A group of minority and business leaders including former basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson plans to form a group called the Access to Capital Coalition to fight against efforts in Congress to end the tax advantages enjoyed by the hedge fund and private equity industry, according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

"Members of the new coalition argue that increasing the taxes on carried interest, also known as the carry, would reduce the incentives for private-equity funds to invest and would make it harder to recruit top talent, particularly for small and midsize funds," the paper said. "Many of the new coalition's members run smaller funds that focus on investing in low- and moderate-income areas."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a study today detailing the damage that these proposals could cause the economy, according to Reuters.

So, making hedge fund and private equity billionaires pay their fair share of taxes would somehow hurt poor people. I don't believe it and I doubt this coalition will do much to sway members of Congress. This issue isn't about taxation, it's about fairness.

Instead of paying the ordinary tax rates of 35 percent, these private equity and hedge fund managers pay the 15-percent capital gains rate on their carried interest. It's tough for most Americans to understand why one group of very rich people pays much lower taxes than another group of rich people. There is no political upside for any member of Congress to stick up for the industry, particularly as the presidential contest kicks into high gear.

There seems to be broad bipartisan support in Congress to close this loophole. It's not a question of if the industry pays higher taxes but when and how much.

Basketball-great-turned-entrepreneur Ervin "Magic" Johnson has been breaking ground -- bringing names like TGIF, Loews, and WAMU to under-served urban neighborhoods and proving that quality products translate into company profits, for years now. His management firm, Johnson Development Corp, and Starbucks (SBUX) have a longstanding partnership.

"Minorities want brands, just like suburban America wants," Johnson says in a new interview with the Charlotte Observer. Johnson's been more successful in the retail arena than 'bucks chairman Howard Schultz's at basketball, but their relationship together has been an innovative one. However, starting this second career was not easy for Johnson.

Objections faced when he first set out to raise money for urban development ranged from the reasonable (he had no track record) to the staggeringly unimaginative. Here's the interview's money quote:

"'Well, if this is going to be so great, why hasn't someone else done it?'" So I had a hard time, even though I was Magic Johnson, raising money, because nobody believes in urban America."

Almost nobody.