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Buffett's Son Defends Protestor Push to 'Make Things Happen'

(Updates with BlackRock CEO’s comment in sixth paragraph.)

Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Howard Buffett, the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. director and son of Chairman Warren Buffett, said Wall Street protesters were provoked by abuses from corporations amid a widening disparity between rich and poor.

“I think it takes that to make things happen sometimes,” Howard Buffett, 56, said of the demonstrations in an interview yesterday in Des Moines, Iowa. Over the past 15 years, “we saw large corporations really screw people.”

Occupy Wall Street has drawn out protesters from New York to Seattle and gained empathizers among the top executives at Citigroup Inc. and BlackRock Inc. Warren Buffett, the world’s third-richest person, has said he is concerned about inequity in the U.S. The younger Buffett, a farmer and philanthropist, said obtaining enough food has become more difficult for more people.

“There has never been a larger gap between earnings in this country,” said Howard Buffett, who was in Des Moines to deliver a speech at the World Food Prize conference. “There has never been a time in my lifetime when the government is going to cut an incredible amount of programs that support poor people and feed them.”

Protesters criticized the government for propping up financial firms including Citigroup and Bank of America Corp. in 2008 while individuals struggled with unemployment, depressed wages, foreclosures and reduced retirement savings. Republican lawmakers oppose raising taxes to reduce the U.S. deficit and have pushed for cuts to government programs.

‘Get Some Balance’

“We’ve had protesting in the name of the Tea Party on the right side, and now we’re having protesting from the left side,” BlackRock Chief Executive Officer Laurence D. Fink, head of the world’s biggest asset manager, said today at a conference in New York. “Maybe we’re going to get some balance this way. But I do believe that we should not turn our backs to this protesting.

Tailgating Guide: Best bars for game day | Metromix Des Moines

The Keg Stand, 3530 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines; 327-7429

The Keg Stand is the official home of the Greater Des Moines Cyclone Club game watches, meaning that whenever the Cyclones are on TV, those loyal to cardinal and gold will be in good company. Alumni can even relive the college experience by ordering a tailgater’s version of bottle service: your very own kegs delivered to the table, $100 for a half and $200 for a full.

And if the game’s not going your way, there are always pool tables, shuffleboard, and a jukebox to help ease the pain.

The deals: Saturday: $2 pizza slices and pretzels, two-for-one wings, $5 domestic pitchers, $2 domestic draws, and $1 off everything. After 7 p.m., domestic draws are a buck and shots and bombs are two-for-one. Sunday: All drinks are $2-$4, plus two-for-one wings, $5 domestic pitchers. Mondays feature $5 pitchers, two-for-one wings and steak night ($7 for steak, salad, bread and potato).

Front Row, 6555 University Ave., Windsor Heights; 255-6912

There are few bars with allegiances as strong as those that exists between Front Row and the Iowa Hawkeyes. A gigantic Herky statue serves to welcome those who share that affinity. Front Row sometimes wheels in extra TVs for big games, has a Hawk Club, gives away prizes and Hawk stuff on game days, and has even sponsored bus trips to Hawkeye games. Though the bar serves free food during Hawkeye games on Saturday, the best part is the hangover-curing Bloody Mary bar on Sunday mornings.

The deals: Saturdays and Sundays feature a $6 Bloody Mary bar, $2.75 tallboys and free breakfast, depending on game time. Steak night coincides with Monday Night Football, where $8 gets you a steak, baked potato, bread, mushrooms and onions.

Speezys, 8980 Hickman Road, Clive; 419-0030

Speezys may be the new sports bar on the block, but it’s not wasting any time luring Hawkeye fans in with the promise of free beer an hour before every Iowa football game, regardless of the game start time. And with the NFL Sunday Ticket playing on 15 TVs and a 100-inch projection screen, Speezys may become a game-day favorite.

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