Here is the letter I sent also:
Dear Sir,
HR 1068 IH (Let Wall Street Pay for Wall Street's Bailout Act of 2009) Legislation
I feel very strongly that this legislation should not be introduced. It would seem on the face of it attractive to tax the "Wall St. Fat Cats" in terms a per-transaction tax, and recoup some of the costs of the bank bailouts.
What is not being looked at, however, is the effect this will have on the small trader/investor. There are many of us who are not fat cats who make a living from the markets, and this would make it all but impossible for us to do so. (The IRS would then be deprived of the taxes on what we make also).
There are also many foreign small traders and investors who are active in the US markets, adding capital and liquidity to our financial system, and they would likely then flee to other world markets who would be only too glad to have them.
I estimate that trading volume on our exchanges would immediately drop somewhere between 50% and 80%, were this to be introduced, hurting both those seeking capital and those broking firms who depend on trading commissions (which are some of the same firms the government is trying to help). Please, in the name of all that is good, don't take away one of the last real competitive advantages the US has left, which is the liquidity and openness of our markets.
Sincerely,
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