Comments on: Brown win could spark Obama war on Wall Street

By: Mike B

Mike B — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 00:29:36 +0000

The real Obama is coming out. He literally hates big business because he believes that most people are victoms of our capitalistic system. Profit is an evil thing. His definition of fairness is socialism. His programs will all be anti business and lead to more big government.

By: drewbie

drewbie — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:12:20 +0000

One thing that hasn’t been made clear to many people is that this tax isn’t something new. It was written into TARP from the beginning and is required by law. Obama’s not gunning for the banks. Congress is doing what it’s required to do.

By: Dean

Dean — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:21:32 +0000

Of course the cost of the tax is passed on to the customer. Of course, the gigantic bonuses is also passed onto the customer. The only difference is how much the money paid by the customer ultimately benefits the customer. In that case, the tax wins out over the bonus.

Of course this is less than ideal. Simply shutting investment banks off from the discount window will save more money than the tax would raise. Right now we are lending out more than 2 Trillion (with a T) dollars from the Fed, with a ZIRP. The government itself is paying around 3.5% on long term debt, so the net result is a cost of 70 Billion dollars per year. Simply reducing the amount going to investment banks will allow the money to either be saved or loaned to commercial bank. Lending to the commercial banks will have a greater benefit to the economy in terms of business and consumer lending.

If we reduce the amount we are lending to the new asset bubble, we will not only stall inflationary concerns, but also save the difference in interest. A very small reduction would save more than the tax would raise. Taxing them while giving them a larger subsidy is not the way forward.

1. End discount window access for investment banks and any firm that provides investment banking services.

2. Re-enact the Glass-Steagall Act.

3. Announce a no-bailout policy for investment banks. If they fail, they will be allowed to do so without intervention. With this explicit policy, the market will be far more careful about dealing with firms that rampantly speculate with high leverage.

4. No longer allow hedge funds and investment banks to have their income taxed at the preferred long term capital gains rate. This loophole has been unduly abused. With salaried and hourly median income Americans paying a 32.5% marginal federal tax rate, it is obscene that investment bankers and hedge fund managers only pay a 15% marginal rate.

These policies will save more taxpayer money than the proposed bank tax will raise, and also have more beneficial side effects than such a tax. The final policy will raise far more tax revenue and also have less negative side effects.

By: Angela

Angela — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:18:59 +0000

I transferred all my money to my local credit union two weeks ago. Forget the big banks who threaten to make your life more miserable!

By: Mike McCleese

Mike McCleese — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:27:51 +0000

The citizens that do the right thing are always penalized. Only idiot banks would loan money to idiots that cannot repay the loan. In order to get this country on track again, Nafta and Cafta will have to be abolished. Remember the “sucking sound” Ross Perot talked about. Get rid of the IRS and have everyone pay a flat tax. These things will never be done because Wall Street owns Washington DC. Congress has no guts and is ran by lobbyists. When our government thinks “America First”, then, and only then, will this country recover. China and India are eating our lunch. Both parties are ALIKE.

By: Kenny

Kenny — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:42:39 +0000

First the people have to regain the power the constitution has given us as Americans. The best example of how to do this is by understanding how Mass elected Brown. Then the people have to get rid of the Fed. Just by accomplishing these two goals, the country will begin to move in the correct direction.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:22:42 +0000

Yes, the ship is sinking. Unfortunately for the U.S., those that can afford to leave the country to live out their golden years, will do so. That leaves just us rats to handle the mess. And talk about “competition;” anyone ever see the Mad Max movies from the ’80s???

How dare our elected representatives speak all these *ucking platitudes–Obama included and I voted and campaigned for him–and still allow the banks and big corporations to hold us hostage in our own country.

I heard on a public news station yesterday that big businesses owe the gov’t (translation–us)to the tune of $5 Billion for unpaid taxes. How is it that the IRS bloodhounds can sniff out average citizens but ignore the biggest pile of shit!! I say screw the bankruptcy code–let’s return to debtors’ prisons and we will see changes.

By: chief

chief — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:31:56 +0000

The way I see it. Ordinary people have lost their jobs and wall street people are still getting all those bonus money after the Fed bailout. So people are angry, jealous, justified, or not, do not matter. You have to share the pain if everyone else is in pain. Now what? Obama either has to do:

1. Get jobs for the ordinary people, but hard to do though with record federal deficit. He has to show effort though. Health care reform is of secondary importance. He has to emphasize on the big picture now.
2. Take away (or confiscate) wall street bonus, and wrap the action within some acceptable American principles.
3. Real financial reform is also needed.

Really the quick kill is #2 and #3 together, but does he have the guts to take on the street? Voters are smart. If he is not serious, democrats will lose big in November.

By: joseph cosco

joseph cosco — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:28:34 +0000

Well… figure heads are figure heads.Isn’t this the way of American political history- maybe even world political history?Isn’t president Obama just one more in the growing line of talking heads presiding over the “rest of us”? The point being who’s really running the show – Wall street or the White house ?

By: Charles Cyrus

Charles Cyrus — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:35:38 +0000

I agree that there will be a movement toward punishing Wall St. by the Dems.
The bank tax is a joke, though, and everyone knows it. It will do nothing to repair Obama’s image. The biggest mistake this administration has made is understimating the average American’s understanding of what is really going on. Judging by the talk coming from the Dem leaders today, they still don’t get it at all, though. Clueless or in complete denial. The MA. vote was clearly not about health but about Obama’s immediate lack of principle. He was supposed to come into the Presidency swinging, not pandering.
I read through much of the comments on the HuffPost yesterday and there is HUGE disappointment in Obama’s own voter base. HUGE. And rightly so – at this point he appears to have been nothing but another slick-talking power seeker with close to Zero commitment to his campaign rhetoric.
I think at a minimum, Bernanke and Geithner have to go if Obama is to begin to regain some respect from his constituency. That would be a start, but the question is whether there’s someone in the Dem hierarchy both savvy AND courageous enough to get the message through to him.
Next, he needs to own up to his mistakes and reverse course on his (lack of) government transparency and war policies, and try to prosecute some of the wrongdoing that went on in the Financial industries over the past 10 years – but I doubt he has the balls to do that.
The vote went the way it did, not because of health care or because he’s another Jimmy Carter, but because so far he’s just a Big Business Trojan Horse and many are not fooled. They want to roll that horse right back out the gate.