sending a letter to Defazio is a waste of time and effort. He BELIEVES in this tax. He is the Mulder of securities taxation. There is nothing you can add to the argument to dissuade him on his Quixotic quest. But he is only one vote. Send these letters to ALL the Congressmen/Senators. Explain the importance/effect of this tax and how it will affect the jobs of those directly and indirectly associated with securities trading. Make sound arguements. Also don't forget to include John Conyers proposal to fund health care reform with this same tax (I saw it somewhere else here - perhaps someone can post the link to that bill as well) . The only effective argument is one where you can show the destructiveness of this tax. Take your time and write a clear, coherent statement. What has been presented so far in this thread falls short of that goal. I will write one later this evening and post it here. I encourage all to do the same and let's tweak these letters so that we present a solid, logical argument. Let's take our time and do it right.
I think the brokers have no response because they don't think this thing has a snowball's chance in hell. It will not only hurt the brokerages but every single company listed on U.S. exchanges because liquidity reduces their cost of capital by reducing the risk of investing in their shares. There are several trading PACs, including FINRA and they and their lobbyists will attack this thing if it ever sees the light of day. Get involved in these lobby groups as they are more effective than individual letters. The jackass who introduced this bill just wants to put it on his website to make him look good to the douchebags who voted for him in the hopes of getting re-elected.
The republicans will filibuster this till the end of time so I don't think there's need to worry. They're good for something I guess.
Actually, when the major bank ceo's were in washington, this issue was brought up. Jamie Dimon and a couple others, I can't rember exactly who, said that they wouldn't object to a transaction tax to help repay the tarp. I am pretty sure this thing will pass.
Doesn't matter, the congress dimwits now feel they have the authority and justification to pass this thing.
Mass e-mail the office this link with an URGENT mark and a couple sentences why you agree. If it's not enough to make him see how stupid his suggestion is, I'm going to sell all of my clients out of their positions if this makes it to the senate. http://www.advisorworld.com/2009/02/18/the-real-threat-to-americas-economic-survival/ Everyone should get all of these reps e-mails out and send that link. What are the e-mail addresses?
If I remember correctly most of the major CEO's hadn't really heard of it and said that maybe it was worth looking at. The guy from MSCO was pretty cautious in his response about it's effect on volume, etc... -Guru