CommonDreams.org is reporting on the outrageous compensation Hedge Fund Managers are getting.

New rankings show the top 25 managers had combined earnings of $12.94 billion in 2015.

At the top of the list are Kenneth Griffin of Citadel and James Simons of Renaissance Technologies, who each took in $1.7 billion.

Simons has the distinction of being the only manager to appear on the list for its entire 15-year history.

Griffin, the New York Times reports, "was the biggest donor to the successful re-election campaign of Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago.

More recently he has poured more than $3.1 million into the failed presidential campaigns of Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, as well as the Republican National Committee.

Reuters adds, "The higher payday came "despite the fact that roughly half of all hedge funds lost money last year," said Institutional Investor Editor Michael Peltz.

He added that "about half of the 25 highest-earning hedge fund managers used computer-generated investment strategies to produce their investment gains.”

According to Sam Pizzigati, who edits Too Much, the Institute for Policy Study's online weekly newsletter on excess and inequality, "the real enormity of America's annual hedge fund jackpots only comes into focus when we contrast these windfalls to the rewards that go to ordinary Americans.

Kindergarten teachers, for instance.

The 157,800 teachers of America’s little people, the Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us, together make about $8.34 billion a year.”

According to Stephen Lerner, a fellow at Georgetown University's Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and Working Poor, these managers are merely a reflection of our "winner-take-all politics.

Billionaire hedge fund managers have been leveraging huge amounts of investor capital to extract enormous cash payouts for themselves, the ultimate in “winner-take-all” economics.

To squeeze out these payouts, they’ve been pressuring the enterprises they dominate to slash wages, eliminate pension and health benefits, and offshore middle-class jobs.”

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... About That Progressive Platform... (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

Community Square

"I’m voting for Bernie (by voting for Hillary)"
Posted by lynnwoodland.

"Vote Hillary -- BUT Create a Contingency Hammer..."
Posted by Gibbon.

"Hillary did NOT Hire DWS"
Posted by ronsears.

"A Mother's Complaint About Trump's "Cynical Use" of Benghazi"
Posted by bluedog 294.

Wednesday's Daily Stack

Hour One: What Do People Who Know Tim Kaine Say About Him?
- Congressman Don Byer (D-VA, 8th District)

Book: Why the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism--From Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond by E.J. Dionne Jr.

Case: "Brown v. Board Of Education", 1954 (Segregation in public schools) (overturned Plessy v. Ferguson).

Law: "Voting Rights Act of 1965".

Law: "Civil Rights Act of 1964" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Southern strategy" by Wikipedia.

Video: "Ronald Reagan States' Rights Speech in Philadelphia, MS", August 3, 1980.

Article: "Tim Kaine" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Democracy Lost: A Report on the Fatally Flawed 2016 Democratic Primaries" by Election Justice USA.

Article: "Donald Trump Challenges Russia to Find Hillary Clinton’s Missing Emails" by Ashley Parker.

Article: "XYZ Affair" by Wikipedia.

Book: What Would Jefferson Do?: A Return to Democracy by Thom Hartmann by Thom Hartmann.

Site: "DuckDuckGo" search engine.

Article: "O’Reilly on Michelle Obama Speech: Slaves That Built WH Were ‘Well Fed and Had Decent Lodgings’" by Josh Feldman.

Article: "So, I cannot renew my Texas drivers license" by exRepubToDem.

Article: "Howard Dean Reprises His Infamous ‘Dean Scream’ Moment at the DNC" by Josh Feldman.

Article: "Nancy Pelosi Declares Opposition To Obama’s TPP Trade Deal" by Michael McAuliff.

Video: "Giant Sucking Sound - Ross Perot 1992 Presidential Debate".

Article: "2016 Democratic Party Platform".

Article: "Trump Campaign Chair Manafort: 'Obama Should Be Ashamed at What is Going on in the World'" by John Santucci, Conor Finnegan.

Site: Tim Canova For Congress (FL-23).

Site: Our Revolution.

Article: "The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection (Continued)" (Federalist 10) by James Madison.

Article: "Democratic-Republican Party" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Federalist Party" by Wikipedia.

Law: "Alien and Sedition Acts", 1798.

Book: On Liberty by John Stuart Mill, 1859.

Hour Two: LIVE from DNC Radio Row
- Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL, 9th District)

Video: Michelle Obama's entire Democratic convention speech.

Article: "Michelle Obama DNC speech transcript: read the speech Democrats loved so much" by Michelle Garcia

Video: Sen. Bernie Sanders' full speech from the DNC.

Article: "Read Bernie Sanders’ Speech at the Democratic Convention" by Will Drabold.

Article: "Mothers of the Movement recall slain children" by Thomas Fitzgerald.

Article: "2016 Democratic Party Platform".

Article: "Economic Growth" by Congressman Bill Foster.

Live from Philadelphia
- Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI, 2nd District)

Article: "What Team Trump was prepared to offer John Kasich" by Steve Benen.

Article: "Victory for Purvi Patel, but Still a Loss for Reproductive Rights" by Robin Marty.

Article: "Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed a law this year that mandated funerals for fetuses" by Emily Crockett.

Video: Ted Kennedy on Republicans and Minimum wage. "When does the greed stop?"

Case: "Buckley v. Valeo", 1976.

Article: "The Powell Memo or Powell Manifesto".

Case: "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission" (2010).

DNC and the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee
- Paul Booth, A.F.S.C.M.E., LIVE from DNC Radio Row

Video: Paul Booth Speech @ DNC 2016 - Crowd won't stop chanting "BERNIE, BERNIE".

Article: "Card check" by Wikipedia.

Site: The Fight For 15.

Article: "Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) - August 1981 strike" by Wikipedia.

Talk Media News Segment:
- Bob Ney

Article: "Bill Clinton paints Hillary with a soft heart" by Jon-Christopher Bua.

Article: "Pence, Ryan distance themselves from Trump’s Russian dare" by TMN.

Article: "Snowden leaks confirm existence of ECHELON" by RT.

Book: "Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill" by Robert Ney.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman

Article: "Quick Morning News - Hillary Clinton cracks glass ceiling - July 27, 2016" by Victoria Jones.

Hour Three: Dark Act...
- Alexis Baden-Mayer, Organic Consumers Association

Article: "Veto The Dark Act (S.764)".

Article: "Obama Ready to Sign Food-Label Bill Consumer Groups Dislike" by Alan Bjerga, Angela Greiling Keane.

Article: "Campbell Soup becomes first major company to start GMO labeling" by Siddharth Cavale and Subrat Patnaik.

Law: "Telecommunications Act of 1996" by Wikipedia.

Article: "The 9 wildest lines from Trump's news conference" by Tyler Pager.

LIVE from DNC Radio Row
- Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-OH, 3rd District)

Berniecrat running for Congress
- WA State Senator Pramila Jayapal

Article: "Call Voters for Pramila Jayapal" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Article: "Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement" (TPP) by EFF.

Article: "Fast track (trade) (TPA)" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Eleanor Roosevelt" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Frances Perkins" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Eugene V. Debs" by Wikipedia.

Movie: "All The Way".

Article: "Was Nina Turner, Prominent Sanders Delegate, Ejected (or Worse) at DNC?" by Jon Queally.

Article: "Did Longtime Ally Just Blow Major Hole in Clinton's TPP Credibility?" by Nadia Prupis.

Article: "Putin’s Buddy Trump Is About To Get National Security Briefings. Intel Officers Are Worried" by Ryan Grim, Nick Baumann.

Thursday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET

It's the final day of the Democratic National Convention and callers live from the DNC will include peace activist and author Tom Hayden, political strategist Stephanie Schriock of Emily's List and feminist attorney Terry O'Neill of the National Organization for Women (NOW)

Plus I'll be talking to Governor of Connecticut Dannel P. Malloy (D-CT)

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"

And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...

Who will win for Prez in November?

Vote here!

Is Blue Lives Matter A Hate Group?

Guns, Privacy & Vote By Mail w/Senator Ron Wyden

Politics Panel - Neocons & Progressives Support Clinton - What?!

Politics Panel: No Bernie - No Climate Change

Senator Tammy Baldwin @ the DNC On the Issues

Full Show 7/26/16: Hillary Or Bust?!?

Thom discusses the GOP neocons supporting Hillary Clinton with The Daily Beast’s Eleanor Clift, gun control and privacy issues with Senator Ron Wyden, and LGBT rights with Senator Tammy Baldwin. Tonight’s Politics Panel discusses the chaotic DNC Convention and Bernie’s speech, and Thom answers your questions and comments in tonight’s Your Take, My Take Live.

What Do People Who Know Tim Kaine Say About Him? (w/Guest: Rep. Don Byer)

Voting For Hillary Is About More Than Voting For Her!

Bill O'Reilly Says The Slaves Who Built White House Were 'Well Treated'!

What Are Democrats Doing On Criminal Justice Reform? (W/Guest: Rep. Carol Ammons)

Democrats Take A Stand On Climate & Guns! (w/Guest: Brian Frosch)

Facts Vs. Feelings & The Need To Listen To Bernie Supporters...

Will Bernie's Legacy Be A Brand New Progressive Congress?

Wasserman-Shultz Opponent Files Lawsuit Over DNC Emails! (W/Guest: Tim Canova)

Republicans Complain About The Way THEY Are Running The Government.

Will Americans Accept A Dystopian View Of Our Country? (w/Guest: Bob Mulholland)

Tough Love For The Bernie Or Bust Folks...

Will Democrats Steal Defeat From The Jaws of Victory?

Don't Underestimate The Power of Outrage

Have You Heard About Tim Kaine's Progressive Background?

Will Democrats Realize That Trade Policies Win Elections?

Will Hillary Run Away From The Myth Of The Political Center?

Will The Authoritarian Vision For America Prevail in November?

Did Donald Trump's Convention Speech Win Him Any New Voters?

What Alternative Are Democrats Presenting To Trump? (w/Guest: Karen Finney)

Why Many People In The Rust Belt Support Donald Trump... And Why We Should Worry!