Must Congress Always Cave at Crunch Time?

[marmar]

from Too Much: A Commentary on Excess and Inequality:



Must Congress Always Cave at Crunch Time?
May 30, 2010

With millions of Americans out of work and hurting, lawmakers who claim they worry about budget deficits spent last week forcing ‘compromises’ that will save hedge fund kingpins billions in taxes.

By Sam Pizzigati


You want to lead a charmed existence? Just start up your own private investment fund — a hedge fund perhaps or a private equity operation or maybe a venture capital shop.

As an investment fund manager, you’ll live the sweet life. You’ll get to invest the mega millions you collect from deep-pocket investors almost any way you want, without any pesky government regulation. And you get to keep — for yourself — 20 percent of any profits those investments end up making.

Even better yet, you won’t have to pay regular federal income taxes on that 20 percent. The charming reason: a neat little loophole in the federal tax code that lets billionaire investment fund managers pay taxes — on the bulk of their windfalls — at a 15 percent “capital gains” rate. That’s less than half the current 35 percent top federal tax rate on ordinary income.

In today’s Great Recession America, most of us do not, of course, lead lives anywhere as charmed as the lives of private investment fund managers. We live in a workaday world where 10 percent of us have no work.

And many more Americans in our world — hundreds of thousands of teachers and other public employees — will soon be losing their jobs as revenue-starved state and local governments shift this summer into austerity mode. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://toomuchonline.org/must-congress-always-cave-at-crunch-time/

[madrchsod]

1. yes they do...that`s the way cowards roll....

[fasttense]

2. When fascism came to Italy, the liberals also caved in and let

Mussolini have his way because of promises that Mussolini refused to honor.

Seems our liberals can't even get false promises from the fascists.

[stray cat]

3. It may not be caving - the elected congress has their own ideas distinct from DUers

[marmar]

4. The loophole in the tax code indicates ideas distinct from all the people who elected them.....

..... not just "DUers".

[Dr.Phool]

6. They weren't elected. They were bought.

In this bizarro world of our government, where you run huge deficits, you would think that the solution would be to enhance revenue. From places where it would inflict the least amount of pain. But, our Congress does what it was bought to do. Give tax cuts to people who need it the least, and make cuts where help is needed the most.

I wonder just how much of those tax cuts get recycled as campaign contributions.

[msongs]

5. the purpose of the tax code is to let wealth be sheltered and untaxed, earned or not nt