A minuscule tax of one-tenth of one percent (0.1%) on financial transactions...

[kentuck]

...on Wall Street would raise $1 trillion dollars over the next decade.

Yet, the Democrats and Republicans haggle over what programs to cut for the poor and/or the elderly in order to balance our budget so that our deficits are not so huge. Does that make sense to you?

This tax is so small that it would be almost invisible. One cent on each ten dollars. Why can't they agree to such a small but beneficial tax? It would be helpful because it would help to reduce the volume of speculation on Wall Street.

It's a no-brainer but the no-brains in Congress have their reasons to oppose it.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/07/wall-street-transaction-tax-revenue_n_1080493.html

[buddysmellgood]

1. Yep. I think we should replace all taxes with this system. The

more you use the economy, the more you pay.

[Octafish]

2. Stop the wars and make it 1-percent and solve all our problems.

From public works to health care...all done and paid for.

[Kaleko]

5. Impossible,

unless Dorothy (the American collective) is swept out of Kansas by the great economic storm (which is happening) and gathers a few friends who can help her to finally expose the Wizard of Oz (shadow bankers behind the scenes). Expose their names and practices to everyone with eyes to see.

* The Wizard of Oz was ostensibly written as a cautionary tale about the most powerful banking family in history, the Rothschilds, who still own more than half of everything you can think of, including governments, JP Morgan, Reuters and the Associated Press (AP) - and that's just for starters.

Good luck, Dorothy!

[Octafish]

10. Good luck, Dorothy!

The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One



Baron de Rothschild and Prescott Bush, share a moment and some official-looking information, back in the day.

[TheWraith]

13. Um, no.

"The Wizard of Oz was ostensibly written as a cautionary tale about the most powerful banking family in history, the Rothschilds"

No, it wasn't. There's no evidence, in fact, that it was written with any intended allegory. One guy came up with a wild-ass theory 60 years after the fact that the book represented the movement away from the gold standard. It's generally considered by literary historians to be a completely baseless belief.

"who still own more than half of everything you can think of, including governments, JP Morgan, Reuters and the Associated Press (AP) - and that's just for starters."

Again, no. Reuters is a subsidiary of Thompson Reuters, a publicly traded company albeit one with a 53% interest owned by the Thompson family of Canada. Associated Press is a not-for-profit cooperative not owned by anyone. J P Morgan Chase is also a publicly traded company. The Rothschilds don't own any of them.

[RC]

3. The stock market was never set up for gambling.

It was set up for investing.
Deregulation has allowed the gamblers to control the market with their "heads They Win, Tails We Lose" con jobs.

To slow them down, all transaction must be held for at least one hour before trhey can be traded again. That would get rid to of the high speed computer controlled trading that adds so much to the market instability.

[kentuck]

4. I think that would be the least reform we should expect...

after the collapse in 2008?

[Fumesucker]

6. Raising taxes on the 1% makes baby Supply Side Jebus cry.. n/t

[Motown_Johnny]

7. Then why does The Pope support a financial transaction tax?

Isn't he infallible in all things financial?


http://assets.newamerica.net/blogposts/2011/the_pope_supports_a_financial_transaction_tax-59854

^snip^

The Pope Supports a Financial Transaction Tax


I’m not really equipped to interpret the communiques released by the Vatican. But it seems there was a pronouncement this week that has the Pope weighing in on financial reform. Specifically, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace supports the idea of a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) as a means to better promote social justice and solidarity.This undoubtedly has the Pope’s blessing, so to speak, and is significant in its recognition that social justice is a priority, revenue has to come from some place, and high finance should increase its contributions to the public coffers worldwide.

[Fumesucker]

9. You may not be familiar with Supply Side Jebus..

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/03/09/17_franken.html

[KamaAina]

8. As long as they're determined to run Wall Street like a casino,

the house -- We the People -- deserves to get its cut.

[Fool Count]

11. Even if it raises zero dollars but stems the rampant financial

speculation and high-frequency trading, it would still be well worth it. Extra revenues to cut the deficit is just gravy.

[catchnrelease]

12. Similar to the RobinHoodTax idea

This reminds me of the Robin Hood Tax proposed in Britain awhile back. This video starring Bill Nighy is great. (The tax would be a bit different than what is talked about in the OP but idea is the same.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzZIRMXcxRc

[aletier_v]

14. Still A Flawed System

The transaction tax is a minor patch to a flawed system.

http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/buddhist_economics/english.html

"For the modern economist this is very difficult to understand. He is used to measuring the "standard of living" by the amount of annual consumption, assuming all the time that a man who consumes more is "better off" than a man who consumes less. A Buddhist economist would consider this approach excessively irrational: since consumption is merely a means to human well-being, the aim should be to obtain the maximum of well-being with the minimum of consumption.

[Sgent]

15. It would make things worse

People would go to derivative bets that are off-book instead of actual stock transactions. Same negative effect on stocks, with much less transparency.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

16. Cain would embrace it as 9-9-9-.09

I like this idea. It would slow down the strange computer-driven transactions in which a million shares is bought, then sold, within a few microseconds. Long-term investors wouldn't notice this tax.

Except, that to the true believers, this is still an additional tax, a great Republican taboo.

:hi: