People who go into teaching and they want to effect the future.
and they want to work for the children.
They want to go improve life.
Like how can I do the most good.
Where would it be?
So I decided to go into teaching.
I know I am having a positive impact on their lives.
I get a lot of hugs.
It's really exciting to see them
I'm excited about learning.
We try to make life long learners.
This is where the joy is.
The top 25 Hedge Fund Managers made more than
all the kindergarten teachers in the country.
I am definitely surprised. I didn't realize it was that much.
There's a lot of kindergarten teachers.
It's absurd that some people should make that much money.
25 people should not make more than kindergarten teachers that's ridiculous.
that's ridiculous
In order to have a nice functioning class room
in a system that is incredibly under funded.
I have to go buy it out of my pocket.
I was forever scoring the good will and yard sales.
But teachers can't afford to live in their communities.
They can't afford to buy a home. They can't afford to live
in our city and be a part of it.
I don't get why. The money that I have... I mean...
I'm literally usually like $5 dollars $10 dollars over, over the rad every month, every month.
I generally have to ask for help from my family.
You have kindergarten class rooms that are trying to scrape together
basic needs to help serve children.
And then we have a system based on the priorities for a Hedge Fund Manager
to not pay taxes.
Hedge Fund Managers are literally making billions and billions of dollars.
and it's crazy that they pay less taxes than the rest of us.
So Hedge Fund Managers because of the carried interest loophole paid the capital gain rate of 20%.
But a kindergarten teacher he or she is paying 25%.
The Hedge Fund guys they invented something called "Carried Interest".
The Carried Interest Loophole and it allows
Hedge Fund Managers to treat their income as capital gains capital gains.
Capital gains are the profits that hedge funds or other people make so if I bought $100 dollars or stock
and I sell it for 2 hundred my capital gains is $100 dollars the key thing is I pay a
lower tax 20% on that profit then I would on regular income.
They claim that it's suppose to encourage investment and risk
but what's crazy is Hedge Fund Managers aren't investing or risking their own money
thier investing in somebody else's money and risking it and then they're getting a tax break for it.
So carried interest is really just a gimmick of the superrich to avoid paying taxes at
regular people would have to pay.
In theory some of those loopholes were understandable
but in practices they sometimes made it possible for millionaires to pay nothing.
But a bus driver is paying 10% of his salary and that's crazy.
Do you think the millionaire ought to pay more in taxes than the bus driver or less?
Every penny they avoid in tax has to be made up by somebody else who pays more tax or has to be made up
by shutting a school.
There's a direct relationship between the money they suck out of the economy
into their wallets and what were not able to provide for our teachers and our children.
Taxes for the richest Americans have come down at a continues clip since the
1960s but the middle class has been left to pick up the tab.
The key thing about carried interest is they're investing other people's money and the notion that they
should get a special tax break from doing their job is crazy.
It's ridiculous. It's when guys are getting away with murder they're making tremendous amount of
money they have to pay taxes.
The only reason the carried interest loophole hasn't been closed
is because Hedge Fund Managers user enormous wealth to buy politicians and
make sure elections turn out in a way that they're protected and then I think
the really dangerous thing is revolving door you look at where people go after
they leave government service they go to work for hedge funds and that's one of
the reasons why they carried loophole is protected because people want to be part
of that system when they get out of washington
Unbelievable and extremely unjust, really.
I dont get it. I just, I don't get why we are not out on the streets screaming stop.
Closing the carried interest loophole is an easy step towards starting to address
inequality in this country.
There's more of us than them and it's time we have a collective voice and actually speak up.
and change the system.
Republicans and Democrats both agree that the notion
that 25 Hedge Fund Managers can make more money than every kindergarten
teacher combine its just crazy it's just a matter of having the courage to take
action and getting rid of it.