Influence Alley

So here's some rich people asking for a tax hike.

Patriotic Millionaires, a group of rich men and women who support tax raises on those making $1 million or more, hit the Hill last week to push their agenda.

The group met with senior staffers in Republican and Democratic offices, and also asked for increased capital gains tax rates and increases to the inheritance tax, among other measures.

The group met with the offices of Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley, Orrin Hatch, Jim DeMint, Saxby Chambliss, Jeff Sessions and Mark Pryor. They also met with Democratic Sens. Max Baucus, Michael Bennet, Sheldon Whitehouse, Dick Durbin, Mark Warner, Xavier Becerra, Sander Levin, and in the House, with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Chris Van Hollen.

Patriotic Millionaires coordinator Erica Payne sent along a dispatch from the Hill meetings, writing that Democrats said they were sympathetic to their position. Of the Republican meetings, Payne wrote that, "In the end, our conclusion was that there is either support — or at a minimum acceptance — that higher rates on the higher incomes must be part of a deal. They continue to maintain that the real problem is spending — particularly entitlement expenditures."