Blog Notes About Politics From Robert Green

I apologize to anyone who is offended by the Republican slant in my blogs. I’d like to explain where this comes from. My neighbor and close friend in Connecticut — a passionate Democrat — once explained to his Democratic friends that I am a Republican for my business to advocate for lower taxes, but that personally, I’m an independent. I am open-minded and my thinking transcends partisan party lines. But my neighbor is right, I do advocate for lower taxes, which is my job as a CPA focused on tax savings for my clients.

As the leader of TradersAdvocacy.org and CEO of GreenTraderTax, I defend the lower-tax interests of traders, investors and investment managers. That means fighting off tax hikes like a potential financial-transaction tax (FTT), which could put active investors out of business, and working hard to retain lower tax rates on long-term capital gains taxes and qualifying dividends, carried interest for investment managers and lower 60/40 tax rates on futures.

In my recent blogs, I supported Gov. Romney’s tax returns, as they are typical for a successful global investment manager or private equity executive, but I also raised some lingering questions. In “Republicans And Democrats Dicker While The Deficit Yawns And Rome Burns,” I chastise Republican orthodoxy and the Grover Norquist tax-protection pledge applying to the expiration of the temporary Bush-era tax cuts and I also take Democrats to task over many spending issues. As my Forbes editor says, “There is no political officer on board here!”

Tax reform is on the table in Washington and many state capitals. The entire tax code is being dissected and analyzed, with many tax breaks being relabeled as tax loopholes and targeted for closure. The goal of tax reform is to lower tax rates for corporations and individuals alike, and to offset that with closing tax loopholes and special-interest tax breaks, thereby broadening the tax base, which hopefully will lead to growth in the economy and tax revenues, too.

My job is to focus on taxes and not spending, as other writers address spending. Each special-interest group will defend their own tax turf, but there aren’t many that defend the interests of the small-business trader, active investor and small investment manager. Big banks and big hedge funds have their own associations and lobbyists, but small traders don’t. Learn more about our efforts at TradersAdvocay.org.

One thing is certain: Populist outrage is targeted against Wall Street, big banks and hedge funds. Often, that fury leads to tax hikes aimed at Wall Street, yet Wall Street often deflects those attacks, and the tax hikes fall on Main Street traders — our clients. That’s exactly the case with the financial-transaction tax.

I do not want to defend the interests of the 1% only, as many of our trader clients have incomes far lower.

If you are a Democrat, please read my blog with a grain of salt, and focus on the technicality of tax and regulatory policy that I am addressing. If you see a zinger once in a while, it’s part of my writing style to provoke thought and viewership on Forbes, and other media where my blogs appear.

I do not want to offend anyone; I just want to defend the interests of traders. Please share your thoughts and comments with me, as I value them very much.