Obama Assails Tax Lobbyists - and Hires One

[wyldwolf]

Senator Obama of Illinois is blaming Washington lobbyists for stalling a proposed tax hike on private equity firms, but he can look no further than his own campaign team for one of the culprits.

The Democratic presidential candidate recently hired a top executive at the lobbying firm retained by the Blackstone Group to urge lawmakers against raising its taxes. The executive, Moses Mercado, is not yet on the campaign payroll as an adviser, but he took a leave from his job as a senior vice president at Ogilvy Government Relations late last month.

Federal records show that Mr. Mercado is registered to lobby on behalf of Blackstone regarding private equity legislation, although a spokesman for Ogilvy would not discuss his work on the issue.

His ties to the Obama campaign are drawing added scrutiny after the Illinois senator released a statement yesterday specifically assailing lobbyists for their role in the private equity tax debate on Capitol Hill. His missive followed the publication Tuesday of a front-page article in the Washington Post reporting that the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, had assured industry executives that a proposed tax hike would not pass before the end of the year.

http://www.nysun.com/article/64267