House Democrats keep stepping on President Obama’s applause lines about innovation and job creation. On Tuesday, Mr. Obama announced that “we’re proposing a complete elimination of capital gains taxes on small business investment” for one year.

Responding with rare dispatch, the House voted yesterday to change the capital gains rate for venture capitalists who invest in technology start-ups. But rather than eliminating the tax, the House more than doubled it, moving the tax rate to 35% from 15% by reclassifying such gains as ordinary income.

Private equity fund managers and managers of real-estate and oil-and-gas partnerships would also get socked with this 133% tax-rate increase. Now there’s a way to encourage economic growth and new jobs.

If Mr. Obama is upset that he didn’t have more of a chance to discuss this before the House acted, he’s not alone. Knowing how popular tax increases are with unemployment at 10%, the House majority rushed the bill to the floor without a hearing or even a committee vote. Then they buried it in a package advertised as an extension of tax cuts for research and development.

The new 35% rate applies to what is known as “carried interest,” which is income that only materializes if fund managers wisely invest the fund’s capital and only after other investors in the fund have benefited. Venture and private equity fund managers already pay normal income taxes on their regular salary derived from management fees. The carried interest, no sure thing, represents a capital gain on a successful investment and has therefore been taxed that way.

Some argue that partnerships should be taxed just like other corporations before money is distributed to partners. We think that’s a reasonable argument in the context of lowering the 35% U.S. corporate tax rate to something remotely competitive in the world economy. By itself, this tax increase is simply a drag on investment and job growth.

Mr. Obama now has a chance to respond with similar speed and show his commitment to lower capital-gains taxes on start-up investments. A Statement of Administration Policy condemning the House bill would discourage the Senate from making a similar mistake.

Originally Published at WSJ Online.

The bipartisan act, which was introduced by Representative John Larson, a Connecticut Democrat, and Walter Jones, a North Carolina Republican, offers an alternative to current campaign finance system by allowing candidates to run for Congress with small contributions and public grants. Its goal is to eliminate candidates’ reliance on big money contributors.

In response, Fair Elections Now Coalition – which includes groups such as the Brennan Center for Justice, Change Congress, Democracy Matters and U.S. Public Interest Research Group – released a statement suggesting the ongoing healthcare, energy and financial regulation debates are exposing the extent to which the legislative process in the U.S. has become dominated by powerful interest groups spending millions of dollars lobbying in Washington.

“It’s apparent now more than ever that the only way to have a healthy, balanced debate is to free members of Congress from the constant pressures of fundraising,” it stressed.

H.R.1826 provides a public grant to those who qualify by collecting a set number of contributions in amounts of up to $100. Once qualified, the candidates can continue to raise small contributions that are matched on a four-to-one basis up to a limit.

The Senate has also introduced its version of the Fair Elections Now Act (S. 752) which is sponsored by Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin of Illinois and Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Democrat.

Originally Published at NewsBlarg

This guy needs to go. Let’s find a true patriot to take his position in the house and bring an end to the financial abuse of the American people.

Maybe they will read it sometime. HR 450 is to require Congress to specify the authority for any new bill in the actual enumerated powers in the constitution.

So far 54 co-sponsors… If your rep is not on the list… you KNOW what to do.

Every problem America has can be helped by having real money and not the illusion of money as we have now with the Federal Reserve.
HR 1207 is a bill sponsored by Ron Paul that seeks to audit the Fed.
Support This Bill.

Contact your Senators and Congressmen and tell them to support HR1207 in the House and S604 in the Senate.