Of course. That makes sense. Tax the banks. From AP News:
WASHINGTON (AP) – Mindful of soaring deficits and an anti-Wall Street mood, President Barack Obama wants a new 10-year tax on the country’s largest banks to cover a projected $117 billion shortfall in the government’s financial crisis bailout fund.
The president planned to propose Thursday a levy of 15 basis points, or 0.15 percent, on the liabilities of large financial institutions to make sure every dollar spent from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program to rescue Wall Street firms, auto companies and mortgage holders is either repaid or paid for. Congress would have to approve the tax.
Mr Obama, you are simply astounding in your ignorance and arrogance. After you threatened the banks if they didn’t take your federal dollars, now you’re going to tax American banks?
Mr Obama, are you aware that banks exist to make loans and hold assets? They don’t make money over foreclosures. And whom do you think will pay these taxes? Surely not the banks; it will only be, once again, the American Taxpayer. You spout Populist Pap.
Demorat House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank takes the Audacity Cake for insanity when he said:
“Look, the financial institutions collectively, particularly the larger ones, caused problems by their errors – their errors of judgment, their irresponsibility, in some cases their skating around dishonesty. I think it is entirely reasonable to say that the industry that, A, caused these problems more than any other and, B, benefited from the activity, should be contributing.”
However, Republican Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas nailed it: “To think that banks will loan more money if you tax them is beyond economic ignorance.”
It doesn’t take a rapier-like wit to figure this out.
BZ
I would say that this is astounding, but then coming from this administration it simply par! You would think that someone in Obama’s inner circle would tell him that the banks, if this tax hike is passed, will just be passed on to the consumers. Money is already tight and many small business owners find themselves unable to get loans to expand or even maintain their business—this will only make matter worse.
BZ, I’m starting to believe this is some conspiracy, as Glen Beck often implies. It seems they just can’t be this stupid. The often talk about Republicans having no plan when the only one they have is to “tax and spend”. The progressives never met a problem that cash wouldn’t solve.
Banks in many cases were forced to take money and even when it was paid back with interest in some cases, that now a faced with a special tax designed just for them. What about GM? Oops, forgot that would hurt the unions. I hope the unions are enjoying this free ride, for when its over there will be one hell of a price for them to pay. Its sad that those in the unions will have to pay for the corruption of the union bosses, who will walk away with stuffed pockets—talk about big bonuses!
Lol, you guys are never satisfied. You bitch when the banks are bailed out with your tax money and you now bitch when Obama wants them to pay it back with the near record profits many are posting. Get a friekin clue and stop listening to lie of Fox News, you stupid lemmings.
America no longer has a president. We now have a Gawdfathuh.
It’s ridiculous how out of control this is all getting. Unbelievable.
I recall a couple of decades ago when the Socialist Workers Party gave its agenda in a voters’ guide and it included confiscating all banking and insurance profits. He seems to be headed that way.
When Bush signed the 2008 bailout 1/2% tax on FANNIE/FREDDIE profits got dedicated to a housing fund to fund construction projects for poor people…
A tax that never again will be revisted by Congress… and from which harmful “community organizations” like ACORN feed.
Do you know where your tax dollars are, America?
Did you notice how angry he was, how animated (for him), the look on his face and sound of his voice ….
I wish he could muster up that sort of anger when it comes to terrorism and illegal immigration.
It’s not just Glen Beck that thinks this is a conspiracy. Rush Limbaugh was quoting from a book yesterday on Saul Alinsky, and what Obama is doing is exactly what Alinsky said needed to be done.
Degbbie
Right Truth
http://www.righttruth.typepad.com
Ron, Shop, PCC, FJ, Debbie: it’s, literally now, something new every darned day.
BZ
First the banks and then the bakery’s, butcher’s, barber’s, and then the brothel’s—Obama wants every damn penny he can get his hands on. TAX AND SPEND.
bd: if you’d begin reading, you’d discover that many of the banks didn’t wish to take the money in the first place and were told, initially, that they couldn’t make repayment. Many of those banks, conversely, when allowed, paid their debts ASAP so, no, that’s entirely in keeping. 1. They shouldn’t have been paid the money; 2. They should have been allowed to fail if that was in the offing; 3. They should not have been forced to take the money; 4. They should have been allowed to pay off the debt as soon as they wished.
BZ
BB&T didn’t want the money, tells everyone of why it was strongarmed: the largest banks were forced to take money they didn’t want at horrendous rates to hide the ONE big bank that was failing. That was Citi. Some of those banks had a hard time making it BEFORE the high priced money they were told to take… and a few have problems paying it back because it wasn’t in their long term financial plans to GET money at a high interest rate in the first place.
Bank of America was forced by Geithner, Bernanke and Paulson to take Merrill and then were told NOT to tell the investors that this had happened. Then people on the Left complain of THAT as a ‘crony’ deal when the three guys responsible for it got PROMOTED by the Obama Administration?
My position has always been: nothing is ‘too big to fail’. Anything that is ‘too big to fail’ that can extort money from the Nation to ‘prevent’ its failure is a threat to our Nation and our liberty and MUST be allowed TO fail. I said that about the Bush bailouts, the Obama ‘stimulus’ and all the rest of the financial goings on, especially with Freddie and Fannie.
Oh, BTW, Freddie, Fannie and GMAC are all EXEMPT from the taxes while their CEOs and other top executive staff have gotten multi-million dollar bonuses. Plus Fannie and Freddie now get infinite backing from the US Treasury to put out as much toxic cash as they can by backing loans that can’t easily be paid back. Remember that was the CAUSE of this problem as the regulations DEMANDED that banks do that and it was backed by the Federal Reserve which packaged sub-prime loans as AAA securities.
I’ve got a big, heaping problem with ‘regulations’, federal money pushed at banks, federal bozos then wanting to tax the entire INDUSTRY to support banks that have gotten into trouble repaying money THEY DIDN’T WANT and were threatened with severe audits if they didn’t take them, and then bozos trying to complain that ‘oh you liked it under Booooshhhh’.
Screw that with a salami.
I am MORE than happy to see big businesses fail as it opens up competition in the marketplace. You don’t like big, fat companies? Then get them off the federal dole, force them to compete and watch the market start to strip out the fat and kill off the poorly run ones.
Mind you the FDIC is asking for ‘pre-payments’ to cover cash not yet deposited because THEIR funds are drying up due to the problem, too. Good job on that, no? Asking for money from banks that are strapped to cover deposits that haven’t been made in a RECESSION?
Ye, flipping gods!
bd: you also might take a gander at AJ’s comment as well, above.
BZ
Mr. Z – He has disdain for my commentary… hates that I go through things… puts ‘zzzzzzz’ in as wonderful review… then accused of following some ‘party line’. I’m the guy with the one many party going! I follow my OWN party line. And it often comes down to: we would be much better off with four or five national political parties to break up the logjam. Plus 1:30K representation, too, as I am not afraid of representative democracy for this country.
Why should he bother reading NOW?
I follow NO ONE’S talking points, and yet that is all we ever get are the DNC/DKos talking points du jour along with disdain and hatred. You can’t reach a hand out to someone constantly slapping it away.
Great job!
How to convince people of your position by verbally abusing them and showing disdain for them is beyond me. You can’t do it that way, nor by repeating talking points day in and day out. I write my own material, years of it now, and have firm positions on just about everything and, lo!, they do not follow anyone’s talking points, anyone’s political party, nor, indeed, hew to an ideological rut. If I give the same old answers its because I keep getting the same old questions. Somehow it is not a grand and glorious revelation to get the same question for the tenth or twentieth time.
I can be reasoned with, but that takes using reason. Yelling at me gets you nowhere.
To have Barney Frank blame the economy on banking is the height of arrogance. Barney Frank was complicit in the Community Reinvestment Act, and that is what caused the meltdown. He and Chris Dodd should be in prison.
“Skating dishonesty” – that’s how Frank lives his life.
You are exactly right BZ. Anyone not understanding that banks will pass on the expense to us, is just not thinking.
Maggie: BING! Winner!
BZ
The Fed Reserve has already seen to it that we savers can barely make any interest.
And now the idea of TAXING banks?
BHO’s administration is ruining our nation’s economy.