<P> It is also commonly used to describe a rich, greedy person who, due to ownership of large amounts of capital, is able to "live easy" off the work of others . In the UK, it is also used to refer to executives whose pay is deemed by others to be excessive . </P> <P> The word was first used in the 1920s in the United States to describe rich political donors . </P> <P> The term's coinage for political purposes has been attributed to Frank Kent, a writer for the Baltimore Sun whose essay "Fat Cats and Free Rides" appeared in the American Mercury, a magazine of commentary run by H.L. Mencken . Kent wrote: </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> "</Td> <Td> A Fat Cat is a man of large means and no political experience who having reached middle age, and success in business, and finding no further thrill...of satisfaction in the mere piling up of more millions, develops a yearning for some sort of public honor and is willing to pay for it . The machine has what it seeks, public honor, and he has the money the machine needs . </Td> <Td>" </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Where did the term fat cat come from