Hillary Clinton: Top hedge fund managers make more than all kindergarten teachers combined

[ismnotwasm]

I found this interesting since I keep hearing about Hillary and her "corporate masters". In fact if I hear that more more time-- and I will -- I expect a strong bout of nausea. Anyway politifact came up with this little assessment of her comparison statement. This is a woman who cares very much for people, and the comparison is an apt one.

Our ruling

Clinton said, "The top-25 hedge fund managers (are) making more than all of America's kindergarten teachers combined."

Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that America’s 158,000 kindergarten teachers together make $8.5 billion a year.

There are a few possible problems with the data for hedge fund managers’ earnings, but there’s no denying it’s significantly higher than a kindergarten teacher’s compensation. A rough estimate for the top-25 hedge fund managers shows they collectively earned $11.62 billion in 2014, and that was a bad year. In 2013, they earned approximately $21.15 billion. So using the smaller number, kindergarten teachers come up shy of hedge fund managers by about $3 billion, a huge margin.

We rate Clinton’s claim True.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jun/15/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-top-hedge-fund-managers-make-more-/

[Iliyah]

1. K & R

Thanks for the information.

[leftofcool]

2. K&R

[William769]

3. Kick & recommended.

[NashuaDW]

4. So .... ?

This is a great applause line, but what is she proposing to do about it?

I think, in large part, she is just demonizing hedge funds, which are nothing more than venture capital firms. If they choose and invest wisely -- they make money, if they invest poorly -- they lose money. If they invest very wisely -- they make a ton of money and the companies they invest in have capital to expand and create new products and markets.

80% of ALL hedge funds go broke in their first year.

Is she just capitalizing on the bad reputation of hedge funds and the fact that most people have no idea what they really are?

Disingenuous at best, pandering at worst.

UNLESS ... she is suggesting a pay raise for kindergarten (and all other) teachers. That's an idea I can get firmly behind!!!

[hrmjustin]

5. Thanks for posting this.