Yes, although that wasn't the intent, it was a complete FUBAR on all fronts really: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Amendment
with economic recession & asset deflation, the govt has to look to tax areas of high money velocity - the bailout is just a smoke screens... they create a dollar and if it turns over 7x in the economy, they can essentially tax it seven times, with the States & municipalities getting on sales & State taxes. all the piggies i the trough. they did the $300 stimulus checks to encourage people to SPEND, not to put it in savings acc'ts. if people increasingly hoard cash, the govt will be forced to impose some static tax, such as wealth tax... kinda like real property taxes - i pay that & there are still potholes all over town so the wealth tax is a penalty on static assets... they want us to move the money so they get their vig. i find it interesting that DeFagio mentions the historic precedent, but does not reference all the other additional taxes we pay now that we didnt before. no one believes daytraders caused the subprime mess, but they are a high money velocity group w/o much collective political pull.
Yes and No. In no uncertain terms, tell the Politician or their Lacky: 1) Not only will you vote/donate to the Politicians Opponent in the next election if they vote Bill XYZ, but also 2) YOU WILL CAMPAIGN FOR THEIR OPPONENT IN THE NEXT ELECTION, if they vote for Bill xyz. That gets their attention. Trust me. They'll sacrifice a single voter here or there. But to alienate 1 voter and turn him into 100 votes *against them* come next election? That gives those douche bags pause. Hit 'em where it hurts.
DeFazio's letter seems directly derived from this article: http://www.taxhistory.org/thp/readings.nsf/ArtWeb/6062A8E3B6C9C7C585257480005BFEE6?OpenDocument It's probably the points of that article we need to be combating, since I'm sure he read that. Here's where the $150 billion figure seems to come from (haven't read all the way through this, it was link to in the article I posted above): http://www.peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/working_papers/working_papers_1-50/WP20.pdf
Thats incorrect. Those 20 traders already paid income tax on that 10K before it entered the market. Everyday, winners who leave the table pay tax on their winnings (which come from the losers capital, which already was taxed). So the Government actually taxes market capital twice. Or 100% of whatever the effective rate is. And thats not enough. They want everything.
Lol! What profession allows day-trading losses to be deducted as a tax expense?? Lets see. Mr Dentist deducted 30K in employee salaries, 20K in malpractice insurance, and 10K in day trading losses! Sounds like a plan!
Isn't this plan in effect banning short term trading? How the hell is anyone supposed to get in and out of a position without getting killed on a spread wider than Paris Hiltons gap? Moderator, please delete this thread as I'd rather pretend ideas like this from our elected officials do not exist.