What Billionaire Tim Paulson Thinks of Wall Street Protesters
Who's the most befuddled Wall Streeter of all? The richest guy on the Street.
In
assessing the spreading public protest against the rampaging greed of
today's financial elite, John Paulson turns out to be as confused as a
goat on Astroturf.
Oh,
he gets that the people's anger is directed at hedge fund profiteers
like him, but he claims they are simply confused on the virtue of
accumulated wealth. Although he raked in nearly $5 billion in personal
pay last year (the largest single haul in Wall Street history) from
rigged Wall Street casino games, he asserts that the amassing of wealth
itself serves the public good.
It's
unfair, Paulson scolds, that protesters demonstrated in front of his
28,000-square-foot, $15-million mansion on New York's Upper East Side,
targeting him as an example of plutocratic excess. Taxes from
billionaires like him, he says, are "providing huge benefits to everyone
in our city."
Besides,
he points out that he's not merely a billionaire, but also a "job
creator," as Republican leaders prefer to call corporate chieftains
these days. Paulson brags that his hedge fund "has created over 100
high-paying jobs in New York City since its formation." Wow — 100 jobs
in a city of over 8 million people.
Thanks, John. Our economy wouldn't be the same without you.
When
it comes down to it, all that Paulson's clique really wants is a little
love, a small show of gratitude for all that the richest 1 percent is
doing for us 99 percent of Americans by making themselves ever-richer.
In
a plaintive press release, he recently wrote that, "Instead of
vilifying our most successful businesses, we should be supporting them
and encouraging them."
Isn't it sad to hear John cry? But, then, he does have $15 billion in net worth to dry those tears.
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