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.