Realpolitik

Here's the latest on taxing carried interest: A prominent Democrat is trying to stop a prominent Republican from raising taxes on money managers.

Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York is fighting a plan to raise taxes on hedge funds and buyout firms with his own legislative poison pill: a demand that other powerful interests share any pain. Schumer is expressing concern about plans by lawmakers including Republican Senator Charles Grassley that would more than double taxes on private-equity and hedge-fund firms or their managers....

Schumer may be trying to shield both his Wall Street constituents and his party's electoral war chest, Grassley said. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which Schumer heads, received $779,100 from employees of private-equity firms and hedge funds in June, six times their combined total in June 2005, federal filings show. That far exceeds the industry's contributions of about $60,000 to the Republican Senate committee.

If you read this blog, you know my views on this policy debate.