Who's For The Rich?

A Washington Post editorial begins this way:

Democrats like to boast that they are the party that worries about the middle class while Republicans lavish tax goodies on the rich. So a juicy tax break enjoyed by a select group of the wealthiest Americans would seem to be a natural target for Democratic lawmakers.

But congressional Democrats, it turns out, are too busy to get around to closing it.

This is very interesting, indeed...!

Basically, the tax break, called "carried interest" allows managers of hedge funds to pay 15% taxes rather than 35% taxes, and eliminating this loophole would bring in billions of additional dollars per year. The fight over this loophole began earlier this year, and after almost $4 million spent by lobbyists, Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has signaled that he won't even bring up the change this year.

It raises the question of whether the Democrats are truly the party fighting for the middle class -- as the conventional wisdom suggests -- or if they're in bed with the ultra-rich. Reid's lack of action goes a long way toward answering that question. At the very least, it shows how much money it takes to buy Reid's silence.

Conventional wisdom would usually be more accurately termed 'common perception', and this case is no exception. That doesn't mean it's the truth.

There's my two cents.