Hillary Clinton declared, on April 15 at Kirkwood Community College in Monticello, Iowa, "And there's something wrong when hedge fund managers pay lower tax rates than nurses or the truckers that I saw on I-80 as I was driving here over the last two days."

It's peculiar that she mentioned hedge fund managers.  And taxes.  Why?  Because she was an investor who tried to avoid paying taxes, and she has very close connections to hedge fund managers.

• In 1978, she "invested" $1,000 in cattle futures.  That investment netted $100,000.  The investing was supervised by James Blair, a friend and top lawyer for Tyson Foods Inc., one of Arkansas' most powerful companies.  "During Mr. Clinton's tenure as Governor, Tyson benefited from several state decisions, including favorable environmental rulings, $9 million in state loans, and the placement of company executives on important state boards."  Professional investors suggested that the odds of Hillary's profit-making were 31 trillion to 1. Then Hillary paid an additional $14,615 in back taxes and interest after it came out that she had made more money on futures trades than had been reported to the IRS.
• Hedge Fund Connections:
  • Marc Mezvinsky, Chelsea Clinton's husband, is co-founder of the $400 million hedge fund Eaglevale Partners LP.
  • Lloyd Blankfein (who knows Hillary quite well), Goldman Sachs CEO, is an investor in Hillary's son-in-law's hedge fund.
  • Chelsea Clinton used to work at Clinton family friend Marc Lasry's $13.3 billion New York hedge fund company, Avenue Capital Group. Chelsea Clinton reportedly already has a net worth of $15 million that came primarily from working for Clinton family friends at Avenue Capital Group, a hedge fund, and at McKinsey & Co.,  a global management consultant firm.
  • The Children's Investment Fund Foundation, one of the top seven Clinton Foundation donors, was founded by Christopher Hohn, a British hedge fund manager.
  • Hillary immediately rented private office space from the Rock Creek Group, a Washington-based investment firm with strong ties to the Clinton family and a hedge fund department, after she stepped down as Security of State.
  • Hillary will attend a fund raiser in NYC at the home of Lisa Perry, whose husband is a hedge fund executive.  The Perrys are major supporters of Hillary.

Hillary says she wants to be the "champion of everyday Americans."  So, Geoff Garin, a prominent Democratic strategist, said, "Issues of tax fairness will be resonant and effective with voters. All of this will be helpful in letting average voters know that Hillary will be on their side."  And recent polling by the Pew Research Center indicates that Americans are doubtful that corporations and wealthy individuals pay enough taxes.  Hence her mentioning taxes.

But that "champion" role requires her to be critical of some of her friends and largest donors.  Fortunately, they understand.  About singling out hedge fund managers, one donor said, "Nobody takes it like she is going after them personally."  Another donor, a hedge fund manager, said, "The question is not going to be whether or not hedge fund managers or C.E.O.s make too much money," but rather, "how do you solve the problem of inequality?"  And Robert Wolf, a former C.E.O. of U.B.S. Americas, said, "As a C.E.O. and former Wall Street executive, I applaud Secretary Clinton's remarks and I do not view them as populist nor far left."

So, once again, with Hillary it's politics as usual.  That means lying and/or telling half truths and comparing apples with oranges.  For example, her saying that "hedge fund managers pay lower tax rates than nurses or the truckers" may or may not be true.  "Carried interest" is a designation of income that allows hedge fund investors to have their investment profits taxed under the capital gains tax rate of 20%.  Hillary's statement is true about investment profit tax rates only if the nurses and truck drivers salaries are in excess of $37,450 (single) or $74,900 (married) annually. Those are the salary incomes necessary to be in the 25% income tax rate bracket with a tax rate higher than the capital gains tax rate.  The tax rate goes as high as 39.6% for higher salaries. 

But if the nurses and truck drivers make smaller salaries, their income tax rate could be 15% (more than $9,225 or $18,450), or 10% (if they earned less than $9,225 or $18,450), rates lower than the capital gains tax rate.  So, not knowing the nurses' or truck drivers' salaries, she may or may not have been correct about their tax rates.  But she didn't care since the MSM dutifully reported her statement.

Comparing the investment income tax rate with salary tax rates is certainly comparing apples with oranges.

And I'll wager that the hedge fund managers' salaries, not their investment profits, are as high as or higher than the salaries of the nurses and truck drivers to which Hillary referred, so the managers probably don't pay lower tax rates on their salaries.  Again, the lap-dog MSM didn't make the distinction between investments and salary.  And neither did the investor Hillary.

Everything Hillary says must be carefully analyzed.  Like husband, like wife.

Dr. Warren Beatty (not the liberal actor) earned a Ph.D. in quantitative management and statistics from Florida State University.  Now retired, he was a (very conservative) university professor.  He is a veteran who served in the U.S. Army.  He blogs at rwno.limewebs.com.