Steve Schwarzman, the multibillionaire head of Blackstone Group, is the worst thing to happen to rich people's reputations since the creation of the Real Housewives franchise. Every time Steve Schwarzman opens his mouth, the billionaires of the world should cringe.

In the past, Schwarzman has thrown himself a lavish birthday bash at the height of the economic collapse, advocated higher taxes on the poor, and compared Obama's tax plan to Hitler's invasion of Poland. The optimal thing that Steve Schwarzman could do for the good of everyone, up to and including Steve Schwarzman, is to seclude himself in an opulent cave somewhere with no means of public communication. It is a wonder that his fellow billionaires have not had him kidnapped by now, just to prevent the inevitable public outrage that accompanies him making public statements.

Steve Schwarzman is worth more than $10 billion. In the past year, Blackstone's share price has risen by more than half, making Steve Schwarzman an absolutely obscene amount of money.

In that context, one might expect Steve Schwarzman to keep his mouth shut for a while. One would not know Steve Schwarzman very well! The New York Post reports that just last night, Schwarzman told a sympathetic crowd of Blackstone investors that the biggest threat his firm is "irrational" policymaking, and that "it was ironic governments were tasked with making life better for their citizens but seemed to be doing things that had the opposite effect." To be perfectly clear, Schwarzman here is not pleading for governments to undertake fewer foreign wars, or end their assault on civil liberties, or to strengthen the social safety net for their neediest citizens; he is complaining about proposals to raise his taxes.

Steve Schwarzman gave his rousing plea for freedom at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan.

Steve Schwarzman should spend less time speaking his mind and more time praying that people forget all the other times he foolishly spoke his mind.

[Photo: AP]