The lead, front-page article in today's New York Times reports that "Democrats have long opposed a cut in the capital gains tax, saying it would disproportionately benefit the wealthy, and they could almost certainly block the proposal through their control of the Senate."
That's inaccurate.
In 1997, the long-term capital gains tax rate for individuals was reduced to 20% from 28% under a bill signed by a Democratic president, Bill Clinton. Senator Joseph Lieberman and Senator Robert Torricelli, both Democrats, are cosponsors of S. 818, the Capital Gains Relief and Simplification Act of 2001, which, while it doesn't lower the rate, is effectively a capital gains tax cut because it shrinks the base, decreasing the time necessary to qualify for the long-term capital gains tax rate to six months from a year. In the House, Democratic congressman Peter Deutsch is a cosponsor of the Capital Gains Tax Reduction Act of 2001, which would reduce the long-term capital gains rate for individuals to 15% from 20%. Businessweek reported last year that when it asked Rep. Charles Rangel, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, if he would support cuts in capital-gains taxes, he replied, "I have no problem reducing the tax burden for people who take risks."
Demerit Badge: The "The Boss" column in the business section of today's New York Times includes a sentence that says, "Jack was also my Cub Scout leader, and I could never get the lifesaving merit badge." Cub Scouts don't have merit badges; Boy Scouts do.