PrintJuly 9, 2007
HIllary's money man
Reading the Washington Post Sunday Style section piece on super Hillary fundraiser Bal G. Das yesterday almost sent me reaching for my Vatican Saint Recommendation Form.
Pictured in his impossibly modest midtown Manhattan office with a view of Park Avenue, where rents are north of $100 per square foot, Das is quoted, "What motivates me is leaving this world better than when I found it"
A real profile in altruism, the Post tells us:
"... Das has maxed out the amount he can personally donate while helping to raise what he calculates is more than $300,000 for the cause. Shunning big events, he's hosted a series of small get-togethers at his Upper East Side home. Most recently, he attended a 1,200-person event of Indian American supporters (including Deepak Chopra) and a much smaller gathering where Clinton and Warren Buffett did a Steve-and-Eydie routine for wealthy supporters such as Vernon Jordan and Steven Rattner. Both events raised approximately $1 million each, according to the campaign."
I believe this is what you call a gathering of "fat cats."
Just as I was poised to grab my form and dash it off to the Pope I decided to do a little checking up on Mr. Das. At first I was taken in by Post's glowing description of Mr. Das,
"A man with a cherubic face and rimless glasses, he sports brown wingtips and a tan summer suit a little short in the arms. He projects a kind of formal sincerity. While nearly everyone involved with the former first lady's presidential quest calls the candidate Hillary, Das will refer to her only as ‘Senator Clinton.'"
My interest was further piqued by the Post saying he's at the forefront of fundraisers with a capacity to bring 40 to 50 supremely affluent people together in an intimate setting for Mrs. Clinton's benefit. Helpfully, the Post reminds us of a recent dust up with the Obama campaign, Senator Obama had to apologize for a staff memo that labeled Clinton as "D-Punjab"
"The flap brought to light the tussle within the Democratic Party for the hearts, minds and wallets of this constituency"
So just who is Bal G. Das, super fundraiser? Mr. Das is General Counsel of InsCap Capital Management LLC http://www.inscapllc.com/das.html. formerly known as LILAC. A look at the firm's website says Mr. Das is responsible for coordinating the firm's legal, compliance and regulatory affairs. No, this can't be. I thought Mr. Das was a simply a civic minded contributor just trying to make world a better place by supporting Hillary Clinton.
InsCap Capital Management is a firm involved in a highly controversial tax avoidance scheme called "leveraged life insurance."
There are several variations to this scheme but one version has wealthy tax payers borrow money to pay life insurance premiums and deduct the interest from their current income, reducing their taxes, while receiving preferential tax treatment upon death or distribution of the policy.
I think this could be characterized as a "tax break for the rich", Mrs. Clinton.
There you have it: Mr. Das' occupation and personal wealth are derived directly from legislation passed in Washington. I'm so disillusioned. I thought this guy was selfless and now it turns out he's nothing more than another rent seeker. I'm not sure contributing to Hillary Clinton campaign is going to make the world a better place, I do know it will probably fatten his wallet.
The Washington Post has swarms of reporters. Perhaps they can assign a few people to look into all these generous donors instead of wasting their readers' time writing misleading puff pieces on them.
