One of the eeeeevil "speculators" that President Obama has been
vilifying
sent out an open letter to the president which has been
circulating around Wall Street.
The
New York Times published the letter from hedge fund
manager Clifford S. Asness of AQR Capital Management, LLC.
Asness indicates that his "company is not involved in the
Chrysler situation."
The final paragraphs of the letter are priceless:
Let's quickly review a few side issues.
The President's attempted diktat takes money from bondholders
and gives it to a labor union that delivers money and votes for
him. Why is he not calling on his party to "sacrifice" some
campaign contributions, and votes, for the greater good?
Shaking down lenders for the benefit of political donors is
recycled corruption and abuse of power.
Let's also mention only in passing the irony of this same
President begging hedge funds to borrow more to purchase other
troubled securities. That he expects them to do so when he has
already shown what happens if they ask for their money to be
repaid fairly would be amusing if not so dangerous. That hedge
funds might not participate in these programs because of fear
of getting sucked into some toxic demagoguery that ends in
arbitrary punishment for trying to work with the Treasury is
distressing. Some useful programs, like those designed to help
finance consumer loans, won't work because of this
irresponsible hectoring.
Last but not least, the President screaming that the hedge
funds are looking for an unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout is
the big lie writ large. Find me a hedge fund that has been
bailed out. Find me a hedge fund, even a failed one, that has
asked for one. In fact, it was only because hedge funds have
not taken government funds that they could stand up to this
bullying.
The TARP recipients had no choice but to go along. The hedge
funds were singled out only because they are unpopular, not
because they behaved any differently from any other ethical
manager of other people's money. The President's comments here
are backwards and libelous. Yet, somehow I don't think the
hedge funds will be following ACORN's lead and trucking in a
bunch of paid professional protesters soon. Hedge funds really
need a community organizer.
This is America. We have a free enterprise system that has
worked spectacularly for us for two hundred-plus years. When it
fails it fixes itself. Most importantly, it is not an owned
lackey of the Oval Office to be scolded for disobedience by the
President.
I am ready for my "personalized" tax rate now.
