Billionaires On A Rampage
BILLIONAIRES ON A RAMPAGE....Apparently the fight to allow hedge fund billionaires to continue benefitting from the revolting carried interest loophole that cuts their personal tax bill in half is ramping up: "It is getting nasty: below the belt stuff; delving into people's personal lives; crossing lines," according to Eoin Callan in the Financial Times, quoting a lobbyist. Henry Farrell asks:
I may be wrong here, but it seems to me that Callan (who is an excellent and careful journalist, as best as I can tell from his previous articles) is suggesting that hedge fund lobbyists are blackmailing politicians and their aides over their personal lives, or doing the next best thing to it. Is there another plausible explanation that I'm missing here?Hmmm. Sounds about right to me, though I suppose it could just be a reference to generic sleazeballishness. More details, please.
And as long as we're on the subject: the willingness of congressional Democrats to roll over on this issue is simply unbelievable. None of the excuses wash. It's a plain and simple disgrace. If a party of the working class isn't willing to close a ridiculous loophole that provides a certain class of high-roller billionaires with a tax rate that's half of what ordinary people have to pay, what are they here for?