DL Open Thread: Thursday, May 12, 2022

Georgia Cops, Sheriff, Caught Flat-Out Lying About Stop Of DSU Lacrosse Team:

Body camera footage from Georgia deputies who stopped a Delaware State University women’s lacrosse team bus late last month directly contradicts Tuesday statements by the sheriff who defended the stop.

In a public address, Liberty County Sheriff William Bowman said “no personal items on the bus or person(s) were searched” during the April 20 stop. But the bodycam footage, which Delaware Online/The News Journal has obtained and made publicly available without editing, shows deputies rifling through players’ backpacks and bags – something those on the bus have said for days.

Bowman also said the stop was not racial profiling because “before entering the motorcoach, deputies were not aware that this school was historically Black or aware of the race of the occupants due to the height of the vehicle and tint of the windows.”

Blatant racial profiling caught on camera.  About that ‘before entering the motorcoach’ comment?  They sure as hell knew that, after they entered the motorcoach and threatened everybody that they were going to go through their belongings, virtually all the passengers on the bus were Black.  If that’s not racial-profiling, I don’t know what is.  Of course, we’re dealing with law enforcement, so they’re probably exempt from the laws that apply to, you know, everybody else.

Looks Like Russia Helped Propel Boris Johnson To Victory.  His first name’s Boris? A Russian and an arachnid.  Creepy-crawly:

DeSantis Redistricting Scheme Blocked By DeSantis-Appointed Judge.   Due to discrimination against Blacks. Guess he’ll just have to shop for a more dependable judge.

The Unkillable Private Equity Loophole.  Patiently explained by Tim Murphy of Mother Jones in a manner that will inform you and enrage you.

If you were to sit down with a focus group and a whiteboard, you would have a hard time coming up with a policy with less populist appeal than the nearly three-decades-old loophole that cuts private equity billionaires’ tax rate almost in half.

“People get this really easily—we’re giving a whole lot of rich people more money for no reason other than them being rich,” says Mandla Deskins, advo­cacy manager at Take on Wall Street, an organization pressuring members of Congress to jettison this tax break.

In the 1990s, the tax rates for investment and ordinary income were roughly even. But President George W. Bush’s 2003 tax cut slashed the capital gains rate. Suddenly financial managers had a huge incentive to take advantage of the discrepancy—and private equity, by paying far less to Uncle Sam, picked up an enormous competitive ­advantage over other forms of investment. In 1980, PE was a $5 billion niche industry; by the 2000s, firms managed more than ­$1 trillion in assets.

Closing a corporate tax break was a nonstarter in the Bush era, but when Democrats assumed full control of Wash­­ing­ton in 2009, amid the Great Recession and a popular backlash against Big Finance, it appeared that private equity would have to start paying its fair share.

You know what happened next:

In 2006, before the carried-interest fight began, private equity and investment firms spent about $3.6 million on DC lobbyists; over the next four years they spent a combined $75 million. And they pumped tens of millions into Democratic and Republican campaigns—still a pittance compared to what they stood to lose if the rules were changed. In the runup to the 2010 midterms, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman told a nonprofit board that Obama was at “war” with his industry. It’s “like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939,” he said.

Gee, do I have to guess how Carper and Coons stand on this issue?  Actually, no.  In 2018, when he was up for reelection, Carper received $51,489 in campaign contributions from private equity firms. In 2020, Gore heir Chris Coons received $203,699 from private equity firms.  Not, of course, including individuals.

Trump Sells Hotel. Likely To Pocket $100 Mill.  Gotta quote Leonard Cohen.  Might not be for the last time today:

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded

Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed

Everybody knows that the war is over

Everybody knows the good guys lost

Everybody knows the fight was fixed

The poor stay poor, the rich get rich

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows.

What do you want to talk about?