February 3, 2012

Private Equity Titans Launch Pro-Tax Loophole PR Blitz; Only Finds Stock Image Supporters

Wealthy private equity managers pay a lower tax rate than many middle income Americans because of the “carried interest” tax loophole. With the revelation that Mitt Romney, through his investments in private equity firm Bain Capital, receives a windfall profit every year that benefits from the loophole, Wall Street lobbyists are stepping up the campaign to ensure that public outcry doesn’t translate into more equitable tax rates.

Yesterday morning, a trade lobby for the private equity industry, the Private Equity Growth Capital Council, launched a new website to push back against critics. As the New York Times reported, the “Private Equity At Work” website depicts “photographs of smiling construction workers, doctors and construction managers – the types of people, the images implied, that have been helped by private equity investments.”

The high priced DC lobbyists behind the site apparently couldn’t find real people to support tax loopholes, so they bought stock images:

As the National Journal’s Chris Frates reported, the Democrat-run lobby shop Glover Park Group is expected to help manage the private equity PR blitz to protect its loopholes.