Montana Sen. Max Baucus received the POLITICO treatment Monday, spending much of the day at the top of the website’s front page under the blaring headline: “Max Baucus: A bank tax is coming.”
As chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Baucus’ brief conversation with the influential Washington D.C.-based newspaper gives an indication of how the Democrats plan on paying for many of the programs they have implemented over the last year. An excerpt:
“I don’t think there’s much doubt that there will be a bank tax,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus told POLITICO. And more than ever, the Montana Democrat signaled that Congress will also crack down on wealthy hedge fund and private equity partners who shelter their income as capital gains — taxed at half the top 35 percent rate.
Three times in recent years, the House has voted to rein in the so-called carried interest provision — only to meet Senate resistance. That’s changing with the pressure to find revenues to pay for other priorities such as a $35 billion measure extending popular tax provisions for businesses and families.
The entire story is worth a read and lays out three looming tax battles: the extenders bill, bank tax and Bush-era income tax cuts.