H.R. 1068, the Let Wall Street Pay for Wall Street's Bailout Act.
Wall Street Transaction Tax Proposed by Democrats Ryan J. Donmoyer
Dec. 3, 2009 (Bloomberg) -- A group of congressional Democrats proposed taxing large transactions in stocks and derivatives, an idea that has received a cool reception from the Obama administration. [...]
.25 Percent for Stocks
The measure would be based on legislation DeFazio proposed in the House that would apply a tax of 0.25 percent or 25 basis points to stock transactions in excess of $100,000, and a levy of 0.02 percent or 2 basis points on derivatives including futures, options, swaps and credit default swaps.
Harkin and DeFazio said the proposed new levy is backed by more than 200 economists, the AFL-CIO labor union federation and business leaders including Warren Buffett and Vanguard Group Inc. founder John C. Bogle, now president of Bogle Financial Markets Research.
Finally a Representative body, that knows WHO they work for ...
Class war breaks out in the U.K. The Labor government announces a tax on exorbitantly-paid bankers. American populists gnash their teeth in envy
By Andrew Leonard, Dec 9, 2009
Unsurprising headline of the year: "U.S. Probably Will Avoid Matching U.K. 50 percent Bonus Tax."
Alistair Darling, the U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced the tax -- aimed squarely at overpaid bankers
[...]
From Bloomberg:
"There are some banks who still believe their priority is to pay substantial bonuses," Darling said in Parliament. "I am giving them a choice. They can use their profits to build up their capital base. If they insist on paying substantial rewards, I am determined to claw money back for the taxpayer."
Paul Krugman says the move is "entirely reasonable." Justin Fox asks, "why the heck not?" Felix Salmon says "well done."
If you missed Dylan Ratigan's interview today with Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) -- well you missed a lot!
They spell out in stark relief the very REAL need for serious Wall Street Regulation -- NOW! (and still!)
Or we risk a repeat of the same Bubble-driven collapse of Trillion Dollar Derivative Bets, that occur in the dark, beyond the reach -- or even the Watch -- of any Govt Regulator, or even the Public scrutinity.
Nothing has changed, they can STILL Gamble Trillions in Derivatives, and let US the Taxpayers pick up the Tab, whenever their Bets GO Bad!
FRONTLINE INVESTIGATES THE ROOTS OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS
FRONTLINE Presents
The Warning
Tuesday, October 20, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS
In the devastating aftermath of the economic meltdown, FRONTLINE sifts through the ashes for clues about why it happened and examines critical moments when it might have gone much differently.
In The Warning, airing Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk (Inside the Meltdown, Breaking the Bank) unearths the hidden history of the nation's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. At the center of it all he finds Brooksley Born, who speaks for the first time on television about her failed campaign to regulate the secretive, multi-trillion-dollar derivatives market whose crash helped trigger the financial collapse in the fall of 2008.
Throughout its history, but especially during its ascendency in the 19th century, capitalism has had certain key characteristics. First, basic production facilities-land and capital-are privately owned.
[...]
Consumers are free to spend their incomes in ways that they believe will yield the greatest satisfaction. This principle, called consumer sovereignty, reflects the idea that under capitalism producers will be forced by competition to use their resources in ways that will best satisfy the wants of consumers. Self-interest and the pursuit of gain lead them to do this. [...]
if competition is present, economic activity will be self-regulating.
Capitalism assumes Self-interest will lead to Self-regulation. But what do Current Events really tell us, about this basic assumption that in Capitalist systems, consumer-driven "course corrections" will naturally lead to "the well-being of society" as a whole?
(aka. The theory of the Invisible Hand, promoted by Adam Smith, and others)
a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. It depicts the plight of the French proletariat under the brutal oppression of the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution
The share of total income going to the top-earning 1 percent of Americans went from 8 percent in 1980 to 16 percent in 2004.
...
One reason: gains in the stock market. Affluent people own more stocks, and executives are often paid in stock or stock options. So when the market does well, their wealth accelerates quickly
Well, Bill Moyers is currently telling the historic Story about the Need for "Two Banking Systems" ...
Loan modifications rise; many don't pare payments By ALAN ZIBEL - AP April 4, 2009
Though lenders are boosting their attempts to curb record-high home foreclosures, fewer than half of loan modifications made at the end of last year actually reduced borrowers' payments by more than 10 percent, data released Friday show.
The report, based on an analysis of nearly 35 million loans worth more than $6 Trillion, was published by the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision. It provides the most detailed and broad analysis to date of efforts to stem the foreclosure crisis, which President Barack Obama is trying to combat with a $75 Billion plan to promote loan modifications.
Since Home-ownership is so pivotal to the success of the Middle Class, shouldn't the Plan to "promote loan modifications", actually promote Home-ownership?
