Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, took swipes at hedge fund managers at campaign stops in Ohio on Feb. 19 and Wisconsin on Feb. 18 arguing that the top executives should not be immune from paying certain taxes.
Hillary Clinton has been the recipient of widespread support from some of the country’s top hedge fund managers in her 2008 bid for the White House, according to The New York Times.
Some of her biggest donors are hedge fund managers including James Simons of Renaissance Technologies LLC, Richard Perry of Perry Capital LLC, David Shaw of D.E. Shaw & Co., Glenn Dubin of Highbridge Capital Inc. and Tom Steyer of Farallon Capital Management, LLC according to the Times.
Sen. Clinton’s daughter Chelsea also works for the New York-based hedge fund Avenue Capital Group.
Why is taxing hedge fund managers an issue? Because hedge fund managers, even more than CEOs, are the kings of our twisted economy. I cannot say this loudly enough: Despite being centimillionaires, they pay no income taxes. Their compensation is considered to be "capital gains" and is taxed at the lower rate that is levied on investment returns. In other words, they don't work, they only profit.
Is one hedge fund manager really worth thousands and thousands of teachers? That is exactly what the American economy is saying, loud and clear... "Combined, the top 25 hedge fund managers last year earned $14 billion — enough to pay New York City’s 80,000 public school teachers for nearly three years." New York Times
