Most Counter-Productive Idea Evah?: AFL-CIO and Dems push for new tax on stock trades: 1/10% of each transaction

Every time I think it is safe to go back into the water markets, the SOOPERGENIUSES in Congress or the WH come up with a new economy killing agenda item of some sort. Remember that 70s movie where they try to rob the moneyball in the mall? The way these guys are mucking up the markets that may be a better investment plan, we would have more clarity going forward than we would investing under this Administration…

And all the ideas seem to involve spending and taxing. Under the anti business atmosphere of Team TOTUS this sort of thing is flourishing. And why are the AFL-CIO floating new tax plans?

I have no idea how anyone who has ever opened an American history book or has even passing knowledge of the Depression can suggest these capital killing, investment slaying, consumer scaring ideas:

The Hill:

The nation’s largest labor union and some allied Democrats are pushing a new tax that would hit big investment firms such as Goldman Sachs reaping billions of dollars in profits while the rest of the economy sputters.

The AFL-CIO, one of the Democratic Party’s most powerful allies, would like to assess a small tax — about a tenth of a percent — on every stock transaction.

And they still DO NOT GET the link between over taxation and reduction of cash flow to the Treasury:

There is also a growing realization among Obama administration officials and lawmakers that tax increases may be necessary to curb the ballooning federal deficit.

No STOPPING SPENDING would curb the damned ballooning deficit you yahoos!

The idea of taxing financial transactions has gained some support on Capitol Hill and among senior government officials in London, a major foreign financial center.

In Congress, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), chairman of the Highways and Transit Transportation Subcommittee, has seized on the idea as a way to help pay for a new massive surface transportation reauthorization bill, estimated to cost $450 billion over six years.

We had a 780 Billion dollar stimulus and they want a new tax to fund highway projects because they pixxed all that money away without giving anything to infrastructure.

Instead of taxing all stock transactions, as the AFL-CIO has contemplated, DeFazio wants to focus on oil-based derivatives.

At the end of July, shortly before the House broke for the August recess, DeFazio introduced legislation that would impose a 0.2 percent transaction tax on crude oil futures contracts. The legislation would tax the options for oil futures (in other words, the premium paid to have the option to buy a futures contract) at 0.5 percent.

Oh goody they want to frak up the energy markets ahead of winter heating season too! We can all look forward to that when they get back!

Jamey Johnson courtesy of bowhunterml

August 31, 2009. Tags: commodities, Congressional Leadership, deficit spending, Economy, energy market, Finance, Jamey Johnson, Obama Budget, Obama Energy Plan, Obama Stimulus, Pete Stark, taxing crude oil futures contracts, Taxing stock transactions, Wall St. Economy, Finance, Obama Administration, Politics, TARP, Taxes, Unemployment Statistics, Wall St.