PROTESTERS TARGET CARLYLE CHIEF’S SPEECH

Two dozen protesters picketed a high-profile private equity conference yesterday to support an effort by Congress to raise taxes on buyout firms like The Carlyle Group.

The protesters, chanting, “It’s not fair, pay your share,” busted into the Waldorf Astoria just before Carlyle co-founder David Rubenstein took the stage at the Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst Conference.

Representatives of the Working Families Party and others say the current capital gains tax that applies to wealthy private-equity firms should be raised.

Two bills in Congress are proposing to raise the tax rate on buyout firms.

One bill would more than double the 15 percent capital gains rate that those firms currently pay.

To make their point, the protesters held up several images emphasizing the low tax rate of executives like Rubenstein and Blackstone head Stephen Schwarzman and comparing them to the tax rate for a hotel doorman, a Bronx Zoo employee and a New York City cop.

Asked by a reporter what he though of the protest, Rubenstein said he was glad people have the chance to express their opinions.