25 hedge fund managers are worth 658,000 teachers.

[Pale Blue Dot]

Nearly everyone on Wall Street sincerely believes that they are "worth" the enormous sums they "earn." You see, their pay is determined by the market, and markets don't lie. They reflect the high value our skilled elites bring to the economy. So we shouldn't be shocked that the top 25 hedge fund managers together "earn" $25 billion a year, even at a moment when more than 29 million Americans can't find full-time work. The outrageous economic logic of Wall Street compensation has those 25 moguls taking home as much as 658,000 entry level teachers (they earn about $38,000 per year). How can that be justified? It can't. These obscene "earnings" are the product of 30 years of financial deregulation, as well as the tax cuts and tax loopholes that our government has just extended. The hedge fund honchos get most of their money by siphoning off wealth from the rest of us, not by creating new value. I dare Wall Street to prove otherwise.

http://www.alternet.org/story/149361?page=entire

Part of an article about Wall Street's 10 biggest lies of 2010.

[MichiganVote]

1. Buch of carny workers

Step right up!

[Davis_X_Machina]

2. Needs editing....

25 hedge fund managers are worth 658,000 teachers overpaid, unaccountable, pension-hunting civil service drones.

There. All fixed.

The 2012 election will be fought almost entirely on the war-on-public-employees front. GOP R&D has finally found a message they think will work:

• It's bi-partisan -- you can find threads here vilifying public-sector workers, and especially their retirement provisions
• It's not (overtly) racist -- but we know who those public-sector workers mostly are, right?
• Its appeal is not restricted to the Confederacy and the West.
• It's not overtly religious.

Crab-bucket syndrome* is a winning platform in tough times, especially in a country whose favorite white meat isn't chicken, it's scapegoat.

*"If my job sucks, yours has to, too. If I lose my job, you have to lose yours, too."

[midnight]

3. K&R

[dkf]

4. Ironically they are probably producing profits for the teacher's retirement funds.

And if the teachers, state workers, and all the pension funds shunned these hedged managers they would be paid a lot less.

Teachers should consult their unions to ban using these funds. They may compromise their potential pension but at least they will know they didn't contribute a dime to a hedge fund manager's pocketbook.

[Pale Blue Dot]

7. This sounds, intended or not, like "blame the victim".

I'm a teacher, part of the union, and I'll be honest: Given the state of state and local budgets, I'm planning on NOT having a pension when I retire.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4680011

[Starry Messenger]

5. k&r

[azul]

6. And how much would be spent by 25 v 658k of $25b

back into the economy?

Tax bracket needs to be back up to 91% (1951-63), with no loopholes this time.

Good riddance if the super-wealthy leave the USA for shelter. The class income gap is too big: 25:658,000. 26,320:1