How ultra-wealthy campaign donors dodge huge tax bills

Daniel S. Loeb, who runs the $17 billion Third Point hedge fund, has contributed to Jeb Bush's Super PAC and given $1 million to the American Unity Super PAC, which supports gay rights. He is also one of many ultra-wealthy Americans who have figured out tricky maneuvers to avoid forking over millions in taxes, The New York Times reports:

"There's this notion that the wealthy use their money to buy politicians; more accurately, it's that they can buy policy, and specifically, tax policy,” Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told The New York Times in a report on the dubious practice. "That's why these egregious loopholes exist, and why it's so hard to close them."

Karen L. Hawkins, who once headed the I.R.S. office overseeing tax practitioners, added that "the best and brightest get a high from figuring out how to do tricky little deals […] Frankly, it is almost beyond the intellectual and resource capacity of the Internal Revenue Service to catch."

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And many of these wealthy are among the biggest donors to the 2016 campaign candidates. Read the full report in The New York Times.