Here's my draft for a letter concerning the plan to tax trades. Please send it, or something similar, to your congressmen and representatives and pass it along to other people who this might effect: Regarding the House Democrats plan to tax trades to help pay for the bailout: This mess was caused by the Fed holding interest rates too low, bad loans allowed by deregulation, arcane derivatives based on those loans, and massive leverage used by investment companies trading in those derivatives. It had NOTHING to do with retail investors who make frequent trades, and it's not fair that we would have to bare so much of the cost.
I sure hope not, but if the Dems control everything come January, I'm not so sure. In hindsight, Clinton wasn't too bad economicially: free trade, welfare reform, social security reform, reduced the deficit, etc. I didn't like his tax increases, but he was pretty Centrist and pragmatic overall. Obama? If his class warfare rhetoric is an indication, it's not a good sign...
Even if the .25% doesn't pass, think about even something like .05 %. That would really add up for high frequency, low profit per trade traders.