So ... Obama says he wants to tax the banks as a way to get same taxpayer money back.

[Stinky The Clown]

First, I was not a supporter of the bailout way back when. But that's done and we are where we are.

In response to the public's largess to these motherfuckers, they took the money and ....... refused to make loans to get the wheels cranking again.

The banksters' **average** bonus this silly season will be north of $560K. Obviously, many of them will be well north of $10 million.

What do we tax? How do we tax and not have it passed on to us pissants and peons? It was mentioned that they might tax bank transactions, like deposits and withdrawals. Yes, I heard that on the radio today. How fast until that gets passed on to US?

Windfall profit type taxes never seem to work well.

Personally, I would be VERY happy with confiscatory taxes on personal incomes above a certain level and on corporate profits above a certain threshold. But that's me. And it is likely to never happen anyway. I say it simply to show where i stand on the matter.

What do you think? How/who/what do we tax?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. Taxing you first would be a good start.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. Really? Me? Why?

Why not you?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

4. Because.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. :snort:

Your 'tude is showing, dude.

[MichiganVote]

2. Which the banks will funnel down to, oh, that's right, the taxpayers.

[DJ13]

5. Im against the tax, its stupid

The administration should seize the TBTF banks, fire these asshats, and break them up into investment banks and consumer banks in sizes competitive with regional banks.

Obama needs to stop coddling them.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. I could go for that, too

[SammyWinstonJack]

11. +1

:thumbsup: I won't hold my breath, though. :silly:

[napi21]

7. On MSNBC they had a chart that said 50% fee on bonuses over

$50,000. I know I remarked that those finance guys are sure not going to be happy with THAT! I think it was on Dylan Ratigan's show.

[phantom power]

8. I have been toying with the idea of a net-worth-tax over (say) $5 million.

Every year, 1% of any person's (and corporation?) net worth over $5 million must be paid in taxes to the fed.

In other words, not just income. If it's not liquid, tough shit. You're rich, so you can work it out one way or another.

[Stinky The Clown]

10. I like that.

Make it 2% .... maybe 3%. Be openly confiscatory so that the LITTLE GUYS understand what's going on.

[phantom power]

12. It sort of begs for making it progressive...

To take an extreme example, any net worth over $100 million, tax it at 10% yearly. In 10 years, most of it would be gone. But... again... fuck it. You wanna stay that fucking rich, then you can by-god keep working to make more of it.

Is that too harsh? Once upon a time I would have thought so, but observing the sociopathic entitled attitudes of the uber-rich banksters this year... fuck them. They're such Mighty Galtian Capitalists: earning it all back every year should be child's play, right? In fact, they should welcome the challenge. Something to occupy their Bad Randian Selves.

:shrug:

[ArcticFox]

13. Your personal preference is really the only way

Only if we limit the amount these mf'rs can take home will any tax actually apply to the rich. Any other method of taxation simply results in the tax burden being passed down the food chain.

No employee, contrator or owner of any company should be taking home more than around 50 times what the least-paid employee or contractor makes. Above that amount should be confiscated. This would result in executives having to increase the pay of lowly employees in order to take home more themselves and would raise wages across the board.

The estate tax is also vital to clawing back the American people's wealth from the mf'rs who've been stealing it for the past 20, 40, or hundreds of years. If we can eliminate these uber-rich families' ability to live on nothing more than their wealth, then they will have to do the unthinkable - work for a living, and contribute to this society rather than simply squeezing the life out of the rest of us under the weight of their massive fortunes.

Will any of this actually happen? Without a populist revolt and the accompanying violence? Probably not. As long as the American people are complacent, they are complicit, and they deserve nothing better.

[amborin]

14. "empty populist gesture" according to Open Secrets:

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/01/administration-bank-tax-plan-an-empty-populist-gesture-by-design.html