Paul Ryan is a Wine-Sipping Elitist Who Hangs Out with Hedge Fund Managers

Mitt Romney’s VP pick Paul Ryan is a wine-sipping elitist who hangs out with hedge fund managers… and there’s nothing wrong with that. Last year Paul Ryan was seen at an expensive Washington, DC restaurant drinking two bottles of $350-bottle wine with outspoken hedge fund manager Cliff Asness and University of Chicago professor John Cochrane (the image is sourced from TPM).

Cliff Asness is the founder of AQR Capital, a quantitative hedge fund managing around $30 billion in assets. Cliff Asness is probably a billionaire and he is a huge supporter of the free enterprise system. Interestingly he supported Obama during the 2008 elections probably because Republicans’ free enterprise system brought Asness’ hedge fund to the brink of collapse. AQR’s flagship Absolute Return fund lost more than 50% in 2007 and 2008. We are experts about hedge fund returns. Most hedge funds aren’t absolute return; they are usually around 50% long, so it’s normal for hedge funds to underperform the market in bull markets and outperform them in bear markets. Absolute return funds are different animals. They aren’t supposed to have big losses or gains, and they shouldn’t be highly correlated with the markets.

AQR’s huge losses in 2007 and 2008 are unbelievable. If I were the manager of AQR at that time, I would have probably voted for Karl Marx! Free enterprise is fine as long as you are the one who’s making hundreds of millions of dollars. Free enterprise isn’t fun when you are losing half of your wealth. The government should do something about it!

Mitt Romney picked the best VP candidate he can pick in this election. America is clearly in the middle of a class warfare. Somebody has to pay for the huge deficits that are the result of financial crisis and irresponsible military spending. Obama is on the side of Robin Hood and wants to tax the rich to pay for it. Mitt Romney seemed to have been on the side of the rich before he announced his VP pick. Now Romney has sent a clear message by picking Paul Ryan: Paul Ryan is a wine-sipping elitist who hangs out with hedge fund managers. There is nothing wrong with that because he paid $350 for the wine he drank. Now it’s America’s turn to decide how to pay for the Bush tax cuts, military spending, bailouts, and generous social policies.