Liz Elsewhere

Private equity taxation is a hot topic in Great Britain, too.
The British government recently held a series of hearings on the buyout industry, and next month, Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to propose changes to the tax system that will impact private equity. According to The Independent, these changes are likely to include increasing the effective capital gains tax rate from 10 percent to 20 percent for investments classed as business assets (e.g., shares in unlisted...

The 2004 and 2006 elections were tough for Republicans west of Kansas, with losses of governorships and Senate seats in longtime red states Montana and Colorado, among others. Traditional constituencies such as sportsmen bailed on the GOP in surprisingly high numbers - and, looking ahead, 2008 promises to be little better in that regard.
As much as the national GOP may downplay the environment as an issue that runs against it out West, recent events indicate that Republicans could...

In the wake of Republican Sen. John Warner's retirement announcement just over a week ago, focus has shifted away from the Senate maverick to another outside-the-mold Warner of Virginia politics -- Democratic ex-Gov. Mark Warner.
Speculation has been rife for months that if Sen. Warner declined to run for re-election in 2008, the former Governor would step into the ring. However, over Labor Day weekend, Mr. Warner made clear that he is weighing at least two options: running for...

Why hiking taxes on private equity and hedge fund managers would be counterproductive
Today, the House Ways and Means Committee will meet to consider an overhaul of the American tax system. On the table will be a proposal to increase the tax rate on carried interest payments to private equity and hedge fund managers from 15 percent to 35 percent (plus Medicare payroll taxes). It's a big hike with big implications - and one that legislators should be wary of endorsing.
Under...

The American public was greeted this week with the latest in Republican scandal, when news emerged that Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho recently pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charges related to his apparent solicitation of gay sex in the Minneapolis airport.
Craig has tried to pass off the guilty plea as an inconsequential mistake. But the public smells a rat, and just as Craig surely squirms, Sen. Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee surely...

In the wake of the Democratic takeover of Congress, Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., has stepped into the spotlight as something of a maverick. But, as much as independence is one of the traits that pollsters and focus groups consistently say voters like to see in their elected officials, Baird's new position is not shaping up to be especially comfortable for the man from the 3rd District.
Baird was one of the original 126 House Democrats who voted against the use of force in Iraq in...

This month, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani released ads on immigration. While the ads have attracted attention because they evidence a brewing war between the two frontrunners, the real story is that both also show a trend towards Republicans adopting a new strategy of "triangulation."
Whereas Bill Clinton's triangulation, debuted during the 1992 presidential campaign, entailed distinguishing himself from both the policies of the...

The fight to end farm subsidies lingers on.
Last week, the House of Representatives passed the 2007 Farm Bill, a five-year "overhaul" of agricultural policy that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) lauded as representing "a new direction." But as much as Democrats have heralded the bill's supposed reforms, even the lightest reading shows that it represents more of the same - a flawed, wasteful approach to agricultural policy.
The House Farm Bill allocates $286 billion over...

Michael Moore's cure is worse than what ails American health care.
On June 22, Michael Moore's new film, "Sicko," debuted, and in the weeks since, buzz about the film has not died down.
Millions have seen the movie, renewed calls for socialized medicine in the United States have been made, and attention has been focused on the not-insubstantial failings of the American health care system, which are depicted grimly in Moore's documentary. But while the film's prompting of a...

Last week, after intensive calling, emailing, and even threatening by opponents of "amnesty," the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 - a.k.a., comprehensive immigration reform - finally died in the Senate.
For one of the bill's key supporters, Senator Graham (derided as "Grahamnesty" by his critics) of South Carolina, one of the questions in the aftermath of the defeat has to be: If the conservative base could bring this bill down, what could...