Since running for Senate in 2018, Sinema has raked in nearly $2.5 million from individuals and PACs in the securities and investment industry.
Last week, Democrats in the Senate and House managed to pass the Inflation Reduction Act — a significant tax, climate, and health care package — but only after appeasing one senator from Arizona by allowing an ongoing tax loophole for investment executives., an income tax arrangement that favors investment managers at private equity, hedge fund, and venture capital firms by allowing them to pay lower taxes — at a rate based on capital gains as opposed to their actual income from labor.
But with the need for all 50 Democratic senators to sign on in order for the bill to pass, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema wasn’t about to concede her power. Although the state she represents isn’t home to many private equity firms, she has become the Senate’s leading defender of the industry. This staunch support has puzzled some observers, including