Obama to co-sponsor legislation for Higher Taxes for Private-Equity and Hedge Funds

[TeamJordan23]

It's about time some of these people start paying some real taxes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20070712/pl_bloomberg/ax0nusnpcuc_1

Obama Endorses Higher Taxes for Private-Equity and Hedge Funds

July 12 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama supports legislation to raise the tax rate for publicly traded private-equity and hedge funds, an aide said today.

Senator Obama of Illinois will co-sponsor a measure introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, and the panel's ranking Republican, Charles Grassley of Iowa, campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. The measure would consider publicly traded hedge funds and private- equity funds such as Blackstone Group LP as investment companies rather than partnerships, subjecting them to a higher corporate income tax.

Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, who has been an adviser to a hedge fund, also has endorsed higher taxes for the funds. ``A tax code that lets hedge fund and private-equity managers making hundreds of millions a year pay taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries is wrong,'' Edwards said yesterday.

Senator Hillary Clinton of New York had no immediate comment.

[illinoisprogressive]

1. This is very good.

[maximusveritas]

2. Good to see Obama continue to lead on this issue

Also good to see Edwards give his support to this as well.
I hope Dodd, Clinton, and Biden get on board as well.