MNeagle
26th January 2012, 08:31 PM
Sitting in what appears to be a Syracuse Orangemen-themed studio at Davos, Reuters' Chrystia Freeland teased some pretty fun quotes out of George Soros on Wednesday. Besides saying that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were essentially the same sorts of politicians, the hedge fund billionaire expounded upon his opposition to income inequality (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=12o49kkth/EXP=1328844358/**http%3A//blogs.reuters.com/davos/2012/01/25/george-soros-obama-romney/).
George Soros: Well, that is the big difference, and that has led my hedge fund community to abandon Obama in favor of any Republican because they don’t like to be taxed. I personally believe that when it comes to policy, you shouldn’t be pursuing self-interest, but the public interest. And I think that the income differentials are too wide and ought to be narrowed.
Chrystia Freeland: Are you one of Lenin’s useful idiots?
George Soros: Pardon?
Chrystia Freeland: Are you one of Lenin’s useful idiots, in the view of your fellow hedge fund billionaires, to be making this kind of argument?
George Soros: Well, I suppose so. I am a traitor to my class.
We're not sure Freeland's use of the term "useful idiot (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=11t2vuecd/EXP=1328844358/**http%3A//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_idiot)" is entirely correct, but "traitor to my class," that one's hard to misinterpret. Especially when you say it at Davos.
http://news.yahoo.com/george-soros-admits-hes-traitorous-billionaire-225357123.html
George Soros: Well, that is the big difference, and that has led my hedge fund community to abandon Obama in favor of any Republican because they don’t like to be taxed. I personally believe that when it comes to policy, you shouldn’t be pursuing self-interest, but the public interest. And I think that the income differentials are too wide and ought to be narrowed.
Chrystia Freeland: Are you one of Lenin’s useful idiots?
George Soros: Pardon?
Chrystia Freeland: Are you one of Lenin’s useful idiots, in the view of your fellow hedge fund billionaires, to be making this kind of argument?
George Soros: Well, I suppose so. I am a traitor to my class.
We're not sure Freeland's use of the term "useful idiot (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/SIG=11t2vuecd/EXP=1328844358/**http%3A//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_idiot)" is entirely correct, but "traitor to my class," that one's hard to misinterpret. Especially when you say it at Davos.
http://news.yahoo.com/george-soros-admits-hes-traitorous-billionaire-225357123.html