Follow the money
I agree with your sentiment and the intensity of your reaction.
Take a look at recent campaign contributions. It's happening on both sides of the isle, but the Dems seems to be pocketing more change for the build up for the next election. Not that I'm interested in debating which is worse, rot or puss. The stock market is the greatest money laundering machine known to man and is for the benefit of our leaders. Do you know where your retirement fund is?
As far as I'm concerned the grab for arms is to prevent a grab for power as those in a position to abuse steal from the people they represent.
Hedge fund money, which now exceeds $1 trillion, has emerged in the last several years as a potentially powerful force in politics, as underscored by the significant role it is playing in the presidential aspirations of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Giuliani. During the 2006 election cycle, executives who work at the 30 biggest hedge funds made $2.8 million in contributions to political candidates or party committees, almost double the amount in 2000.
Wall Street has historically been the largest single source of political contributions, so candidates who can successfully raise money there often have more resources to fund their campaigns than other rivals. Donations from financial-services firms could be even more important during the 2008 presidential campaign as employees of hedge funds and private-equity firms begin opening up their wallets.
Edwards raised $167,460 in donations from Fortress employees for his 2008 presidential campaign, his largest source of support from a single company.
Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, an investment of $750,000 of campaign contributions in a hedge fund two years ago paid off nicely -- with a return of almost 20 percent in just a year.
Name Hedge Fund Recipient(s) of largest donation (2005-2006) Amount
Edward Lampert ESL Investments N/A N/A
James Simons Renaissance Technologies Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee $25,000
George Soros Soros Fund Management Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee $20,466
Paul Tudor Jones II Tudor Investment Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee $26,700
Kenneth Griffin Citadel Investment Group Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; Republican National Committee $25,000
Israel Englander Millennium Partners Friends of Joe Lieberman $1,000
Sources: Institutional Investor, Political Money Line
Moore has benefited from campaign contributions from executives, family members and others associated with those hedge fund firms. Of $5.5 million in contributions Moore has received since 1999, more than $200,000 came from the six hedge fund firms. The largest of those contributors -- $164,250 since 2000 -- is Franklin Street Partners of Chapel Hill, according to a review of campaign finance reports.
The shift in donation patterns for some big businesses mirrors early signs that companies and corporate trade groups may now be increasing their hiring of lobbyists with Democratic ties, after a decade of largely shunning them. The Federalist Group is a corporate lobbying shop founded by Republicans soon after the party took over Congress in 1994. In its first eight years, the firm only hired Republicans, including former aides to onetime House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, and President Bush.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. employees donated a total of $437,000 to the main presidential candidates, making the company the No. 1 corporate contributor. Goldman employees gave $131,000 to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican; $120,000 to Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama; $63,000 to Mrs. Clinton; and $52,000 to former North Carolina Democratic Sen. John Edwards.
Goldman has long been ranked among the most politically active corporations. In the last presidential election, Goldman and its employees gave $6.5 million in political contributions to candidates for president and Congress, most of which went to Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, another Washington nonpartisan organization that analyzes political money. That made the firm the No. 1 contributor in the 2004 election. So far this presidential campaign, Goldman ranks among the top three contributors to four of the six front-runners in both parties.
Goldman was followed by Citigroup Inc. ($270,000 in total donations), Credit Suisse Group ($261,000), UBS AG ($238,000) and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ($226,000).
Several hedge funds and private-equity firms ranked among the top political contributors for the first time this year, including Elliott Associates, Bain Capital, SAC Capital Advisors and Fortress Investment Group LLC.
Employees of hedge fund Elliott Associates donated $159,000 to Mr. Giuliani. Mr. Giuliani yesterday announced that Paul Singer, a partner with Elliott Associates, will serve as a finance chairman for his campaign.
Mr. Romney and Mr. Edwards benefited from their own ties to the private-equity industry. Mr. Romney received $88,000 from Bain Capital, the private-equity firm he helped found. Mr. Edwards received $150,000 from his former colleagues at Fortress Investment Group. Mr. Edwards briefly worked at the firm after his 2004 presidential campaign.
Among other private-money firms, Bridgewater Associates contributed $27,500 to Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain; HIG Capital gave $31,000 to Mr. Romney; and Farallon Capital Management LLC donated $46,000 to Mrs. Clinton.
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Mrs. Clinton was the biggest winner on Wall Street. Her top source of contributions included Morgan Stanley ($77,000), Goldman Sachs ($63,000) and Citigroup ($63,000).
Despite making much-publicized inroads on Mrs. Clinton's turf, Mr. Obama raised about half as much as Mrs. Clinton in the wealthiest parts of Manhattan: about $2 million. Mr. Obama's top donors were employees of UBS AG ($139,000), Illinois electric utility Exelon Corp. ($138,000) and Goldman Sachs ($120,000.)
Mr. Edwards raised about $1 million in New York City. His financial sector backing was led by the $150,000 from his former colleagues at Fortress Investment Group. Another Democratic candidate, Sen. Chris Dodd, raised $766,000 from the region. Mr. Dodd has two advantages in fund-raising from financial-services firms: He represents Connecticut, home to many financial companies, and is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over financial markets. Mr. Dodd's top contributor was Greenwich-based hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors. Employees of the fund contributed $178,000 to his campaign.
On the Republican side, top contributors to Mr. Giuliani were Elliott ($159,000); Credit Suisse ($98,000); and Lehman Brothers ($63,000). Beyond Bain, Mr. Romney benefited from donations from Goldman Sachs and Marriott International Inc. Mr. McCain led all others with $123,000 in contributions from the law firm Blank Rome LLP; $62,000 from Bank of New York Co.; and $61,000 from long-distance phone company IDT Corp.
Hedge fund money, which now exceeds $1 trillion, has emerged in the last several years as a potentially powerful force in politics, as underscored by the significant role it is playing in the presidential aspirations of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Giuliani. During the 2006 election cycle, executives who work at the 30 biggest hedge funds made $2.8 million in contributions to political candidates or party committees, almost double the amount in 2000.
It seems that some people feel revulsion at the thought of civil disobedience. I contend it's time to consider revolting against that revulsion. We have the best government money can buy and that is nowhere good enough. If you think you have too much too loose, then just you wait. Apathy is a poor excuse.
(If it's a conspiracy theory ok fine you got me it's all a trick spooky, I'm just wondering if you're talking about something semi-legitimate, like Social Security being an interest free loan that the government can then turn around and earn interest on or somesuch). I didn't see how the stock market was laundering money in your description, and I sure as heck don't see why the Capital Gains Tax is 15% if it's for the leaders that make it.