Quote from listedguru:
This is an absolute must read:
http://mobile.politico.com/story.cfm?id=30200&cat=topnews
"Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave her strongest endorsement yet of a global financial transaction fee Thursday after raising the issue directly with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in a conversation this week."
"Geithner was widely seen as opposing such a levy when it was proposed by Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, at a meeting of G-20 finance ministers last month in Scotland. But after their phone conversation Wednesday, Pelosi told colleagues that the secretary indicated he was more open to some such fee than had been reported."
Getting greater clarity on Treasuryâs position is difficult.
âShe said that Geithner felt he had been misrepresented,â said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (DâMass.), who has also been open to such a fee, so long as would be imposed on a worldwide basis.
But after promising a quick response Thursday, the department waited more than three hours before saying it would have no comment beyond passing on a month-old transcript of Geithnerâs remarks in Scotland Nov. 7.
Those remarks were more nuanced than a truncated but widely quoted excerpt from a Geithner television interview that appears to flatly oppose such a fee. But Treasury refused to provide more clarification of where secretary stands on the issue or whether he felt his views had been mischaracterized.
Going forward, the secretaryâs support is vital to the speakerâs vision of applying the fee globally to protect American competitivenessâa concern Geithner is said to share.
Didn't Geithner come out against the tax in his interview on Fox Business today? Way too many mixed signals lately...
-Guru
This is the same thing I posted above (last night) but look how Politco starts the piece this morning:
PELOSI SAYS GEITHNER OPEN TO TRANSACTION TAX -- POLITICO's David Rogers: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave her strongest endorsement yet of a global financial transaction fee Thursday after raising the issue directly with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in a conversation this week. Geithner was widely seen as opposing such a levy when it was proposed by Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, at a meeting of G-20 finance ministers last month in Scotland. But after their phone conversation Wednesday, Pelosi told colleagues that the secretary indicated he was more open to some such fee than had been reported. Pelosi didnât reveal her conversation with Geithner at her weekly press conference Thursday, but several sources confirmed the details to POLITICO based on her discussions of the matter in a Democratic leadership meeting this week. ... With unemployment above 10 percent and new numbers out Friday, Democrats are anxious for action going into the 2010 election cycle. ... Private industry is strongly opposed to a financial transaction fee, but prominent economists have supported the idea as a way of creating a drag on short-term markets speculation and recouping some of the huge costs imposed on government by the collapse of financial giants last year."
This is from Politico's morning money this morning. I can't believe they can say this after Geithner came out and said no to the tax on Fox Business yesterday...
-Guru