Friends of the Patriotic Millionaires,

Yesterday, POLITICO PRO, the definitive guide to influence in Washington, led with a story about the Patriotic Millionaires’ filing of the legal paperwork necessary to become an officially-recognized federal lobbyist:

The Patriotic Millionaires, a group of wealthy Americans who argue they should pay higher taxes, registered to lobby for the first time. Gene Haigh, the group’s SVP of government affairs, is focusing on Sen. Tammy Baldwin‘s (D-Wis.) and House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member SanderLevin‘s (D-Mich.) bill to close the carried interest loophole, spokesman Justin Strekal tells PI. The group’s lobby day on Thursday will feature its chairman, former BlackRock managing director Morris Pearl, and Art Lipson, a Salt Lake City hedge fund manager who has been pressuring his senator, Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a chief opponent of the bill.

This registration signals an important transition in our work. While we have met with members of congress periodically before, we now plan to be a constant presence on the Hill, arguing for policies that benefit the majority of Americans, not just the wealthy elites.

We figured if every self-interested corporation, industry group, and billionaire in America has a lobbyist, why shouldn’t regular American citizens? So we signed ourselves up for the job.

On Thursday, Patriotic Millionaires are coming to Washington from all over the country to urge members of Congress to close the carried interest tax loophole, the absolutely egregious tax loophole that lets billionaire fund managers pay a lower tax rate than almost everybody else in America.

We need your help to do this effectively. Can you help us lobby for the common good this week?

Contact your Congressperson and your Senators to tell them that you stand with the Patriotic Millionaires and you want them to close the carried interest tax loophole by voting for the Carried Interest Fairness Act

The Patriotic Millionaires know the lack of action on the carried interest tax loophole is a direct result of millions of dollars of campaign contributions from billionaire fund managers and groups like the American Investment Council. The American Investment Council is basically just a lobbying front group for billionaire fund managers who want to make sure that their favorite loophole continues unchallenged. It is run by Speaker John Boehner’s former Chief of Staff and is Chaired by the former Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Billionaires like David Rubinstein fund the American Investment Council to make sure that lawmakers keep giving him millions of dollars in tax benefits.

With your help, we can figure out where these lawmakers stand on issues that matter most to the bi-partisan majority of Americans. We will share all of that information with you. And we hope we can count on you to help us push these lawmakers to represent regular Americans rather than self-interested billionaires and corporations.

Let’s start with the carried interest tax loophole.

Let’s start with your video to your elected officials telling them to take action and support the Carried Interest Fairness Act.

Thank you so much!

Sincerely,

The Patriotic Millionaires

(aka: the new official “Lobbyist for the Common Good”!)