Published 01/17/2010 12:00 AM
Updated 01/17/2010 04:34 AM
It is utter audacity for the nation's major financial institutions to cry foul about President Obama's proposal to impose a modest tax - $1.5 million for every $1 billion in assets - to try to recover some of the vast taxpayer investment that saved the banking system and economy.
Bank executives, who began announcing their huge bonuses last week, argue that their institutions have started repaying the bailout money. They warn the tax will stifle their ability to provide loans and hurt the economic recovery. Excuse us while we distribute the cashmere, monogrammed crying towels.
While it's true the banks are repaying some bailout money, the Treasury anticipates losses from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program could reach $117 billion. It would take the special tax program 12 years to recover that much money. The president said he wants it in place at least long enough to get the money back.
And these fat-cat bankers should not forget that they helped inflate the housing bubble, enabling them to make billions of dollars by bundling and trading the bad mortgages that resulted from the bogus equity the bubble created. When the pyramid scheme collapsed, the world economy went with it ...
http://www.theday.com/article/20100117/OP01/301179855