Wednesday, March 25, 2009

EXTERMINATE THE ANTICHRIST!
(BUT, ER, DON'T TAX HIM.)


Zillionaire hedge-fund managers pay federal tax at the capital gains rate, which -- at 15% -- is much lower than the marginal tax rate paid by ordinary schmucks like you and me on wages and salaries over $32,550. One of the unintended consequences of the GOP's unswerving opposition to closing this tax loophole is that a guy many Republicans consider the embodiment of pure evil makes out like a bandit:

The financial crisis may have turned much of Wall Street's wealth into dross, but a select group of hedge fund managers has managed to maintain a golden touch that might make King Midas blush.

... 25 top managers reaped a total of $11.6 billion in pay by trading above the pain in the markets, according to an annual ranking of top hedge fund earners by Institutional Investor's Alpha magazine, which comes out Wednesday.

James H. Simons, a former math professor who has made billions year after year for the hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, earned $2.5 billion running computer-driven trading strategies. John A. Paulson, who rode to riches by betting against the housing market, came in second with reported gains of $2 billion. And George Soros, also a perennial name on the rich list of secretive moneymakers, pulled in $1.1 billion....


So Republicans feel like this about Soros ...



... and yet Republicans pols (with the help of a few bought-and-paid-for Democrats) continue to coddle Soros on tax day. Do GOP-base voters understand this? Do they realize their favorite pols are helping give Satan dominion over America?

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