Source: http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/12/29/trish-regan-americans-rebelled-against-policies-carried-interest-loophole
Dec 29, 2017
Trish Regan has been a vocal critic of the carried interest loophole, which President Trump railed against on the campaign trail, but was not repealed in the tax reform legislation he just signed.
Regan explained that the loophole allows hedge fund managers to pay a lower percentage of tax on a portion of their income than a cop or a fireman. She argued that the loophole's existence all comes down to private equity firms donating large sums to both parties.
Regan asked economist Ben Stein for his view on whether Wall Street is essentially buying the loophole with the large contributions and lobbying.
"This is what Americans rebelled against, right?" Regan asked.
"I found it very refreshing on the campaign trail when [Trump] kept saying he wanted to close this carried interest loophole," she said, adding she was "shocked" to see the loophole remain in effect.
Stein agreed that lawmakers in Washington, D.C. want Americans to forget about the issue or simply ignore it because it seems too complicated.
"It’s insane what you can buy in politics in terms of the tax code. The idea people don’t understand it and therefore we can do it, that’s just a disgraceful excuse," he said.
Regan said she's heard from a lot of her viewers who do care about the loophole and see it as unfair. And she added that President Trump has the power to fix it on his own, potentially saving taxpayers an estimated $180 billion.
.@POTUS can STILL close the #carriedinterestloophole! All he needs to do is pick up the phone, call @stevenmnuchin1 and tell him to REDEFINE what a PE guy actually does. The best part, he can do this WITHOUT Congress -- @nedryun pic.twitter.com/gOqZffK2b5
— Trish Regan (@trish_regan) December 27, 2017
Trump vowed to close the loophole on the campaign trail, alleging that Wall Street and special interests were supporting Hillary Clinton over him for that reason.
The private equity industry claims the loophole allows them to create jobs through increased investment.
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