Quote from FightTheFuture:
Reality does not exist in their world:
"We would urge the mutual funds Stevens represents not to pass along this small sales tax..."
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-b...all-sales-tax-on-wall-stree-reaps-big-rewards
There are so many things wrong in this article that it's laughable to read. There is a clear assumption of a glorified benefit without actually taking into account reality. Here are some of my favorite arguments the author makes:
1) The FTT must be a unified movement accross all nations in order to "prevent the flight of capital"
2) Only people who make more than $50k a year would be affected.
-Is $50k+ what is now considered rich and the "tax target" these days? I don't think many people who make less than $50k a year have too much disposable income to trade stocks or save for retirement.
3) The proposed tax is viewed as "tiny" and only 50 cents on every $100, ie. $50 on a $10,000 trade.
-It may just be me, but I don't see .5% as a tiny amount on a stock transaction. It you make 2 roundtrip day trades of 200 shares on a $50 stock you are paying out $200 a day in taxes or am I wrong? And this is a good thing?
4) Individual investors won't be taxed, just the institutions and there is "hope" the institutions won't pass on the costs back to the investor.
It sounds like there is no actual plan for anything, just tax "rich" people who can afford to make a stock trade and our financial problems will magically go away. The mear fact that in the article the author has no plan for what to actually do with the new tax revenue just shows how sad the position behind the FTT is. He starts off by saying that Wall Street owes us for the financial condition that we are in but then goes on to say that the money could be funneled to help research global warming and AIDS relief. I thought the tax was supposed to make up for the current financial shortfall, or is it to fund feel good projects? If you are crying for a redstribution of wealth, at least actually give the money to the people in need after you take it instead of just spending it on other things. I could be wrong with many of the actual details, but I was just commenting from this articles perspective.