I told Mrs. Blunt that...

Chuck Schumer would get involved in the taxation of carried interest issue. And lo & behold:

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/27/schumers-defense-of-private-equity-may-add-fuel-to-the-fire/

It makes too much sense. Schumer, along with the King of New York, is already on record as believing that the U.S. financial services industry is over-regulated compared with the UK. Plus, as chair of the DSCC, he can lever his support for contributions from PE's leaders (if you don't think this article made its way into his daily clips, you don't know Chuck...).

The Dealbook entry, by the way, makes a strange point, suggesting that energy lobbyists would target PE tax breaks out of spite, apparently. I suspect, in fact, that the opposite is likely - Schumer is trying to engage the energy lobby and their spearcarriers in Congress (who aren't generally from the Northeast or CA -- that means you, Chairmen Dingell and Bingaman) to help slow the PE-tax effort or they can expect the harsh light of politics to be turned on its tax breaks.

This is a smart play by Schumer - energy industry taxation is a snarl of givebacks and takeaways, and transparency and public attention are what the industry (hell, most industries) would like to avoid on tax issues...