U.S. Congress to take up his proposal for a $90 billion, 10-year tax on banks

Reuters reporting Obama urged the U.S. Congress to take up his proposal for a $90 billion, 10-year tax on banks as the next step in reform.

Obama wants to slap a 0.15 percent tax on the liabilities of the biggest U.S. financial institutions to recoup the costs to taxpayers of the financial bailout.

“We need to impose a fee on the banks that were the biggest beneficiaries of taxpayer assistance at the height of our financial crisis -- so we can recover every dime of taxpayer money,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65P0VP20100626

 

The biggest beneficiary of TARP funds was the UAW, Mr President!

 

Obama doesn't realize that you tax the banks and the banks just pass the cost on to its customers. So the taxpayer winds up paying again and the government just spends the money again.

 

It's not enough - not anywhere near enough.

The tax should be based on the *actual* cost of all the various bailouts over the past 30 years (80s third world loans, 90s S&L, 00s disaster), plus the cost to taxpayers of bailing out Fannie and Freddie as that underpins the entire mortgage market.

Anything less than that is corporate welfare.

 

"Obama doesn't realize"? Of course he knows that the banks will pass the costs on to us.

Obama could care less about working people. He wants everyone to rely on the government for all their needs.

Tax, tax, and tax the workers some more. It's the Obama way.

 

Lets see...

We could get the 2 biggest clowns in Washington DC, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, who also happen to be the two people in the United States of America who are most responsible for the housing crisis and resultant debt crisis to serve as the architects for the biggest financial reform legislation since the Great Depression.

This country is finished. If people can't see the incompetence and corruption of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd then they are blind and we are going *down*.

 

Agreed.

 

That pretty much sums things up. At this point, it's all theatrics.

 

Canada won't tax its banks in this manner, so won't U.S. banks just move more operations from NYC to Toronto if the US penalizes its banks in this way?

 

Let's put this in perspective:

"The financial institutions, which already generate $10 billion a year in revenue from what they charge people for accessing their accounts from other banks' ATMs"

Banks make 100B in 10 years on ATM fees.

90B is a slap on the wrist. This is pure theatrics. The banks and feds are putting on a little spanking show to appease the taxpayer.

I'd rather have this than a Tobin tax any day.

Don't forget - the banks will pass the tax back to the taxpayer who will in turn pay it with after tax money..... It's a double dip!