In a recent Bloomberg article Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) was quoted saying that he and his colleagues “need to hear from people who are in that business” to get a clearer picture of how to tax carried interest.
For all the noise made about Constitutional originalism when discussing the Supreme Court, the really radical departures from the traditions of our democracy in the last century have come from conservative justices and their stances on political spending.
The Supreme Court’s argument for allowing unlimited campaign expenditures hinges on the differences between political contributions and independent expenditures.
The Supreme Court decision in Citizens United unleashed a tide of money into our political system, placing our democracy in peril.
“Make America sick again,” goes the chant of Democrats around the country to resist the Republican repeal and replace agenda for the Affordable Care Act.
A level playing field, in which all Americans have equal political power, is at the core of everything America is and aspires to be. If “all men are created equal,” then shouldn’t all men, and women, too, have an equal opportunity to influence the political life of our country?
Who has power and who doesn’t? Ultimately the future of our country and the well-being of our citizens rests almost entirely in the answer to those basic questions.
In general Alexis de Tocqueville thought America was indeed a democratic nation. It’s doubtful if he would have that opinion today.
Two hundred and thirty years later, the cancer of money in politics — as epitomized by the gross wealth and political power of players like Rubenstein — threatens to destroy that very same democracy.
We would expect a more serious analysis from the largest newspaper in the Wisconsin, but they missed the fundamental issue.
As global wealth concentrates in fewer hands, the world’s wealthy are shifting trillions to offshore havens to escape taxation, accountability, and publicity.
I talk to my father all the time. At 95, he’s still fighting pork barrel projects in Jacksonville, and writing columns for the weekly paper. And I know he will continue to do so as long as he can breathe, and write, and fight and think. I marvel at how much he has been able to accomplish without having the financial resources available to me. How much more of an obligation do I have, then, to ensure that others have access to the opportunities for success that I have enjoyed?
Determined to show Wall Street that it is the people who run America, this year the Patriotic Millionaires are executing a state-by-state campaign.
Today, Morris Pearl, Chair of the Board of the Patriotic Millionaires, challenged Michael Sommers of PEGCC to a public debate on the carried interest tax loophole, the policy which allows fund managers to pay a lower tax rate than most other Americans.
Regular people all over America are keenly aware of the corrupting influence of money in politics. They are rightfully angry. The DNC just gave them one more reason for their anger.
Today, Mike Sommers, former Chief of Staff to former Speaker of the House John Boehner, started a new job as president of the Private Equity Growth Capital Council (PEGCC), a trade association for Wall Street millionaires.
Last week, the Private Equity Growth Capital Council announced Mike Sommers, former Chief of Staff to Speaker of the House John Boehner, as its incoming president and CEO. The trade association has been at the center of a battle over the carried interest loophole, a ridiculous rule in our tax code that allows managers of private investment funds to pay capital gains rates on money they earn managing other people’s money.