The Washington Post reported on the emergency mobilization of the nation's leading lobbyists to thwart bills that would tax the compensation of equity and hedge fund managers at the same rates as the wages of school teachers and firefighters. Currently, these managers get to defer taxes on their compensation by rolling it back into the funds they manage, and then eventually just pay the 15 percent capital gains tax rate.
The Post apparently decided to join the lobbying effort. It described the compensation of these fund managers as "profits." Of course the issue is not how profits that these managers earn on their investments will be taxed (they would pay the 15 percent capital gains rate on profits), the issue is how the money they earn from their management fees will be taxed.
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