First, We Kill All the Bankers!
0 comment Tuesday, May 20, 2014 |
Remember Obama's interview on Sixty Minutes? Referring to the "obscene bonuses" the bailed out banks are handing out, Obama said the Wall Street fat cats "still don't get it." And why should they? Until now, anyway, now that Obama is proposing a "Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee."
What a ridiculous name. If it looks like a tax, walks like a tax and quacks like a tax, it's a tax. It's as much a tax as the health insurance tax on "Cadillac" plans (unless *breaking news* you're a union member -- in which case your insurance plan is exempt), but I digress.
Obama wants to tax the banks' bottom lines to the tune of about 90 billion over ten years. Because the bonuses these bankers are paying themselves are, by golly, just wrong. The Democrats in Congress have hopped on the populist bus, too. Several are proposing a ginormous tax on bank bonuses, as well.
And a few Dems, desperate for any glimmer of hope in the Massachusetts senate race, go so far as to suggest this "responsibility fee" will be a game-changer and push Democrat Coakley over the finish line. What hooey.
Let's talk about responsibility for a moment. Did you know the biggest subprime lenders were . . . Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two mammoth government sponsored enterprises? Together they loaned out more than five trillion dollars to questionable borrowers.
And now, because Fan and Fred are hemorrhaging subprime mortgage losses, Treasury gave these two GSEs a blank bailout check on Christmas Eve. In other words, our taxpayer bailout of these two incompetent agencies is unlimited.
Oh, and guess what else? Fan and Fred executives are getting bonuses in the millions, to be paid out, of course, from the millions of dollars you and I have paid in taxes. It was another little Christmas Eve present from Obama.
So why did Obama refuse to impose this "responsibility fee" on Fannie and Fred? Why is there no move by the Democrats to tax their bonuses? If we're going to tax "irresponsible" lenders -- so they can turn around pass the tax onto bank customers and make even fewer loans --let's at least start with the biggest purveyors of the subprime sludge.
On Wednesday, RealtyTrac said foreclosures have hit record numbers and "there's no end in sight." Consumer credit card charge-offs (where the credit card company gives up on collecting the debt) are at startling highs. The billions in stimulus spent on new roads and bridges did nothing to help local unemployment.
Obama is in big trouble. A majority of the public does not approve of the way he's handled health care, the bailouts, or just about anything else.
This bank tax is political opportunism and it makes for a revolting side-show. It is obviously calculated to satisfy the public's blood lust for the greedy bankers and help Spocky Obama "reconnect" with the voters, just in the nick of time.
Obama's big bank tax is meant to distract voters and take our focus off the staggering unemployment numbers.

But something more sinister may be going on.
The bank tax gives Obama cover against increasing calls to regulate the banks or, gasp, break them up. Wall Street would much prefer a tax in lieu of increased banking regulations. And the bankers may get their wish.
The euphemistic "financial crisis responsibility fee" may be a Trojan horse ready to trot down Main Street, filled with Wall Street bankers Obama has armed for battle.

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