Barack Obama promised to \u201ctransform\u201d America by curbing income inequality, and toward that end he declared war on \u201cmillionaires and billionaires.\u201d\u00a0 To gauge his progress in this noble campaign, I departed the frigid climes of the Northeast for Palm Beach, Florida. \u00a0A tough assignment, but someone had to do it.<\/p>\n
Sadly, signs of progress in the Mill & Bill War<\/span> are difficult to discern on the island known to cognoscenti as \u201cAmerica\u2019s Riviera.\u201d\u00a0 Even before you reach the island, there are troubling signs.\u00a0\u00a0 Moored in the Inter-Coastal Waterway, between the d\u00e9class\u00e9 mainland (West Palm Beach) and Palm Beach proper, is a sprawling fleet of gleaming white yachts.\u00a0 On the island itself, ensconced in a profusion of exotic foliage and freshly clipped topiary, opulent Mediterranean mansions shimmer in the sunlight. \u00a0For billionaires and mega-millionaires, they are very fairly priced.\u00a0 An exquisite Atlantic prospect, palm-shaded swimming pool, soaring entry hall graced by Venetian gothic windows and intricate wrought iron screens, a Renaissance dining room with Islamic tiled floor and coffered ceiling\u2014this and more can be yours for a trifling $22 million.\u00a0 Alas, in today\u2019s hot real estate market few such properties are available.<\/p>\n On the narrow lanes of Palm Beach, BMW\u2019s and Mercedes are overawed by Bentleys and Ferraris. \u00a0The main shopping street, appropriately named Worth Avenue (formerly Net Worth Avenue, but the prefix was dropped in the 1930s, I suspect) received a pricey face-lift a few years ago\u2014not unlike many of its denizens.\u00a0 Jewelry shops abound.\u00a0 The local book shop features eight different magazines describing the polo tournaments and benefit balls of Palm Beach Society. Well preserved gentlemen squire comely female companions half their age. \u00a0Still younger, single females are on the prowl.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be surprised if that baby carriage up ahead is transporting a white Poodle. (Babies are scarce in Palm Beach.)\u00a0 Worth Avenue restaurants Bice and Taboo are packed on a Monday night.\u00a0 At Bice, try the Costata di Vitello Alla Griglia Con Capponatta E Salsa All Timo<\/i> for just $46.<\/p>\n Though it is forward-looking and up-to-date, Palm Beach pays due respect to its moneyed heritage.\u00a0 The top cultural attraction is the Flagler Museum, once the sumptuous 75-room mansion that Standard Oil magnate Henry Flagler built for his third wife in 1902, at the apex of the first Gilded Age.\u00a0 The Flaglers called it home for a couple of months each winter.\u00a0 Like many of Florida\u2019s founding fathers, Henry Flagler\u2019s main contribution to the state was to build hotels, which were strung along his Florida East Coast Railroad, from St. Augustine to Miami, like so many pearls.\u00a0 The hotel he built in Palm Beach was said to be the largest wooden structure in the world.<\/p>\n I would not wish to convey the impression that you have to be a billionaire or a mega-millionaire to enjoy Palm Beach.\u00a0 Common millionaires are welcome as well. They can find shelter at the Breakers, a perfectly adequate beachfront hostelry with two golf courses, six swimming pools, eight restaurants, and 2000 employees\u2014all situated in lush tropical acreage and ornate beaux arts interiors patterned after a Renaissance Italian palace.\u00a0 The imperial suite is well worth the price at $5,800 per night (excluding taxes and fees).<\/p>\n Bernie, my able accountant, who has clients in Palm Beach, explained to me that the town deals with crime the old fashioned way.\u00a0 After a heist, they pull up the draw bridges, so the brigands cannot escape to the mainland. \u00a0To caution the locals, a patrol car is permanently parked on Bingham Island, one of the potential escape routes.<\/p>\n Barack Obama, Secret Friend of Millionaires and Billionaires<\/b><\/p>\n How are we to explain the tragic failure of Obama\u2019s War on Mills & Bills?\u00a0 The uncharitable take on our President\u2014the sneering, insolent, disrespectful view of the Fox News crowd– is that his eloquence is exceeded only by his incompetence.\u00a0 But I, as usual, take a more nuanced view.<\/p>\n Obama is way smarter than you think.\u00a0 He is looking ahead to his post-White House days.\u00a0 By throwing up multiple regulatory barriers to hiring, Obama obliges the Fed to keep interest rates near zero.\u00a0 This is great for Mills & Bills who can borrow at 1.1% and buy stocks with current yields of 2-5%, dividend growth of 5-20%, and PE\u2019s that are drifting higher in a zero-rate environment. (Fed policy is not so great for middle class savers who get just 1.3% on a three-year CD.)\u00a0 Once President Obama leaves office and is earning $400,000 per speech he, too, can hop aboard this nourishing gravy train. \u00a0A gleaming multi-deck yacht and $22 million Palm Beach mansion may be in his future.\u00a0 As for the huddled masses who can\u2019t find jobs, well, hey, Obama\u2014unlike those heartless Republicans\u2014is supporting an extension of unemployment insurance and a hike in the minimum wage.\u00a0 What more do you want?<\/p>\n Copyright Thomas Doerflinger 2014.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Barack Obama promised to \u201ctransform\u201d America by curbing income inequality, and toward that end he declared war on \u201cmillionaires and billionaires.\u201d\u00a0 To gauge his progress in this noble campaign, I departed the frigid climes of the Northeast for Palm Beach, … Continue reading