I was referring to general corp taxes, not transaction tax. It seems like in the US, the idiots in power usually impose some tax which those with the money quickly figure out how to circumvent & not pay or exempt themselves, screwing those in the middle even more!
Nobody can regulate the big guys or tax them either... it's just posturing by the left, maybe extortion to get some donations from Goldman.... there are a lot of people that want to punish traders and short sellers and the greedy rich... so the 'Crats have to throw them a bone every now and then... their constituency has the long term memory of an aquarium, they will never notice that nothing was done... Meanwhile the confidence is swinging away from the public sector to the private, ownership of Treasuries is down and corporate bonds up... that spells inflation imo, and rising rates.. these tax manipulators in congress are going to have some real problems on their hands when they can't meet payrolls or find money for the welfare class that keeps them in office...
Not to worry here... Those who tow the correct political line will probably be exempt. GS and JPM will buy their indulgences just as the royalty of the middle ages paid mightily for the privalges to sin. The pontiff in this case is the LORD BARRACK OBAMA, most mercifull,our dear leader. The rest of us will pay the tax, eat dirt, and be greatfull for the mere crumbs that fall from GS and JPM's table.
Since Goldman would have ceased to exist "without Big Gov. control or handouts", it only seems reasonable to expect them to pay for their privileged position. Live by the sword, die by the sword...
This site has some important details on the transaction tax and what to do to prevent it from passing into legislation. http://www.greencompany.com/blog/index.php?postid=29 The information from a discussion on the transaction tax is available from a podcast through this link: http://www.greencompany.com/EducationCenter/ConfCall/GreenTraderTaxConfCall090309.mp3 This is going to a fight. Information for the bill - H.R. 3379 and for H.R. 1068 can be found here: http://thomas.loc.gov/ by selecting 'Bill Number' and inputting 'H.R. 3379' in search.
A tax on trading would kill the US Mkts, and be the final nail in the economy's coffin. Hang Seng and the Dax would prosper tho.
When business is in bed with the government, I get scared. Those who make the rules can always "win." So I've been scared a lot lately.
The following link to a recent conference call provides some discussion of the current state of proposed tax legislation detrimental to trading and the dynamics that surround it: http://www.greencompany.com/EducationCenter/InteractiveOnlineMeetings.shtml These conference calls are scheduled on a regular basis. There is a written description corresponding to the sections of the recording that provide navigation to each subject with the call. Joining the Traders Association - mentioned in this call and present on Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=143746613407&ref=nf - can provide a defense against legislation targeted at Traders and their businesses. By establishing a business association not only can the business interests of Traders be better defended but also represented to a greater effect.