• That National Association of Realtors is number 3. Does that make you question the policies that led to the surge in home prices in the first part of the decade? It should.
  
• Citigroup (NYSE: C) recently received tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer help: and is the 15th biggest contributor of all-time. Just saying. . . In case you're wondering, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is number 40 and General Motors (NYSE: GM) is number 73.
• Amway -- whose business model is controversial -- is number 90.

Enron slipping off the top 100 campaign contributors of all time originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) weighed in on the debate on private equity taxation this afternoon, according to the New York Times [registration required]. And earlier this afternoon, I had my own chance to debate this issue on CNBC with Wall Street Journal Assistant Managing Editor Alan Murray.

Clinton wants private equity firms to pay the same tax rate as working families, rather than the 15% they currently pay. At a rally in Keene, NH, she said, "Our tax code should be valuing hard work and helping middle-class and working families get ahead. It offends our values as a nation when an investment manager making $50 million can pay a lower tax rate on her earned income than a teacher making $50,000 pays on her income."

If she is elected president, Senator Clinton said, she will work to reform the tax code to ensure that carried interest "is recognized for what it is: ordinary income that should be taxed at ordinary income tax rates."

In my CNBC interview, I pointed out that private equity was being singled out because it was flaunting its wealth and its low tax payments -- in other words it was demonstrating that it did not understand how to play politics. Murray suggested that Congress ought to do "what's right" and challenged me to describe a principle for taxing private equity.

Continue reading Debating private equity taxation with The Wall Street Journal

Debating private equity taxation with The Wall Street Journal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Jul 2007 19:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I think Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) wants you to consider the deeper story behind George W. Bush being photographed wearing Crocs beach shoes. Does he think they're stylish? I don't suppose he gives much thought to style. Does he find them comfortable? If he was after strict comfort, a cross trainer from Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) would do a better job on pavement. Is he giving a friendly endorsement opportunity to his buddy Rick Sharp? That's probably the gist of it, but wait, there's more. Think just a little bit deeper to the true message that was sent by President Bush wearing those shoes.

The Crooks and Liars blog reports that President Bush's approval rating is at 29%, its lowest point ever. I don't put much stock in polls, I never did, and I never will. The reason being that no matter how unbiased a polling organization claims to be, poll numbers can be very easily manipulated. Even something as simple as the time of day that opinions are solicited can seriously change outcomes, but that's not what I want to bring to you.

The matter is simply this: If President Bush was as widely disliked as the left-wing, mainstream media would like you to believe he is, do you really think that Rick Sharp would have put those shoes on him? The wearing of Crocs by George W. Bush was as much an endorsement of that man by a hip and young company as it was an endorsement of those shoes. The leftist spin-meisters can tell you all they want about how the nation hates Bush, but the fact of the matter is this: A flourishing retailer doesn't generally present its product with the use of disliked individuals.

You didn't see Crocs on the feet of Jack Kevorkian as he left prison, did you?

President Bush and Crocs thumb their noses at media polls approval rating originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.