The Haves - We all know "The Haves". We are the cash cow middle class that gets eaten alive by government taxes. We are great people who all want the same things out of life when it comes to our kids. Let's say we have a typical middle class child and his name is Little Johnny. From birth we want Little Johnny to be happy and healthy. We hope that he goes to school and becomes a great student finding activities of interests that the family can get behind and ultimately go to college on a scholarship. From there we want him to gain a respectable career where he makes good money, in fact, a lot of money so we can brag to our friends that he's doing really well for himself and depends on us for nothing. We introduce him to our friends and colleagues like teachers, engineers and police officers and show him all the good points of life as we know them.

The Have Mores - We don't all know "The Have Mores" but we've heard of them. They are the few that distribute the incomes to The Haves. They are also great people who want the best out of life for their kids but it's not necessarily the same things that "The Haves" desire. Let's say we have a typical uber-rich class kid and her name is Little Lauren. She is the granddaughter of Mogul Jimmy who made a fortune in the polymers industry. Like the parents of Little Johnny, Mogul Jimmy wants the best for his granddaughter but her educational track is a little different. Little Johnny had better marks up to 2nd grade but by 3rd grade Little Lauren started to pull away. It seems Mogul Jimmy took her to Savannah, GA to do business with Northrop Grumman's famous subsidiary called Gulfstream.

He showed the $50MM minimum to get started on a G6 where Lauren helped grandpa pick out alligator seats while learning about avionics and jet propulsion. By 7th grade, while she didn't know 3 billion people lived on less than $2 a day, she did start to realize that the material earth is controlled by less 10,000 people.   She knew this because Mogul Jimmy takes her to Davos Switzerland to their annual summit of the most powerful people on the planet. The runway is literally cluttered with Gulfstream jets so much so that she thinks everybody has one. She sees the same elite crowd at their other annual events including the Superbowl, Ryder Cup, Monaco's Grand Prix, Winter Olympics or Allen and Company's retreat for the media elite.

All students were taught economics, government, history, geography etc. but Little Lauren is getting a bird's eye view because she has routinely met Secretary's of State, Commerce, Defense, etc. She knows that when one stock exchange or government in the U.S. doesn't comply with what business owners want, they simply go to another more accommodating country and take not only their tax revenue but also the much needed jobs. She's not worried though because she understands the crux of the problem more so than the teachers and can answer those mind boggling questions asked by other gifted students. Questions like why Wall Street and Capitol Hill are so intertwined and why would why a guy leave a $20MM salary to take a $175K a year job? She answers very matter-of-factly by saying, "The reasons are two. On the one hand he loves the power and prestige but the other and most important is to keep the money machine running. No way can we afford to have a politician who cares about the masses and equality jamming a rod in the chain so instead of running the risk of letting some PhD smart guy help decide the laws, we'll handle this one ourselves. Oh yeah and we like the policy makers to enforce things like deregulation. But I digress."

With this type of knowledge, is it necessarily unfair that Little Lauren beats out Little Johnny for spots at top colleges? I mean after all she does display irrefutable worldwide knowledge. I suppose we could argue either way but we don't have to because she never even has to really apply to the top schools. Mogul Jimmy's incredible background and rolodex of power brokers and private equity gurus gives her Legacy Acceptance. Never heard of it? It's OK, most haven't but trust me she's getting accepted one way or another.

For fun, Little Johnny goes to amusement parks and an occasional concert but not Little Lauren. Mogul Jimmy owns waterfront property in Biscayne next to Will Smith, Sly Stallone and the Estefan's. She catches the music and movies when they're still concepts. Therefore when a big exam comes she doesn't skip out on studying while Little Johnny may fall to temptation risking his GPA. Plus her fabulous parties on Fisher Island gives her incredible influence over those Little Johnny would love to impress.  

The Have Nots - We don't all know "The Have Nots" but we've heard of them. What good do people generally say about them other than they'll probably never make it? (crickets can start chirping now). I recently sat in a radio interview promoting my latest book Slide 68 when one of the DJ's burst out laughing. They quickly filled me in as I spoke on my trailer park upbringing. It turns out just a few shows earlier one DJ said that people who were born in the trailer park will simply never make it. We all laughed about it and had no ill will against each other but the reality is few tend to do anything positive for the "Have Nots". On Saturday, August 3 in Manassas, VA we're holding an auction to raise money to get a few kids in some much needed G.E.D. programs. In return, you may go home with some pretty cool gift-filled baskets knowing you could have possibly just set someone on the course of "The Have Mores."   I'll be your auctioneer and we'll see you there for dinner, dancing, important issues and a great way to enjoy the evening. We've got a lot of ground to cover - Let's work.

Hey Mike Jenkins a.k.a Charlie Murphy- come quick I found the keys to Mogul Jimmy's Thriller cigarette boat. They shoulda neva gave you [people] money!