New York Times- They are not normally a shy group, the hedge fund managers, private equity titans and Wall Street executives whose net worth has suddenly become a national issue. But last spring, when a group of them gathered at the Regency in New York for a Democratic fund-raiser, they were downright bashful.<\/p>\n
After dinner and comments from several senators, Charles E. Schumer<\/a>, Democrat of New York, opened it up for questions. When no one brought up taxation, the issue about which everyone wanted to know, Mr. Schumer asked his colleague, Max Baucus<\/a> of Montana, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, to explain what he thought about raising taxes on the people running private equity firms and hedge funds.<\/p>\n Mr. Baucus\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s response, according to people in attendance, was that the Senate was a long way from doing anything. The issue, he made clear, required a lot of analysis. \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cHe was calming,\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d one attendee said.<\/p>\n