THE WASHINGTON POST launched a front page attack on John Edwards, a good
sign that the Washington establishment is beginning to get worried about
Edwards' potential. Edwards and Gore are the two candidates who, if they
upset the current leaders - Clinton and Obama, would signal a major loss
of power by the current capital elite.
As an indicator of the media bias on this score: a stunning 83% of the
candidate-citing headlines we have scanned this month have included
neutral or positive mentions of Clinton or Obama. Only 17% have
mentioned Edwards in a positive or neutral way. All the other candidates
took what was left before rounding off the averages.
The Post story is not inaccurate as it relates directly to Edwards. What
is striking, however, is that the article takes nine paragraphs to
mention that other Democratic candidates including Clinton and Obama
have close hedge fund ties.
Edwards' sin is that while he is wealthy, he wishes to do something to
help the poor and less fortunate in this country. This is apparently
considered hypocrisy by the Post, although other wealthy candidates such
as Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson and Kerry have gotten away with urging
economic reforms.
In fact, according to Forbes, the five richest presidents in American
history were, in order, George Washington, John F Kennedy, Andrew
Jackson, Lyndon Johnson and Herbert Hoover. The middle three all had a
politics close to that of John Edwards than to that of either Clinton or
Obama.
The Post article has all the marking of a hit job by one of the leading
advocates of neo-robber baron capitalism and serves as a reminder of
whatever faults Edwards has, there are plenty of powerful people afraid
of him.
As for the Post, we trust we will now finally see a close look at the
corrupt financial dealings of Hillary Clinton and thorough follow-up on
the Chicago Sun Times' revelations about Obama.
JOHN SOLOMON & ALEC MACGILLIS, WASHINGTON POST - Two years ago, former
senator John Edwards of North Carolina, gearing up for his second run at
the Democratic presidential nomination, gave a speech decrying the "two
different economies in this country: one for wealthy insiders and then
one for everybody else." Four months later, he began working for the
kind of firm that to many Wall Street critics embodies the economy of
wealthy insiders -- a hedge fund.
Executives and guests of Fortress Investment Group celebrate the hedge
fund's initial public offering in February. Executives and guests of
Fortress Investment Group celebrate the hedge fund's initial public
offering in February.
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has raised at least
$167,700 from individuals associated with Fortress Investment Group, a
New York-based hedge fund that hired the former North Carolina senator
as an adviser in the fall of 2005. . .
Edwards became a consultant for Fortress Investment Group, a New
York-based firm known mainly for its hedge funds, just as the funds were
gaining prominence in the financial world -- and in the public
consciousness, where awe over their outsize returns has mixed with
misgivings about a rarefied industry that is, on the whole, run by and
for extremely wealthy people and operates largely in secrecy.
[Six grafs later]
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and former New York mayor Rudolph
W. Giuliani (R), for whom Wall Street is an especially key constituency,
count hedge fund executives as donors and fundraisers for their
presidential campaigns. Hedge fund executive Paul Singer is a key
adviser and fundraiser for Giuliani, whose presidential campaign
collected $159,000 from employees at Singer's firm, Elliott Associates.
Clinton is getting fundraising help from Lisa Perry, whose husband,
Richard, runs a $12 billion hedge fund, and the former first lady got
$46,000 from employees of the private equity firm Farallon Capital
Management.
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, a Democratic presidential candidate from
Connecticut, home to many hedge fund firms, received $175,400 from
employees of the SAC Capital Advisors hedge fund during the first
quarter - his top source of support from a single company. As chairman
of the Senate Banking Committee, Dodd has opposed additional regulation
of hedge funds.
One of Sen. Barack Obama's biggest presidential fundraisers is a hedge
fund manager -- Orin Kramer, general partner of Boston Provident
Partners LP in New York and a longtime Democratic fundraiser. Along with
Sens. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) and Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), Obama (D-Ill.)
has proposed legislation to drastically reduce offshore tax havens that
includes a provision to crack down on offshore hedge funds. The senators
introduced the bill after an investigation last year documented how
wealthy U.S. investors had used hedge funds to evade taxes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/22/
AR2007042201339.html?referrer=email
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sign that the Washington establishment is beginning to get worried about
Edwards' potential. Edwards and Gore are the two candidates who, if they
upset the current leaders - Clinton and Obama, would signal a major loss
of power by the current capital elite.
As an indicator of the media bias on this score: a stunning 83% of the
candidate-citing headlines we have scanned this month have included
neutral or positive mentions of Clinton or Obama. Only 17% have
mentioned Edwards in a positive or neutral way. All the other candidates
took what was left before rounding off the averages.
The Post story is not inaccurate as it relates directly to Edwards. What
is striking, however, is that the article takes nine paragraphs to
mention that other Democratic candidates including Clinton and Obama
have close hedge fund ties.
Edwards' sin is that while he is wealthy, he wishes to do something to
help the poor and less fortunate in this country. This is apparently
considered hypocrisy by the Post, although other wealthy candidates such
as Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson and Kerry have gotten away with urging
economic reforms.
In fact, according to Forbes, the five richest presidents in American
history were, in order, George Washington, John F Kennedy, Andrew
Jackson, Lyndon Johnson and Herbert Hoover. The middle three all had a
politics close to that of John Edwards than to that of either Clinton or
Obama.
The Post article has all the marking of a hit job by one of the leading
advocates of neo-robber baron capitalism and serves as a reminder of
whatever faults Edwards has, there are plenty of powerful people afraid
of him.
As for the Post, we trust we will now finally see a close look at the
corrupt financial dealings of Hillary Clinton and thorough follow-up on
the Chicago Sun Times' revelations about Obama.
JOHN SOLOMON & ALEC MACGILLIS, WASHINGTON POST - Two years ago, former
senator John Edwards of North Carolina, gearing up for his second run at
the Democratic presidential nomination, gave a speech decrying the "two
different economies in this country: one for wealthy insiders and then
one for everybody else." Four months later, he began working for the
kind of firm that to many Wall Street critics embodies the economy of
wealthy insiders -- a hedge fund.
Executives and guests of Fortress Investment Group celebrate the hedge
fund's initial public offering in February. Executives and guests of
Fortress Investment Group celebrate the hedge fund's initial public
offering in February.
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has raised at least
$167,700 from individuals associated with Fortress Investment Group, a
New York-based hedge fund that hired the former North Carolina senator
as an adviser in the fall of 2005. . .
Edwards became a consultant for Fortress Investment Group, a New
York-based firm known mainly for its hedge funds, just as the funds were
gaining prominence in the financial world -- and in the public
consciousness, where awe over their outsize returns has mixed with
misgivings about a rarefied industry that is, on the whole, run by and
for extremely wealthy people and operates largely in secrecy.
[Six grafs later]
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and former New York mayor Rudolph
W. Giuliani (R), for whom Wall Street is an especially key constituency,
count hedge fund executives as donors and fundraisers for their
presidential campaigns. Hedge fund executive Paul Singer is a key
adviser and fundraiser for Giuliani, whose presidential campaign
collected $159,000 from employees at Singer's firm, Elliott Associates.
Clinton is getting fundraising help from Lisa Perry, whose husband,
Richard, runs a $12 billion hedge fund, and the former first lady got
$46,000 from employees of the private equity firm Farallon Capital
Management.
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, a Democratic presidential candidate from
Connecticut, home to many hedge fund firms, received $175,400 from
employees of the SAC Capital Advisors hedge fund during the first
quarter - his top source of support from a single company. As chairman
of the Senate Banking Committee, Dodd has opposed additional regulation
of hedge funds.
One of Sen. Barack Obama's biggest presidential fundraisers is a hedge
fund manager -- Orin Kramer, general partner of Boston Provident
Partners LP in New York and a longtime Democratic fundraiser. Along with
Sens. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) and Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), Obama (D-Ill.)
has proposed legislation to drastically reduce offshore tax havens that
includes a provision to crack down on offshore hedge funds. The senators
introduced the bill after an investigation last year documented how
wealthy U.S. investors had used hedge funds to evade taxes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/22/
AR2007042201339.html?referrer=email
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