Huh: Schumer Not Keen on Increasing Taxes For Hedge Funds, Private Equity Firms

You may have many opinions of Senator Charles Schumer. A man who gives weekly press conferences by way of making the rounds on Sunday morning news shows, someone who will "put a bullet betweens the president's eyes," the senior Senator of New York, orchestrator of the Senate's shift back to the Democrats, husband of a recent Department of Transportation commissioner, imaginer of middle class couple the Baileys, cereal hog. But defender of hedge funds' and private equity firms' desire to keep their low tax rate? Who knew?

The NY Times has a fascinating article on how Schumer is resisting "an effort led by members of his own party to single out the industry with a plan that would more than double the taxes on the enormous profits reaped by its executives." Yes, Schumer has been pro-business and supportive of Wall Street, but he's also positioned himself as a champion of the middle class. Or at least someone who wants their votes for the Democratic Party, given his book, Positively American: Winning Back the Middle Class One Family at a Time. Hell, the book's author is "Senator Chuck Schumer" - an attempt to relate to the every Joe or Jane. Yet:

Mr. Schumer has said he agrees with the general notion that Congress needs to raise more money for vital initiatives, and that the nation’s wealthiest should bear much of that burden. “I am not a populist, but I am a pro-government-type person who believes the government needs some revenues, and the only logical place to get it is from the very top end income-wise,” he said in the interview.

But in his conversations with Wall Street executives about the tax proposals, Mr. Schumer said, he has told them that he would oppose a tax increase as long as it did not also apply to other industries, like energy and real estate.

Schumer says that he's worried that hedge funds and private equity firms would leave NYC, NY State or the country if their taxes were increased from 15% up to 35%. But Representative Charles Rangel, a co-sponsor of the tax increase, said, "If the businesses are so fragile that taxing them at an equitable rate will cause them to leave the city, I can’t picture that."

Some say that the hefty contributions Schumer gets for the Democratic Party from hedge funds and private equity may have spurred this kind of thinking, but Schumer denies it. So far, Democrats who approve of the tax increase include the junior Senator from NY Hillary Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, former senator John Edwards, and former secretary of the treasury Robert Rubin.

Photograph of Schumer with Starrett City residents back in February by Kathy Willens/AP

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in Miscellaneous, News on July 30, 2007 10:17 AM

Comments [rss]

guest

"" Actually, Chuck doesn't have as much as you might think. Certainly he doesn't have Clinton or Edwards money. Not sure if he is still doing it but about five or six years ago I read an article about how he shared a rented house in DC with several other lawmakers. Some of them slept on cots. ""

this is what you are referring to.

http://dcist.com/2007/01/18/the_odd_quad.php

Ace

I think you can put your trust in Senator Schumer.

Bubba

#20 the odds are 0%. Now, if you wrote your letter on Wall Street corporate stationary the odds would increase substantially.

guest

Why don't they tack oil companies on to this tax bill while they are at it. If anyone can afford it, it's them.

Because oil companies do pay their taxes. Maybe you should learn something about the oil industry before you do the knee jerk liberal Democrat response.

guest

The $64 million dollar question is how much money is involved here and what is Upchuck's cut?

Billions a year in tax revenue and several million to Chuck in campaign contributions. Did you bother to read the article? There's a great commentary from Ben Stein in the Times as well.

MT

Why don't they tack oil companies on to this tax bill while they are at it. If anyone can afford it, it's them.

Toby von Meistersinger

The $64 million dollar question is how much money is involved here and what is Upchuck's cut?

guest

This is the auto response I received from Chuck's email system:

Thank you for your e-mail. Each and every piece of correspondence I receive is important because it allows me to better understand the New Yorkers I serve in the United States Senate.

Â Â Â Â Â Â As you can imagine, my office receives a great number of messages every day regarding a variety of issues â€“ this is particularly true of e-mails. It makes me proud to know that my constituents take an active role in our government by corresponding with me, and I look forward to responding to your concerns in greater detail. In the meantime, I just wanted to let you know that your e-mail has been received, and to ask for your patience until I send you a more detailed response.

Â Â Â Â Â Â Again, thank you for writing. Please feel free to visit my website http://schumer.senate.gov to follow my work in the Senate and to learn more about the services my office can provide to you.

Â Â Â Â Â Warmest regards

I place the odds that a live human being will read my email at 5%.

JMH

They probably used that picture because A) it's public domain (I assume) and B) it shows Schumer in his "I'm trying to help the little guy" state. People who are commenting that he's shown with a black child are, I think, looking for a hidden meaning that isn't there.

guest

remember waco?

guest

sorry but that should of been Not Bloody Likely! in a bad Seinfeld cockney accent.

guest

I'd rather have income taxes lowered, than capital gains increased, but that would require getting our government to operate with a smidgen of responsibility.

Such is life.

guest

Emphasis on 'yet'. But then again, he's never come off as Mr. Corporate in disguise, so I'll give him this one.

So you're in favor of paying higher rates on your income than a hedge fund manager? Wow. FYI, in that article Chuck proposes raising the capital gains tax which would hit plenty of middle class voters.

guest

God Bless You Charlie Rangel.

If CitiBank or whatever that bank won't even give LIC a chance, you think they'll give Jersey City a chance?

yeah for all their back office ops but executive offices, I think not, sir!

guest

Believe it or not, Chuck isn't a thieving bastard. Guy still hasn't cashed out yet.

Emphasis on 'yet'. But then again, he's never come off as Mr. Corporate in disguise, so I'll give him this one.

Or something like that.

Bubba

Sound-bite Chuck, friend of the underclass!!!

guest

How much money do you think Schumer has? Plenty. I bet he has loaqds of it tied up in hedge funds.

Actually, Chuck doesn't have as much as you might think. Certainly he doesn't have Clinton or Edwards money. Not sure if he is still doing it but about five or six years ago I read an article about how he shared a rented house in DC with several other lawmakers. Some of them slept on cots.

This is all about the hedge funds buying his vote. Chuck can't risk losing his job.

guest

More Democrat hypocrisy: check out last week's Farm Bill. Bloated pork spending to save a few rural seats held by Democrats.

And wait until Ted Kennedy blocks generic versions of biotech drugs. He heads the Senate committee that oversees the FDA and accepts millions in contributions from biotech firms from Massachusetts.

Hooray Democracy!

guest

Now these are some good posts.

of course, someone will respond to number six with some wall street economics mumble jumble which is all it is.

Reality Czech

How much money do you think Schumer has? Plenty. I bet he has loaqds of it tied up in hedge funds. I bet he has friends who run hedge funds. Of course he doesn't care about the regular guy, he cvares about money. That is all he has ever known. He is a scumbag if he doesn't vote

Actually, I think I will start using the capital gains tax rate for my income tax as well since I actuially don't really have to pay income tax anyway, it's unconstitutional.