Submitted by John Tepper Marlin, Feb 4, 2008 18:19

The national debt is up to $9.2 trillion today, according to the National Debt Clock (http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/). Slowing down the growth in debt means smaller deficits, which means less spending or higher taxes. Chairman Rangel of the House Ways & Means Committee - who will have a lot to say about how the Federal tax code evolves - made a lot of sense at lunch today. He said that the entire code will be up for debate in the coming years, whichever of the candidates is elected President ("whoever she may be"). Some believers in tax simplicity want to impose a flat tax and are raising fundamental questions. For Chairman Rangel, issues of fairness are high on his list of concerns, as a weak economy punishes the "jobless, the homeless, the hopeless" . (Warren Buffett has spoken out against the unfairness of a tax system that requires a higher rate of taxation for his secretary than for him. ) The argument that risk-taking needs to be rewarded may apply to investors in hedge funds, but Chairman Rangel wonders why non-risk-taking managers of hedge funds get to pay taxes on their income at these lower capital gains rates. The argument that the lower rate is good for attracting people to these jobs may be valid, but he wonders whether there aren't executives who could make the same argument for their businesses. In the end, he said, the lobbyists for special interests are not nearly as important to political leaders than the biggest lobby of them all, the American public.

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