH8eOBzB7e

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) December 26, 2024

 

6) In the longform video interview of Clayton Homes CEO Kevin Clayton posted with transcript and analysis linked below, Kevin called Buffett a “genius.” The question is, what type of genius is Buffett? Perhaps an evil genius?

 

 

 

7) Buffett acknowledged during a video recorded Q&A, for example, that manufactured housing would be better off if the Duty to Serve (DTS) manufactured housing was implemented to support chattel lending.  Some years have elapsed since that Buffett statement. Once again, the latest 3-year plan by both Government Sponsored Enterprises (a.k.a.: the GSEs or Enterprises). According to the Clayton and other industry consolidation-focused firms that apparently dominate the board and leadership of the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI), the GSEs have yet to make any chattel loans since the Duty to Serve (DTS) manufactured housing was made federal law by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008.

The article linked below provides that video and several years of statements made the FHFA Listening Session.  Other reports that include Bud Labitan’s book on Buffett-Munger and their MOATS insights that includes a chapter on Clayton Homes and its related lending units, namely, 21st Mortgage Corporation and Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance (VMF), are linked here.

 

Per MHI’s letter to the FHFA linked here dated August of 2024 is the following.

Personal Property Loans
Despite the HERA statute requiring Fannie and Freddie to “consider” personal property manufactured loans as part of its statutory Duty to Serve requirements, neither GSE has made a single personal property loan since HERA was adopted 16 years ago.”

That too appears to be paltering, see what Mark Weiss, J.D., President and CEO of the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform had to say about MHI’s prior statement on DTS in the report linked below.

 

 

While per a source to that is a member of MHI to MHProNews, there may be some exceptions to MHI’s claim on no chattel loans by GSEs.  But either way, the number of chattel loans is either very limited or nonexistent. And the beneficiary of that GSE de facto policy of ignoring DTS chattel? It is apparently Clayton linked lenders, and increasingly, Champion and Cavco too. Who said? Another personality apparently from the political left, Doug Ryan while he was with CFED, which later rebranded Prosperity Now.

 

 

8) Much of what Buffett has embraced and funded is parasitic, a description used by his longtime ally in business, philanthro-feudalism, politics and more: William “Bill” Gates III.

 

 

9) Buffett’s own son Peter is among those who are on apparently on the left but who have nevertheless exposed how Buffett-style ‘philanthropy’ fails to benefit those that it claims to support. This has been described by some by terminology such as the philanthro-feudalism, philanthro-capitalism, or the philanthropic-industrial or ‘charitable industrial’ complex.

 

 

MHLivingNews report on that topic was highlighted by the left-leaning Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) on their website. Given that IPS felt the report was worthy of plugging on their website, they apparently believed that our report and analysis was fair and accurate.

 

 

10) Judge Learned Hand famously observed the following.  Per Forbes: “In America, there are two tax systems; one for the informed and one for the uninformed. Both systems are legal. Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury.” Buffett uses the tax code to reduce his taxable income, despite his well-known protestations about how little the wealthy pay in taxes compared to everyday Americans. But what that makes Buffett is an apparent hypocrite, yet another example of Michael Lebowitz’s analysis that it is more important to watch what Buffett does than to listen to what he says (or writes).

 

 

Giving credit where and when it is due, that left-leaning IPS observation that “democracy” being “imperiled” by the wealthy having an outsized influence over our society has a point. Part of that point is that the wealthy, like Buffett or Gates, can shield their income from taxation while still exercising a significant degree of control over that money through the foundations or nonprofits that they fund and support. Comedian Jay Leno poked fun at Buffett’s hypocrisy in the quip shown below.

 

 

But that Leno quip again illustrates the Lebowitz insight on Buffett and paltering. Buffett understands how to uses the various levers and mechanisms of the “rigged system.”

 

11) Buffett gets what amounts to free advertising for ‘giving away money’ for “philanthropy” that upon closer examination is better described as philanthro-feudalism, philanthro-capitalism, the philanthropic-industrial or ‘charitable industrial’ complex. Buffett postures about how little taxes he pays compared to numbers of middle-class Americans. Yet, Buffett deftly uses that tax system to fund charities that are largely for his own benefit. Through ‘charities’ and by other means, Buffett influences society, politicians, and public policies. He also gets those less informed credit for being generous when what he is doing is a sly form of advocacy for his own interests. See the various insights from Influence Watch, plus the various linked reports, to illustrate and underscored those points.

 

 

 

12) Stop and think. There are federal agencies that are supposed to be focused on making housing more affordable and accessible. MHI on its home page on this date claims that it does the following.

Elevating Housing Innovation;
Expanding Attainable Homeownership

“The Manufactured Housing Institute is the only national trade organization representing all segments of the factory-built housing industry. We are your trusted partner, advocate and industry leader.”

MHI’s Form 990, filed annually according to IRS requirements, says that MHI has been working to expand the market for manufactured housing. When thinking of MHI, think of Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway brands involved in that trade group and in their state association affiliates that include Shaw, Clayton, 21st, and VMF, to name but a few. Try to find something MHI has done in the last roughly 20 years that effectively mitigated against some interest of Berkshire and its various manufactured housing linked brands. Good luck with that, because even when MHI argues for DTS for chattel loans (for example), what has been the practical outcome? MHI itself admits that there have been NO such loans made. Who benefits? As Ryan said above, Clayton and its various Berkshire linked manufactured home lenders.

 

 

Berkshire owned Clayton and fellow industry consolidation and moat-focused MHI been carefully unpacked in a range of reports that reveal that despite the posturing by Democrats to be in favor of the working and middle class, that party is increasingly being recognized as the party of the elites like Buffett.

 

 

Open borders, importing items (meaning, exporting possible American jobs) from low-wage countries that Buffett-led Berkshire has invested in, are all ways that Buffett’s posturing can be explored and revealed.

 

 

If Buffett and his fellow Democratic- and RINO-Republican backing oligarchs outright and routinely said that they are working for increasing their wealth and power, they would not stay popular for long with millions, would they? So, this curious dance is engaged in where Buffett postures saying things that make him look better to the little guy or gal, but when a closer look reveals something quite different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Investing Overseas? Asian Supply Chain? Depending on Country: China-India-Pakistan-Brazil-More ‘Situation May be Worse than You Think’; Nations Growing Faster than China; MHVille Facts-Analysis

13) Facts matter. Reality matters. Inspiration grounded in reality is useful. MHProNews plans to bring a fascinating wrap up to a hectic 2024 as we look ahead to 2025. On this Christmas eve, Merry Christmas to all and happy Hanukkah to our Jewish friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Makes MHProNews the Runaway #1 in Manufactured Housing News? 3 Months of Top 35 Reports Reveal What Attracts Manufactured Home Professionals, Public Officials, Researchers, Attorneys, Others

 

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RV Sales to be Banned Across 6 ‘Blue’ States Under New Climate Rule; Local News on Manufactured Housing Missing Mark Underscores Need for Widespread MHVille Education-Marketing – FEA

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‘Class Traitor!’ Accusation Leveled Coupled with Latest ‘Bait and Switch’ Fact-Backed Wake Up Call to Peaceful Positive Action; plus Sunday Weekly MHVille Headlines in Review

Manufactured Home Industry’s ‘Other Image Campaign’ Unpacking ‘Tenants Continue to Protest as Demolition Begins at Sweetwater Mobile Home Park’ MHI and FMHA Responses to Li’l Abner MHP Drama

 

Again, our thanks to free email subscribers and all readers like you, as well as our tipsters/sources, sponsors and God for making and keeping us the runaway number one source for authentic “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)

By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.com.

Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing.

For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.

This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.

http://latonykovach.com

Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach

 

 

Related References:

The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which can be accessed by clicking on them.’