Hedge Funds Donate Big to Democrats; Get Exemption from Bank Bill

The world's top-earning hedge fund managers have bankrolled almost exclusively Democratic campaigns. The top 10 highest-paid hedge fund managers in 2009 have dished out campaign contributions almost only to Democrats. Over their lifetimes, those managers have given almost $33 million in campaign contributions to Democrats, based on data maintained by the nonpartisan CQMoneyline. The same managers gave roughly $600,000 to Republicans, according to the research. The contributions went 98 percent to Democrats and two percent to Republicans. The money went to Democratic campaign committees, individual lawmaker's election bids and other political action committees. The data looks at the 10 highest-paid hedge fund managers in 2009, as identified by AR: Absolute Return+Alpha magazine. The New York Times published a story in March identifying the hedge fund managers, including John Paulson and George Soros. As the Senate prepares to debate possibly hundreds of amendments to a Wall Street overhaul bill, labor unions and others have criticized the bill for not having tough restrictions on hedge funds. “It's very disconcerting to see this legislation moving forward that gives them a complete pass,” said Heather Slavkin, of AFL-CIO. Hedge Fund managers often make BILLIONS, all taxed at the FAR LOWER capital gains tax rate instead of the higher income tax rate. WHAT A RACKET!!!