It didn't take long for TPM readers to identify the two likeminded conservatives with whom Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) shared two pricey $350 bottles of Pinot Noir Wednesday night.
The two names repeatedly flooded into TPM's e-mail since our story on Ryan's big spending night first ran Friday, and we spent the next 24 hours trying to reach the pair to confirm their identities and get their side of the story.
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Hey Big Spenders: What Else Could Wealthy Candidates Buy With All That Campaign Cash?]
The three men were spotted ordering the $700 worth of wine at Bistro Bis on Capitol Hill by an associate professor of business at Rutgers University named Susan Feinberg. After dining in the same restaurant with her husband, Feinberg confronted Ryan and his pals about the high-end wine. The exchange became contentious. Ryan professed not to know the price of the wine, and one of his buddies responded to Feinberg's chastisement by loudly saying, "Fuck her," Feinberg told TPM.
When TPM asked Ryan who he was dining with Wednesday night, he declined to identify them, saying only that they were economists, not lobbyists. But TPM has confirmed that the two other men with Ryan were Cliff Asness and John Cochrane. Both men have doctorate degrees in economics and are well-known in the conservative media world as die-hard proponents of the free market's ability to right itself without government bailouts when the crisis hit in late 2008.
Asness, who ordered the wine and who, according to Feinberg was the one who said "Fuck her," is better known as a high-profile hedge fund manager. Asness founded and runs AQR Capital, which manages an estimated $26 billion in a variety of traditional products and hedge funds, and his life story has been the subject of numerous books and articles about the rise and fall of Wall Street. He's also grabbed headlines for being one of the most voluble opponents of President Obama's economic policies.
ABC's Jake Tapper ran an illuminating piece on Asness in May of 2009, describing him as having "a name and occupation straight out of Dickens" after he wrote an angry open letter to Obama -- "Unafraid in Greenwich, Connecticut" -- in which he blasted the President's attacks on hedge fund owners refusing to go along with his administration's plans for Chrysler.
"Who came up with the title for the letter?" Tapper asked parenthetically in his piece. "Axelrod? Perhaps 'Bold and on My Yacht' was too subtle."
Cochrane, the other, more tempered dinner companion, is the AQR Capital Management Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago, an apparent tip of the hat to the contributions Asness' AQR Capital Management has made to the Booth School of Business there.
Obama will be just as important as M.L.K. to the Black/ minority community when by the end of his presidency. Ever since 9/11 when the planes hit the towers & it was all over the local news stations as well as the cable news shows everything started kinda falling into place as far as politics. I started watching Bill O’reilly, Hannity & Colmes, Hardball w/ Chris Matthews, Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann & recently Glenn Beck & Rachel Maddow. When Barack Obama came on to the scene with his DNC speech I was impressed, but I don’t neccessarily remember thinking alot of it other than that. There might have been a couple of commentators that speculated his run, but i’m really just assuming that. I don’t specifically remember anyone saying that this guy could be president. So I just forgot about it basically. Then he just popped up in 2008, I guess, & started running. Of course I remembered him from the speech, but it was still a surprise as I didn’t know anything of him other than the DNC speech. But as the process went on I became increasingly impressed by Barack Obama & his family. I thought his background was great. Head of The Harvard Lawyer Association. Hey, the guy is black so you can’t beat that. In a white dominated society that is a great academic accomplishment, not just an entertaining one. I was also impressed by his humane & compassionate traits as far as choosing to stay in Chicago & be a community organizer to help less fortunate people instead of easily accepting high paying attorney jobs at giant powerful firms on Wallstreet. Also, he has a great sense of family structure even though his own background was not as successful. That tells me that he is educated & adapted above his environment instead of being consumed by it. & many black homes need to see that above all else. For me, Barack Obama has made the world & its needs come into focus as opposed to just myself & my own. Being raised in indonesia with family ties, for me, makes him more worldy wise compassionate & aware. Coming from an oppressed people living in an oppressed nation, but rising to the top as the leader gives him much respect & consideration all over the world. I think he is the guy to bring this whole world together more than it has ever been because of his entire spread out & well rounded background. Here’s a black democratic president, one letter away from having the same name as the most wanted terrorist ever, the same name as Sadam (the middleeast president that Bush killed), with the blackest father & whitest mother, irish blood & Dick Cheney as a cousin for god’s sake. There has to be some fate to all that. If not fate, than opportunity is a great word. For me, if this isn’t the guy to bring it all together, or at least the most positive change the world has needed, than there is no other! I ask you to give him more time. The world wasn’t screwed up in one day, neither will it be fixed in one. But I believe we will have the most & quickest gains through Barack Obama. We’re all glad that President Obama got Osama Bin Laden! But people still need help all over the world. Earthquakes, Tsunamis & tornadoes have devastated many places around the world including Japan, Haiti & Missouri. Libya, Syria & Yemen is in chaos & disorder with people getting killed for protesting against decades of tyranny & inhumane living conditions like the recent killing of Hamza Al-Khatib, a 13yr. Syrian boy. We all know the power of music & how 1 song can help change the world. So as well as DJ’s & radio stations playing it, I’m telling people all over the world that if you want Obama’s change & America’s freedom post a video on YouTube of yourselves (like the Baldwin Village, Los Angeles, CA kids http://youtu.be/DnhRo8cmMlQ) singing a chorus of ‘Obama For The World’ (the world’s theme song for Obama).
ITunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/obama-for-the-world/id382415281?uo=4
50% of sales go to world disaster reliefs & the Obama 2012 campaign!
Donations: http://www.tunecore.com/music/david-king
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/david.king
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/david__king
bench craft company rip off concepts
bench craft company rip off satenday latters
bench craft company rip off flatout saw th
bench craft company competitors scam customers
bench craft company scam letters
bench craft company rip off beans
bench craft company rip off concepts
bench craft company rip off boots
bench craft company scam advark
bench craft company scam house of pain
bench craft company rip off by some of their
bench craft company scam emotion
bench craft company scam letters
bench craft company scam by competitors
bench craft company scam letters
bench craft company rip off table tops
benchcraftcompanyripoff
bench craft company rip off table tops
bench craft company scam by competitors
Obama, Boehner Announce Agreement to Raise Debt Ceiling, Avoid <b>...</b>
ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf (@zbyronwolf) reports: It took the threat of economic collapse and a long, contentious negotiation -- and there will still be votes in Congress before it's truly done -- but lawmakers from both ...
Obama, Boehner Announce Agreement to Raise Debt Ceiling, Avoid <b>...</b>VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN <b>NEWS</b> ! « Gretawire
If you think this is a “done deal,” think again. Vice President Biden is expected to speak in the House of Representatives. You know that would not be happening if [...]
VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN <b>NEWS</b> ! « GretawireLocal <b>News</b> Reporter Shot with BB Gun During Live Segment
Leanne Suter, a reporter for KABC in Los Angeles, was shot in the hand with a BB gun yesterday while doing a segment on weather. We can't find video of the incident itself, but apparently Leanne is such a bad-ass that ...
Local <b>News</b> Reporter Shot with BB Gun During Live Segment
No comments:
Post a Comment