'The War on Greed'

Henry Kravis makes $57,000 PER HOUR. You pay more taxes 

You've got to check out this hilariously nauseating new short film about the unfathomable greed in the world of hedge funds, "The War on Greed, Starring the Homes of Henry Kravis." The New York Times calls it a tongue-in-cheek story -- think "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" meets "Roger & Me" -- detailing the homes and lifestyle of Henry Kravis, a founder of the buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, juxtaposed against the homes and incomes of working families. "He made $450 million last year," the narrator says, "which comes out to $1.3 million per day, or $51,369 per hour every hour of every day." Then it immediately cuts to an interview with Margaret Konjevod, a nurse at the Neuropsychiatric Hospital at the University of California, Los Angeles. What Kravis makes in an hour, "that’s what I make in a year, if I’m lucky," she says. "I get $1.75 extra for working the night shift." The film and recent protests outside Kravis' homes are "the latest indication that the reaction against the wealth created by private equity funds has become part of a populist movement." 

NYT: Robert Greenwald’s movie, the first in a four-part series, came about, he said, because of what he read about the lavish lifestyles of private equity executives and the debate over the industry’s tax treatment (private equity managers pay capital gains rates of 15 percent on much of their income, instead of the ordinary income tax rate of 35 percent). 

Watch the film above and the article is worth a full read too. (NYT)