Democrats Propose New Tax On Stock Trades (H.R. 1068)

The Democrats (with the exception of the tax-cutting John F. Kennedy) have the same solution to every problem that comes up: taxes, taxes and more taxes which means that they have not had an original idea since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Pretty soon, they are going to have a tax for everything.

For example, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is actully considering an idea which taxes motorists based on how many miles they drive on roads and highways.

In that style, eight Congressional Democrats have introduced a bill (HR 1068) that will tax transfers of stocks and other securities on the market. They claim it is a vehicle by which Wall Street will pay the taxpayer back for the $700 billion bailout monies, but a look at the bill itself will show otherwise:

SEC. 4475. TAX ON SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS. `(a) Imposition of Tax- There is hereby imposed a tax on each covered securities transaction an amount equal to the applicable percentage of the value of the security involved in such transaction. `(b) By Whom Paid- The tax imposed by this section shall be paid by the trading facility on which the transaction occurs. `(c) Applicable Percentage- For purposes of this section-- `(1) IN GENERAL- The term `applicable percentage' means the lesser of-- `(A) the specified percentage, or `(B) 0.25 percent.

Did you notice the "By Whom" sub-section? These socialist Dems actually think that the trading facility is going to pay those costs out of pocket! The truth is, the trading facility will simply pass that cost on to the stock-holder in the form of higher trading fees.

When will these libs get a clue about economic reality?

Here is another example of the fantasyland that the Democrats live in. The stated objective of this bill is to "pay back" the taxpayer. But what is written in the bill, again, shows something completely different:

(8) All revenue generated by this transfer tax should be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury of the United States, scaled to meet the net cost of these bailouts, and phase out when the cost of the bailouts are repaid.

First of all, sending this money into the "general fund of the Treasury of the Untied States" means that it could get spent on anything that the government wants, and thus, does not have to be spent "paying back" the taxpayer. Knowing the Democrats, their intention was never for any such thing.

Second, the "phase out" is laughable since the Dems will never allow any tax to expire nor will they ever vote to repeal one. Plus, if they keep using this money for something other than the stated intention of this bill (i.e. to "pay back" the taxpayer) they can claim that the goal's of this new tax have not been reached and therefore will be able to spin a reason as to why the tax must remain in place.

Further, the true culprit of the Wall Street financial crisis is the 1977 Community Re-investment Act. Before anything can be done to restore Wall Street, the CRA must be repealed.

This is nothing more than another socialist bill which the Dems want to use as a mechanism for Barack Obama's stated objective of redistributing wealth. It must die before it serves to wreak even more havoc on our economy.

The eight Democrats are: Mr. Defazio, Mr. Welch, Ms. Sutton, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Wu, Mr. Stark, Ms. Delauro, and Ms. Edwards.

You can access the bill on-line here:

Let Wall Street Pay For Wall Street's Bailout Act Of 2009
Library Of Congress
February 13, 2009