Vice President Joe Biden said that increasing the taxes on carried interest is “like us liberating death camps.”
In an interview with CNBC’s John Harwood on “Squawk Box” aboard an Amtrak train airing on Tuesday, Harwood asked Biden, “You guys have tried consistently through the administration to tax what they call carried interest as ordinary income. A big Wall Street guy, when you started doing that, Steve Schwarzman, said the Obama administration’s like Hitler invading Poland. How do you react to criticism like that? And I would note: You guys haven’t been able to get it done.”
Biden replied, “I’d say it’s like us liberating death camps. The truth of the matter is, there’s no justification for a hedge fund paying at 15-17 percent. There’s just no justification.”