Bernie Sanders Wants to Tax Stock Trades to Pay for Free College

[n2doc]

Bernie Sanders wants to take from the rich in order to make public college tuition-free for everyone else.

On Tuesday, Sanders will hold a press conference in the nation's capital at which he will introduce a plan to use a so-called Robin Hood tax on stock transactions to fund tuition at four-year public colleges and universities.

Sanders' bill sets a 50-cent tax on every "$100 of stock trades on stock sales, and lesser amounts on transactions involving bonds, derivatives, and other financial instruments," the group Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street said Monday in a press release.

"The Robin Hood tax would also slow the growth of automated high frequency trading, which makes the stock market more dangerous," the press release stated. "A small tax would make risky HFT unprofitable, and help reduce the excess speculation on commodities like food and gas that drives up prices, which will protect the economy from computer-generated collapses and market manipulation."

more

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-18/bernie-sanders-wants-to-tax-stock-trades-to-pay-for-free-college

[KT2000]

1. good idea!

but tax HFT's higher!

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Yes!!!

[Gregorian]

3. That is nothing: if anyone complains, they'll come off as foolish.

[peacebird]

4. Win/win!

[aspirant]

5. HFT tax

is just a computer labor fee and/or Union computer dues.

This could set the stage for a living income by having governmental labor dues for robots.

[rickford66]

6. I've been saying this for years.

Maybe stocks won't trade in thousandths of a second on hundredths of a percent price change. And the average stock will be owned for more than 30 seconds. HFT does nothing for the economy except line the pockets of the stock market insiders.

[BrotherIvan]

7. I thought Bernie never had a plan?

I guess DU was misinformed. Go Bernie!

[AzDar]

8. Bernie. Fucking. Sanders.

[7962]

9. "Take from the rich"? Then I hope he plans a starting income level

I'm not rich and I know a lot of other people who arent who buy stocks. Not to mention those of us who have no pension plan and will rely heavily on 401K plans. Will those be exempted from this plan since they're tax deferred plans?
You want to have a leveling impact, charge a "per transaction" fee. That would hit the high frequency traders, who cater to the higher income people.

[Phlem]

11. I completely agree with you

But his actions have always been to help the working class and if it has a detrimental effect, it will die or be changed. I can promise you other people have thought of this as well so if it comes to fruition, he will be specific.

Excellent point.

[7962]

14. Thanks!!

[joshcryer]

15. 50 cents on $100 shouldn't be that bad at all.

Simple credit card fees are higher than that.

[n2doc]

18. How often do you trade?

People find all sorts of things to whine about. A 1/2 percent tax and you are whining? And if you read the article, it IS a 'per transaction" fee.

[7962]

19. The OP says ".50 per 100.00". Thats not a "per transaction" fee.

And I dont know how often the managers of my mutual funds trade. And this could very well add to expenses as well as alter trading decisions.
I'm all for a fee on the HFTs or trades over a certain dollar amount. But leave the little guys alone.
And in case you didnt notice, "whining" has become an art on DU! Pick a topic, theres plenty of whining on pretty much everything, all the time.

[L0oniX]

24. The smart investors buy index funds and hold them. 401k's and mutual funds are a ripoff.

[sabrina 1]

25. What little guys have hundreds of dollars to gamble on Wall St with? Maybe I'm misunderstanding you

but no little guy, including me, that I know of has even $100.00 they would gamble on risky stocks. It's not a lot, but it would buy food for a few days.

But if someone asked me to invest in a stock or the future of this country for 50c, I know I would have no problem donating that 50c, seems like a better investment than $100.00 betting on the price of food or oil or some derivative to me.

[7962]

33. I dont think someone making less than 50k is a rich guy

Buying anything is a gamble to some extent. I have bought stock in trades of less than 1000.00 many times. Thats what I had. I thought the trade would be a good one, so I did it. If you want to raise REAL money, you dont tax trades like mine. If I make a couple hundred dollars over a couple months, I consider it a decent deal. The bank isnt paying anything thats for sure. You dont make it even harder for the average guy to get into the market by taking a chunk of what little he/she wants to invest. The more people investing, the better the whole thing is. You cant ignore the historical appreciation over time, unless you just want to count on SS when you're older.

Go after the HFTs and the high dollar traders, thats where the real money is. Its really pretty simple. Do it as a blanket approach, and there's NO chance of it passing, even in a Democrat controlled congress. I'll gamble THAT with anyone.

[L0oniX]

39. Aw the poor invester who does NOTHING but make money from stocks.

Most of us have to work a job and will have to into retirement age.

[7962]

41. Yes, 200.00 is all of my income. Jeeze, pay attention.

What dont you understand? I'm saying TAX the high dollar traders. TAX the HFTs.
Read what I wrote for Gods sake.

[n2doc]

30. Sanders' bill sets a 50-cent tax on every "$100 of stock trades on stock sales,

Sounds like a per transaction fee to me. No sale no fee.

[7962]

31. Its each transaction, but also each 100.00 value.

Per transaction only would be X per transaction only. But again, give it a starting point.

[L0oniX]

22. "high frequency traders, who cater to the higher income people" IS the target.

[7962]

32. Then dont tax EVERY trader. Its not that hard to differentiate between the two

[sabrina 1]

34. I'm not really seeing the problem here. Assuming I'm understanding it correctly,

the tax on 10 trades of $100.00 would be $5.00.

That's a $5.00 investment in the future of this country.

I've never gambled so I don't know what the tax on winnings at a Casino are, but I'm sure there are taxes.

I would think most people who have $1,000 to trade on Wall St wouldn't mind giving $5.00 to a good cause.

Are you saying that the tax should be on much larger amounts of money traded on the Stock Market?

[7962]

37. Even Casino winnings are only taxed over a certain amount too.

Walk into a casino and win 500.00, you get 500. You win several thousand, you gotta fill out a form. Its taxed as regular income at your rate.
Yes, I'm saying the tax should begin at a certain dollar amount and all HFTs. Regardless of whether or not one thinks 5.00 is a reasonable amount, the govt isnt going to generate any real money from low dollar trades anyway.
Think of the nat. sales tax. Many here oppose that because they say it hurts the poor. Well, if you're poor, you're also not spending much so that 5.00 sales tax to run the country shouldnt be a problem.
It seems as though people think differently just because its the stock market. I think a lot of folks have a vision of Thurston Howell in their head when they think of the stock market. You dont want to add another cost for lower income people to try to invest some of their money. And if you're in a fund, do they pay the tax too? Does my 401K get hit with it as well? All this matters when you're on the lower end of the scale, but its hardly noticed at the higher end. Although it may have an impact on HFTs, which would be good for everyone. They post thousands of trades a minute and this might slow that manipulation

[sabrina 1]

38. Well, you have a point but as I understand it, Bernie is talking about risky trades, such as

derivatives. I would hope no one is risking anyone's pension on something that was so responsible for the collapse of the World Economy and should have been banned after that.

If you think your 401K is invested in such a risky bet, Bernie's proposal is likely to slow down the risk to your account.

But aside from that, the problem wouldn't be with a small tax. It would be the very idea that people's pension funds are AGAIN being placed at risk by those who are in charge of them.

Let's hope that is not the case. But if it is, I would think you should get your 401k out of the hands of whoever is risking you losing it all, as has already happened to millions of people.

But back to the main point, I have no problem with taxing the big investors and perhaps, leaving small investors alone.

My own opinion of using the stock market to try to make money is that you may as well bet on the Lotto, which many people do I suppose.

It's risky at best especially for low income people.

[passiveporcupine]

46. yes, he has a starting income level

50K gross adjusted income for an individual, or 75K for married.

[Sienna86]

10. Let's see who is against this

Should be interesting. Wonderful idea.

[certainot]

12. support bernie and his idea by protesting at these 90 universities

these 90 universities broadcast sports on 267 + limbaugh radio stations.

those stations generally pay peanuts to rent those sports logos and are heavily dependent on the relationship for ad dollars and community cred- while they try to defund public ed and attack bernie and ideas like this. there would be no better way to push it forward and support bernie than to protest at the universities that keep rw radio afloat.

it would get attention to bernie and his ideas and if a few unis declared they were going to look for political alts those stations would lose so many local advertisers they would have to drop rw radio or go bankrupt. then other unis would be shamed into honoring their mission statements, rw radio would lose many of its loudest stations, and the GOP would be up shit creek to stop progressive ideas. without their rw radio advantage pushing the country right ideas like this have a chance.

otherwise, forget it- same old shit

Air Force 2
Alabama 2
Arizona St. 1
Arizona 1
Arkansas 3
Army 1
Auburn 3
Baylor 1
Boise St. 4
Boston College 1
Bowling Green 1
Central Florida 1
Clemson 2
Colorado 1
Colorado State 1
Connecticut 1
Dayton 1
Duke 3
East Carolina 2
Florida 10
Florida St. 4
Fresno St.
Georgia 7
Georgia Southern 2
Georgia Tech 5
Idaho 3
Illinois 7
Indiana 1
Iowa 4
Iowa St. 1
Kansas 1
Kansas St. 2
Kentucky 1
La.-Monroe 1
Louisville 2
LSU 2
Marshall 1
Maryland 2
Memphis 3
Miami 2
Michigan 7
Michigan St. 11
Minnesota 4
Mississippi 2
Mississippi St. 3
Missouri 6
Nebraska 6
Nevada 1
New Mexico 2
New Mexico St. 1
North Carolina 8
North Carolina State 3
Notre Dame 6
Ohio St. 6
Oklahoma 1
Oklahoma St. 3
Oral Roberts
Oregon 5
Oregon St. 7
Penn St. 11
Pittsburgh 2
Purdue 4
Rutgers 1
San Diego State 1
Seton Hall 1
South Carolina 2
South Florida 2
Southern Miss 1
Southern Alabama 2
Syracuse 6
TCU 1
Temple 1
Tennessee 4
Texas 1
Texas A&M 9
Texas Tech 4
Toledo 1
Troy 1
UCF 2
USC 2
Utah St. 1
Virginia 1
Virginia Tech 5
West Virginia 1
Western Michigan 1
Washington 5
Washington St. 1
Wichita St. 1
Wisconsin 4
Xavier 1

[cantbeserious]

13. I Will No Longer Settle For The Lesser Of Two Corporate Evils - Go Bernie Go

eom

[Enthusiast]

16. I think this is a wonderful idea.

Yay, Bernie!

[Scuba]

17. This is a wonderful idea, so expect Congress and the lamestream media to ignore it.

[darkangel218]

20. As it should be.

Let them go play blackjack at casinos , if they want tax free profits.

Enough is enough, wall street!

[L0oniX]

21. Florida uses the loto to fund education. Using the Wall Street loto for edu funds is no different.

Of course the Hillary people with 401k's are attacking Bernie over this.

[n2doc]

23. Except the lotto mainly gets money from the poor

So the targeted group is different.

I don't think it is the 401k's that HRC is worried about. It is her buddies in the Wall Street Trading community.

[upaloopa]

27. Something wrong with saving for the future?

Maybe you won't have to because Bernie will save your ass with free stuff!

[sabrina 1]

35. Are you implying he is a 'commie' and all his supporters just want 'free stuff'? Where have I

heard this before?

Let me ask you something. Would you donate $5.00 to send a poor student who has the ability but not the means, to be a doctor let's say, to college?

What do you think is a better investment of $5.00, a bet on a risky stock, or the future of this country?

[smokey nj]

42. Your posts are inappropriate in this group.

[frylock]

43. Maybe you won't have to because Bernie will save your ass with free stuff!

This right-wing bullshit reads like it's straight off of freerepublic. you should be proud of yourself.

[upaloopa]

26. Yeah for free stuff

Nothing is free.

[n2doc]

29. Yeah for the rich paying

Nothing is free. They get a lot from society. Time to take some back for the future.

[sabrina 1]

36. It's free for the rich in this country. You object to taking a couple of dollars in taxes from Wall

St gamblers but no objection to those same gambler's taking obscene amounts of interest (taxes/interest) from students placing them in debt for decades after they graduate?

I don't believe in 'free stuff'. And so I'm all for making those who have been taking free stuff for decades from this country, chipping in a little out of their gambling money to help send a few kids to college.

[frylock]

44. certainly not right-wing talking points..

people get paid good money to propagate them.

[Dont call me Shirley]

45. Everything is free, it's just the rich have us believing that nothing is free, the biggest con job

money can buy.

[rock]

28. This does sound really smart to me

Go, Bernie, Go!

[L0oniX]

40. People who can afford to invest can't spare $.50 on a $100? Give me a fucking break.

Go vote for your Wall Street bankster candidate then.