Pat Taylor died last week.

Most people outside of Lousiana have no idea who Pat Taylor is. In its October list of the 400 wealthiest people in America, Forbes magazine estimated Taylor's worth at $1.2 billion. He was rich, white and republican.

He was self-made, graduating from LSU and then going to work in the oil industry and then eventually splitting off and forming his own company, Taylor Energy. But he also remembered where he came from.

In 1988, Pat Taylor was speaking to a group of kids at a New Orleans middle school. On a whim he told them that if they maintained a B average, he would pay for college for each and every one of them. His idea was later picked up by the state, and with much urging and support from Pat Taylor, the Tuition Opportunity Program for Students, or TOPS, which sends virtually every good student to college in the state, was created. Louisiana became the first state to initiate a state-funded, merit-based tuition program and today 19 states have similar programs.

Taylor was also a huge supporter of law enforcement. Every year he held a law enforcment appreciation day at his ranch which was legendary. (I never got to go to one and I've always kicked myself for missing out!) Rumor also had it that he would periodically purchase new vehicles for the small sheriff's office in the county where he resided.

He was a good man, using his influence and wealth to make the world a better place.

Why the HELL can't the rest of the Rich White Republicans be like that?