The biggest problem I see here is a lack of logic. If you consider the Internet bubble to be the result of 'fraud and piracy', which I gather he does (an arguable but certainly fairly defensible position), then the *source* for much of the original $20M was in fact the 'fraud and piracy' that he bemoans - corporations taking advantage of sky high stock prices to raise more and more cash, which they were then free to use for items such as donations to the Mark Twain museum. Charitable donations boost the CEO's ego and raise his profile in the community, but generally do very little for investors. Much better, IMHO, to have the rich individuals give directly (ala Rockfeller, Carnegie, etc) rather than through their firms.

So it makes more sense to look at the original $20M as the problem, not the lack of the additional $10M. After all, the main problem with corporate management isn't that they ran the economy itself into the ground - it's that, once the good times ended, they claimed that things at their company were great even as they were sucking, in order to keep the stock prices up for as long as possible.

Welcome to an economic downturn, Kurt. Unless you think that Wall St and America's CEO's are responsible for the economic cycle itself, then get used to reduced charitable donations when times are bad, and be thankful for increased donations when times are good.

(I will agree that the new 'improved' airport security as well as much of the rest of domestic security is a complete waste of time and money for all involved. There he is right on.)