If the economy suffers because of FTT, then it suffers from user fees too

[AllyCat]

This came from Mr. AC as I groused about the 50 cent fee I had to pay to add money to my kid's lunch card at school. If the filthy rich Wall Street fat cats can't possibly pay a financial transaction tax because it cuts into their profits and the economy, then we shouldn't have to pay all the user fees we have to pay: counter fees at the bank, ATM fees, debit card fees, and this ridiculous charge to put extra money on my kid's lunch card so he can take hot lunch this week.

Maybe we need to turn the tide of the discussion that we pay fees for EVERYTHING...the rich can pay for their "transactions".

[JDPriestly]

1. Makes sense to me. K&R.

And how about the fees we pay to park in our national and state parks?

Why should we pay fees on our parking transactions?

Why should we pay parking meters when we shop in certain downtown or urban areas? Why pay for parking provided by our own municipalities? That is a greater burden than the transaction fees would be.

[dkf]

2. Do you have no investments whatsoever? No 401k, no pension, nothing?

If you do then you are asking for another tax/fee on you.

[AllyCat]

3. They've lost over 20% of my 401K in 3 short months. Maybe they'd stop the nanosecond trades

if there was more paperwork/$ involved. They are already robbing us blind.

[KT2000]

5. Excellent point

The nanosecond trades contribute nothing to the economy.

The 99% has limited disposable income. What is spent on fees to the wealthy banks is not being spent on food, clothing etc.

[dkf]

6. Good grief how aggressive is your portfolio?

That looks like 100% equities wth smaller caps, international and emerging markets. No wonder you are shiznit over the volatility.

[AllyCat]

7. So you think it is okay to charge me a 50 cent charge to put $10 on my kid's lunch card?

Are things like this NOT crippling the economy? We all pay sales tax on actual goods and services, but having a tax that gets the wealthy for THEIR transactions so terrible that we can't do it?

[Trillo]

4. The government(s) have really failed us, again.

The e-transaction networks seem to be privately owned.

A local convenience store just started charging $0.50 to use the debit card. Personally, I think they're idiots, as folks typically make small purchases at such types of markets. A 50¢ charge on a $5 item represents 10%, whereas on a $20 purchase, it's 2.5%. The merchant suggested using a credit card, as there was no fee charged. However, I do believe there's a privacy loss involved with that option.

Cash, I guess, is one solution. The debit card had such promise, but now it seems it was just another scam to get merchants to refuse to take personal checks.