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| Levin, offering his most Trump-like scowl. |
In one of the oddest convergences of political opinion
imaginable, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has embraced a tax
hike championed for years by Democratic Congressman Sandy Levin.
The Trump plan announced Monday, which would award huge
tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, takes one shot at the well-to-do by
proposing higher taxes on hedge fund managers. By calling for an end to a tax
loophole for Wall Street known as “carried interest,” the bombastic Big Apple tycoon has figuratively joined hands with the mild-mannered lawmaker from
southeast Michigan.
to treat much of their earnings as capital gains, not income. That means the
money is taxed at 23.8 percent, the capital gains rate for high earners, rather
than 39.6 percent, the top rate for ordinary income.
Levin, a Royal Oak Democrat, has introduced
bills several times calling for an end to this hedge fund special provision,
with limited success. The congressman has argued that, by allowing hedge funds
to label profits from their clients as investment returns, the highly paid managers
of these firms unfairly pay taxes at a lower rate than many average Americans.
he said: “I would take carried interest out, and I would let (hedge fund managers) that
are making hundreds of millions of dollars a year pay some tax, because right
now they’re paying very little tax, and I think it’s outrageous.”
Bills to end or limit carried interest have
passed the House four times,
most recently in 2010, but died in the Senate.
In June 2015, Levin teamed with Democratic
Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin to again propose legislation that would end carried
interest.
Baldwin delighted in the fact that she and Trump saw eye-to-eye on the issue.
But, with Pope Francis in town to address Congress, Baldwin went one step
further.
“ … When the pope and Donald Trump and
Tammy Baldwin all agree on an important tax change,” she said, “maybe it should
be getting swifter consideration than it has gotten to date.”
The Wisconsin affiliate of Politifact
examined that statement and concluded that, though the pope generally has
embraced actions to decrease income inequality and increase economic fairness,
he never endorsed the Baldwin-Levin approach to Wall Street mega-salaries.
is Jewish he would, no doubt, enjoy receiving support for his bill from the
popular pontiff.
I guess that's what you call bipartisanship.