If one relied just on what politicians say and not what they do, one might reasonably conclude that hedge funds - blamed by our President and various politicians - were the cause of our economic meltdown. We are reading headlines that our Congressmen, led by Barney Frank, are on a crusade to reign them in so that such turmoil will not recur. Frank certainly has his reasons for distracting Americans from his own prominent role in causing the catastrophe through his support for the Community Reinvestment Act, and his empowering of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to lower their standards when those two companies purchased high-risk mortgages. Over in the Senate, Chris Dodd (after Barack Obama, the number one recipient of donations from hedge funds in the last election cycle), has the same motivation to demonize hedge funds and to promise punishment of them. The reality, of course, is different from the charade. In fact, hedge funds have been gaining clout in Washington and are working,...(Read Full Post)