In a fund raising lunch held yesterday at the Hilton in San Francisco, Hillary Clinton worked aging billionaire/ investment guru Warren Buffett, grilling him on subjects ranging from mortgage woes to disparities in the nation's tax system. Ever the pundit, Buffett delivered a string of quotables: In regards to securitized mortgages, Buffett claimed that one can "[sell] toxic waste to customers." Now, "Wall Street is reaping what they've sown," "We're like a very rich family; we own a farm the size of Texas but want to consume more" than the farm generates, he said. "Every day, we sell off or mortgage a piece of the farm." Buffett also waxed philosophic on his maid, Leona Helmsley's dogs, and our nation's trade policies. In a related, yet unrelated aside, Gavin did take the stage momentarily to mock Rudy Giuliani's wise advice on homelessness from the day before. And the crowd went wild.
· Mortgage crisis perplexes even shrewd investor Warren Buffet [SF Gate]
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