Posted on 05/08/2007 5:39:05 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Democrat John Edwards said Tuesday that he worked for a hedge fund between presidential campaigns to learn about financial markets and their relationship to poverty—and to make money too.
In an interview with The Associated Press, the former North Carolina senator said his yearlong, part-time position with Fortress Investment Group helped his understanding of the connection but he has more to learn. Edwards has made eradicating poverty a focus of his second White House bid.
Edwards, a multimillionaire after years as a trial lawyer, would not disclose how much he got paid for a year of consulting beginning in October 2005. He said the amount will be revealed when he releases his financial disclosure forms due May 15.
Asked if he had to join a hedge fund to learn about financial markets, Edwards replied, "How else would I have done it?"
He said he considered going to an investment firm such as Goldman Sachs, but Fortress was the most natural fit. Presented with the suggestion that he could have taken a university class instead, he said, "That's true."
"It was primarily to learn, but making money was a good thing, too," the 2004 vice presidential nominee said in an hourlong interview with AP reporters and editors.
Hedge funds, now numbering more than 9,000 in the U.S. with assets estimated to exceed $1 trillion, traditionally cater to the rich, as well as pension funds and university endowments, but are increasingly luring less wealthy investors.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Hey Edwards, you flying trial monkey!
You can’t even beat the dead guy!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Absolutely INSANE!
Edwards’ chances continue to recede. I guess he’s still good for some comedic relief.
So, to learn about poverty, I study Hedge Funds?
What sacrifices Edwards won’t make for those less fortunate. Prince of a guy!!!!!
Don’t give food stamps to the poor, give them shares in hedge funds!
I can never understand how people can LIE so easily with a straight face, knowing that everyone will KNOW its a lie....
"I joined this $35B hedge fund to see for myself what it's like to be envied and scorned for being rich. Now I can relate to the peeps. Gimme a Frosty. I hate me!"
Lawsuit to Form Backbone of Edwards’ Economic Strategy
The $10 dry cleaning bill for a pair of trousers that ballooned into a $67 million civil lawsuit was cited by presidential candidate and former Senator John Edwards (D-NC) as “an example for how we can restore economic justice and prosperity to America.” “Here we have an individual who is standing up against exploitation by an unscrupulous business and fighting for his rights,” Edwards exclaimed. “His fight is both an inspiration and a model for the way America will operate if I am its next president.”
The lawsuit was launched by Roy Pearson, a judge and lawyer in Washington, D.C., when a dry cleaner lost his favorite trousers. “I cannot convey to you how devastated I am by this cruel abuse of my fundamental human rights,” Pearson says in his court filing. “I had planned to wear these pants on my first day on the bench after my appointment as a judge. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was stolen from me. My life has been irreparably diminished as a result.”
Named in the suit are Korean immigrants Jin and Soo Chung and their son, who own “Custom Cleaners” and two other dry cleaning shops in Washington, D.C.
Pearson claims to be so traumatized by the experience that “I may never be able to trust another human being again.” “I am hoping that I can begin to piece my life back together,” said Pearson. “It is essential that I be awarded sufficient means to do so. It is also important that we send a stern message to corporate wrongdoers so that others will not have to go through what I’ve had to suffer.”
“Cracking down on this type of abuse by this dry-cleaner will enable my administration to implement social justice without having to raise taxes,” Edwards said. “It’s a simple process of transferring money from wealthy undeserving miscreants to injured and underprivileged victims. If we can do this on a broad enough scale, poverty will be a thing of the past.”
Calling his plan a “no-brainer,” Edwards admitted to being a little embarrassed that it took him so long to see that lawsuits like this could be the key to revitalizing the economy. “I’m kicking myself for not glomming onto this idea sooner,” Edwards said. “After all, I’ve been deeply involved in similar legal actions that have turned out to be very rewarding. I guess I was too narrowly focused on my own success.”
Edwards observed that a “byproduct of my plan for social justice is the fact that trial lawyers, the hard-working backbone of our society, will likely be assured of full-employment. It’s a real win-win scenario for America.”
read more...
http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens1.htm
Did you ever serve on a jury?
What a despicable human being.
He must really think the American public is stupid. That has got to be the lamest excuse I’ve heard for taking a high paying job yet!
Of course he meant he took the Hedge fund job to help as many Amercicans as possible have relevant experience with poverty.
Surely you are kidding! If you don’t believe the Majority of Democrats believe him, in total, you do not understand the great unwashed.
Surely you are kidding! If you don’t believe the Majority of Democrats believe him, in total, you do not understand the great unwashed.
Here’s the story as it played at the time:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9697260/
Tip o’ the hat to honolulugal
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