Cash Available—To Bailout Wall Street, Protect U.S. Taxpayers from $700 BN Debt
Bill Shaw | 30.09.2008 19:10 | Analysis | History | World
Levying a tax on Wall Street stock transactions will help insure that American Taxpayers are not left holding the bag “again.”
U.S. Government appears intended to put “American Taxpayers” on the hook for $700 Billion in new debt to buy “overvalued mortgages” that exceed the value of millions of houses that secure toxic home loans.
Instead of hitting innocent taxpayers, the U.S. Congress could immediately acquire billions of dollars to help pay for the Government’s purchase of toxic-mortgages and foreclosed property by levying a tax against—all Wall Street stock trades in the amount of One-Quarter of One Percent: for example a tax on a $10,000 stock trade would be $25. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to determine that with billions of shares being traded everyday on Wall Street the U.S. Government could quickly collect $billions in taxes toward paying for Wall Street’s on going “Bail Out.”
Such a tax levy could greatly reduce the $700 billion debt Congress intends to lay on U.S. Taxpayers. Taxing Wall Street stock transactions MIGHT make the financial-community more prudent in the future to police financial negligence and corruption in its own industry.
Levying a tax on Wall Street stock transactions will help insure that American Taxpayers are not left holding the bag “again” in the event the U.S. Government can’t sell billions of dollars of toxic mortgages and foreclosed property it takes over at a breakeven price—including Government recovering years of administration costs.
Instead of hitting innocent taxpayers, the U.S. Congress could immediately acquire billions of dollars to help pay for the Government’s purchase of toxic-mortgages and foreclosed property by levying a tax against—all Wall Street stock trades in the amount of One-Quarter of One Percent: for example a tax on a $10,000 stock trade would be $25. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to determine that with billions of shares being traded everyday on Wall Street the U.S. Government could quickly collect $billions in taxes toward paying for Wall Street’s on going “Bail Out.”
Such a tax levy could greatly reduce the $700 billion debt Congress intends to lay on U.S. Taxpayers. Taxing Wall Street stock transactions MIGHT make the financial-community more prudent in the future to police financial negligence and corruption in its own industry.
Levying a tax on Wall Street stock transactions will help insure that American Taxpayers are not left holding the bag “again” in the event the U.S. Government can’t sell billions of dollars of toxic mortgages and foreclosed property it takes over at a breakeven price—including Government recovering years of administration costs.
Bill Shaw
Comments
Hide the following comment
Tobin Tax
30.09.2008 23:39
It really does not take a rocket scientist to know it would work. Belgium thinks it will work. The only people who can really oppose it are the Washington Neoliberals. Regardless of political position in respect of the global economy, the current crisis offers an opportunity to gain something for anticapitalism by insisting that the Tobin Tax is implemented globally.
Providing the con trick of "special drawing rights" is avoided, the Tobin Tax can be used, globally, to ensure that the money markets are controlled by people and not people by the money markets.
The main argument against the Tobin Tax is that it dries up liquidity, yet events of recent weeks show that ordinary capitalism dries up liquidity. The argument that currency and other speculators use their own money is also nonsense. The vast majority of "speculators" are not working with their own money but with deposits from the people who will suffer most.
The argument about liquidity is really just an argument that vast profits will dry up. In the absence of such vast profit and capital accumulation, the Tobin Tax shifts the agenda in global economics towards more responsiblity.
Not a rocket Scientist