Timothy Mellon's Autobiography, "panam.captain"

[johnpbarlow]

Wow! I have never read Mellon's on-line autobiography but I'm surprised it took 5 years for his provocative statements to come to light. Pan Am Systems and the PAR subsidiary are mentioned. I do not mean to express any political opinions re: the following article about the reclusive Tim Mellon but the article is eye-opening!

Perhaps this post is not appropriate for this forum...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... story.html

[MEC407]

I have not but there apparently is discussion of goings-on at Guilford / Pan Am Railways. eBook can be ordered for a minimum contribution of $9 to one of three specified charities.

https://timsstory.com/

A recent newspaper article about the book: http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwbooks/a ... y-20160209

While on the topic of Tim, here's a URL to a 26 yr old newspaper article discussing Guilford's labor tribulations prior to 1990 and how management's "ultimate dream" is operate like the Florida East Coast(!!!): http://articles.philly.com/1990-05-06/b ... way-amtrak

Guess that dream hasn't panned out! But coincidentally, FEC does have an intermodal partnership with Norfolk Southern. Maybe Fortress Investment Group LLC would like to buy a struggling New England regional RR?

Here are a few fair-use quotes from The Washington Post article:

Mellon’s company, Pan Am Systems, declined to comment on Mellon’s donation or support for Trump. The company did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the views expressed in his autobiography, which it described on its website as “a refreshingly candid look into his family life as well as his business successes.”

The book was available for free download on the company’s website until this week, when it was removed after inquiries by The Washington Post. Copies were still available through a separate website.
. . .
Since February 2018, he [Mellon] has given $40 million to three super PACs, and tens of thousands of dollars more to an array of GOP candidates, records show.
. . .
“Something had obviously gone dreadfully wrong with the Great Society and the Liberal onslaught. Poor people had become no less poor. Black people, in spite of heroic efforts by the ‘Establishment’ to right the wrongs of the past, became even more belligerent and unwilling to pitch in to improve their own situations,” Mellon wrote, describing his view of America during Reagan’s 1984 reelection campaign.

He continued: “Drugs rose to the level of epidemic. Single parent families became more and more prevalent. The likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton pandered endlessly to fan the flames.”

Two decades later, too many Americans are still relying on the government for help, he wrote.

Mellon slammed the educational system for becoming beholden to teachers unions, and wrote that “Black Studies, Women’s Studies, LGBT Studies, they have all cluttered Higher Education with a mishmash of meaningless tripe designed to brainwash gullible young adults into going along with the Dependency Syndrome.”

[toolmaker]

Once up a time people were entitled to their opinions. That's how discussions started and over time understanding each other's point of view lead to progress. Now it seems agree with the loudest voices or shut up. Should you continue to speak, you will be destroyed.

[MEC407]

Once up a time people were entitled to their opinions.

I believe that is still the case. No one has said that Mr. Mellon is not entitled to his opinion.

Now it seems agree with the loudest voices or shut up. Should you continue to speak, you will be destroyed.

Can you expand on this? Who is being told to shut up and who is being (or will be) destroyed?

[riffian]

I just wish he would have put some of the $40 million into PanAm track infrastructure and decent motive power.

[Cosakita18]

I'd call all this rhetoric a bit hypocritical coming from him since his railroad rarely invests in its own infrastructure unless it's on the government's dime.

[NRGeep]

Nailed it. PARS embraces corporate welfare; see New Hampshire Division etc big bad guvmint upgrades 20 years ago for Downeaster on Pan Am roadbeds ad nauseum...

[newpylong]

I don't think the intent of Amtrak was ever to be profitable (if that's what you mean by marginal ie revenue) at least any realistic intent. Most passenger rail service globally is heavily subsidized.

[MEC407]

Here's a new chapter in the saga of Mr. Mellon:

AUSTIN, Texas -- An out-of-state billionaire who has previously bankrolled attempts to defend controversial immigration laws is responsible for nearly all the donations to Gov. Greg Abbott's $54 million border wall fund.

A member of one of America's richest family dynasties, Timothy Mellon, contributed nearly 98% of the fund's total donations when he donated $53.1 million in stock to the state in August, according to public records. Mellon is the 79-year-old Wyoming-based grandson of banking tycoon and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon.
. . .
Mellon did not respond to multiple requests for comment made to his company, New Hampshire-based Pan Am Systems, and a marketing firm that handled publicity for his 2015 autobiography. Abbott declined to comment.

Mellon does not appear to have close ties to Texas. But he was a top donor to the reelection campaign of former President Donald Trump, who made building a border wall a top priority, and has previously donated money to defend legislation targeting immigrants.
. . .
Last year, Mellon gave $20 million to America First Action, the main super PAC supporting Trump's reelection. Since 2018, he's donated $30 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, the House GOP super PAC, and he gave $30 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, which tries to elect Republicans to the U.S. Senate, in 2020.
. . .
Mellon has taken heat for using offensive stereotypes to describe Black Americans in his self-published autobiography.
. . .
Forbes estimated Mellon was worth almost $1 billion in 2014, and last year the magazine estimated the Mellon family was worth $11.5 billion.
. . .
Tax experts say Mellon's decision to donate stock instead of cash could yield a tax benefit for the billionaire. Normally, a person has to pay taxes on profits made on their investments when they are sold. But investors who donate stock to charity avoid paying a tax on the earnings on their investment and get a tax deduction for the full amount of stock.

Source: https://abc13.com/texas-news-border-don ... /11091165/

[jaymac]

Credit where it's due -- he worked long and hard to be born into wealth.

[Safetee]

amen!