Mitt Romney’s Non-Defense Defense Of Carried Interest

IBD's Capital Hill ^ | 1/24/2011 | Jed Graham

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If private equity and hedge fund managers were optimistic that the election of one of their own would preserve their prized carried-interest tax break, Monday’s debate must have given them pause.

Given the chance to defend his low tax rate by talking up the importance of low taxes on investment for job creation and competitiveness, Mitt Romney balked. Instead, he made an implicit case for why investment taxes shouldn’t be any lower than they are — as Newt Gingrich wants — and defended his own conduct rather than seeking to justify the tax policy.