I first heard this idea a couple year ago. I thought it sounded like a good idea at the tome but you know how it goes, life goes on, the next crisis hits, Chaz Bono goes on Dancing with the Stars. You forget things. Recently I heard someone mention it so I went back to take a better look. It's called a
"Wall Street Transaction Tax," personally I'd call it a "Wall Street Sales Tax" much easier for people to understand. Now if I was a Republican I'd probably call it The Jobs Crushing Socialist Class Warfair Redistribution Act".
Anyway, so what is it and how does it work? One of the current versions talked about, or not talked about, in Washington is a 0.025% (yes that's one quarter of one percent) on every transaction that goes through Wall Street except for a few exemption on Retirement Account, Health Savings, etc. It's estimated it would bring $150 Billion a year or $1.5 Billion over 10 yrs. Personally I would go a little higher. If some one is either encouraged or discouraged from doing anything because of a 0.025% tax on a particular transaction needs to go smoke a bowl and get over it.
I'd also go a little higher on riskier investments like Credit Default Swaps and a higher rate for Speculators who are not end use buyers.
The thing I love about this Idea is We can payoff the debt in no time and it just seems like justice to make Wall Street pay for the crisis they put us in. Just think of it as a fine and Insurance for the next time.
