#Hedgepapers No. 38- Larry Levy: Chicago’s Taxpayer-Subsidized Real Estate Tycoon

7 Oct 2016

RAHM’S PAL GETS SPECIAL SUBSIDIES AS SCHOOLS SUFFER The Chicago Public School system is struggling with a $1.1 billion budget deficit this year. Parents, teachers and students are suffering from inadequate resources, and are scared about the future. And as Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner continues to slash funding for public education, public school principals have again been asked to cut their spending, this time by $120 million system-wide mid-year[1] – and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is demanding that teachers accept $500 million in pension cuts.[2]... Read More

#HedgePapers No. 37 – Trump’s Unholy Trinity: How Three of His Biggest Donors Are Cashing in on California’s Housing Crisis

13 Sep 2016

Introduction: Understanding Trump and His Billionaire Supporters in California During the current presidential race, Donald Trump has come under fire for outrageous and offensive positions on a range of issues. His history of bragging about how he would profit from the real-estate market crash that fueled the Great Recession has drawn considerable scrutiny.... Read More

#HedgePapers No. 36 – Hedge Funds Attack Ohio: How Wall Street Greed Has Destroyed Jobs and Harmed the Economy in the Buckeye State

8 Sep 2016

Introduction and Overview The issues of job loss, outsourcing, trade and the economy are front and center in this year’s elections, especially in Ohio. Yet there hasn’t been nearly enough attention on the role of Wall Street investors and hedge fund managers in the destruction of American jobs here. These influential figures from New York’s wealthy elite are also among the biggest contributors of campaign cash to politicians who have harmed Ohio’s working families and undermined the economic interests of our communities.... Read More

#HedgePapers No. 35 – Billionaire John Paulson – The Epi-Pen Profiteer

30 Aug 2016

Right now, price gouging for the EpiPen is putting a lifesaving medication out of reach for thousands of American families, while at the same time helping a manipulative hedge fund billionaire get even richer. Families shouldn’t have to choose between lifesaving drugs and putting food on the table – it’s unfair, and it’s morally wrong.... Read More

#HedgePapers No. 34 – Rigging the System: How Hedge Fund and Private Equity Billionaires Are Manipulating New York Elections With Help from the Karl Rove-Koch Brothers Empire

23 Aug 2016

“New Yorkers for Independent Action” is a new three-million-dollar Super PAC trying to buy elections in middle-class, working-class and low-income communities from the Bronx to Long Island.[1] We’ve prepared this paper so that the public can understand how “New Yorkers for Independent Action” is spending their big bucks: On TV ads Utilizing The Karl Rove-Koch Brothers Media-Buying Arm On Scandal-Linked Field Consultants in Brooklyn On Republican Election Lawyers in Albany On Scandal-Linked Mail Consultants In Westchester On Who Knows What with an Anonymous LLC in the Bronx On Limousines, Hotels, Flights to Miami And High-End Meals It’s the latest political effort from the Invest in Education Foundation, the same folks who lobbied for lavish refundable tax credits for billionaire and millionaire donors to elite private schools and privatized charter schools in 2015.[2]... Read More

#HedgePapers No. 33 – Attack of the Billionaires: Meet the Millionaires & Billionaires Manipulating Elections in Brooklyn, Bronx & Long Island Communities of Color

18 Aug 2016

“New Yorkers for Independent Action” is a new three-million-dollar Super PAC trying to buy elections in middle-class, working-class and low-income Black and Latino neighborhoods from the Bronx to Long Island. This Super PAC raised $3 million from the same hedge-funders and billionaires who Financed media attacks on Black Lives Matter and fought the $15 minimum wage; Pushed for tax cuts for the rich while working to gut Social Security and Medicare; Financed media smears of Bernie Sanders while protecting the legacy of a North Carolina Ku Klux Klan leader.... Read More

#HedgePapers No. 32: Chain of Exploitation: How CarHop Targets Poor Minnesotans To Make A San Francisco Fund Manager Rich

12 Aug 2016

More and more low-income and working class Minnesotans are getting ripped off by CarHop, the high-cost/high-hassle predatory car sales & loan chain operating in low-income and working-class communities across our state. This predatory auto loan financing corporation is an example of the many industries now being driven by private equity and hedge fund barons who work with CEOs experienced in ripping off low-income and working class consumers, skating across the edges of the law, making exorbitant profits and living in luxury, far from the struggles of their customers.... Read More

#HedgePapers No. 31 – Christie’s Cronies

3 Aug 2016

In July 2015, New Jersey Hedge Clippers released a report, Diminishing Returns: How Chris Christie is Wasting Billions on Bad Hedge Fund Investments, outlining how Governor Christie led the New Jersey State Investment Council to take increasingly risky bets on hedge fund investments—leaving New Jersey taxpayers and public employees on the hook for over $2 billion in fees and lost returns.... Read More

#HedgePapers No. 30 – The Dangerous Deeds of Carl Icahn

17 Jul 2016

Released in partnership with With national attention focused on populist anger over Wall Street’s role in rigging the economy, Americans are taking a growing interest in the business practices of billionaire investors and money managers. Wall Street multimillionaires and billionaires have seen their wealth reach unprecedented peaks even as the rest of the economy sputters and working families see their incomes stagnate or decline.... Read More

#HedgePapers No. 29 – Hidden Donations Brought to Light: How the Wealthy Elite Tried to Defeat Proposition 30

17 Jul 2016

In 2012, California voters widely supported Governor Brown’s Proposition 30, a ballot measure designed to raise revenue for public schools. It was premised on the common sense idea that the state’s millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share of taxes to fund public schools. Many of the wealthiest Californians, especially hedge fund managers and private equity investors, did not like that they were being pressured to pay higher taxes.... Read More