The New York Times reported yesterday that President Obama is considering a tax on large banks in order to reduce the deficit. There is a practical and political purpose to this idea. From a practical standpoint, the tax on banks would theoretically help bring down the deficit (this may be true, but as we all know, any tax placed on a business is passed on to the consumer). From a political standpoint, the tax may calm the anger that the public has against large banks that received bailouts and then paid large bonuses to their top employees.
The article poiints out:
"Lobbyists for bankers, taken by surprise, immediately objected to any new tax. They said financial institutions had been repaying their portion of the bailout money in full, with interest. Losses from the $700 billion bailout fund -- estimated to run as high as $120 billion -- are expected to come from the automobile companies and their finance arms, the insurance giant American International Group and programs to avert home foreclosures, and the president is aiming to recoup that money."
I guess my reaction to this news is simple. Has the Democrat party ever met a tax they didn't like? Since a large part of the financial bubble that caused our current financial crisis was caused by bad real estate loans, has anyone done anything about tightening the standards for borrowing money to buy a house?
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