Being a shrewd bunch, the private equity industry presumably has gotten the message: When vast new fountains of wealth open up in the economy, Congress must receive its ransom in campaign donations. Delivering the wagged finger were none other than Max Baucus and Charles Grassley, chairman and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, who’ve taken to musing aloud about how the tax code’s treatment of private equity’s lately fabulous profits might be revised. The bipartisan nature of the initiative should reassure readers there’s no philosophical issue here. It’s purely bidness. You, private equity, have been remiss in your patriotic duty. Cough up.
Holman W. Jenkins Jr., The Wall Street Journal
George W. Bush, Hero of Albania! At least there’s one place in the world where they show the Decider some love. That was a wonderful reverse-Borat moment Sunday, with the joyous townspeople of Fushe Kruje yelling “Bushie! Bushie!” and Albania’s prime minister gushing over the “greatest and most distinguished guest we have ever had in all times.” The crowd pressed in for autographs, photographs, a presidential peck on the cheek. Years from now, in his dotage, Bushie will feel warm all over when he recalls those magical hours in Albania. How they adored him! Outside of greater Tirana, however, the president’s stock as an apostle of freedom continues to fall — and rightly so.
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
