Great news. A handful of legislators rejected the bailout bill for the wrong reason, with Republicans blaming it on a partisan speech Nancy Pelosi gave.
Now it's time to tell members of congress to protect mainstreet and taxpayers by making the prime beneficiaries of the bailout pay a small fee to have access to credit.
The reason for the bailout is to increase liquidity-- to insure that money for borrowing is available. That money will enable investors to keep investing in stock trades, bonds, mortgages, business loans, etc. and of course, will enable borrowers to borrow.
Thom Hartman described a remarkably simple solution that was used in response to the great depression of 1929-- add a small quarter of one percentage point tax on stock trades. I say add that same tax to loans as well. When a person takes out a mortgage, with less than a minimum amount of down payment, there's an extra fee, usually .25% or .5% charged as mortgage "insurance."
In this case, the bailout is making it possible for credit to be available. Make the beneficiaries pay that small tax that will, in a few years, entirely recover the $700 billion.
This ought to do the trick to get all the fiscally conservative bluedog democrats on board. Very likely, Republicans may not like it, but at least this approach protects America and Americans from being stiffed. And the next president will have an opportunity to turn the "investment" into a win.
Just think about it. The Fed raises and lowers rates by half a point all the time. A quarter point tax, added for what would probably be a few years, is a brilliant solution that shows the taxpayer that the congress is covering their backs.
I don't understand why this idea isn't being discussed. Why aren't the mainstream media reporters talking about the idea of a small tax to insure recovery?
Call them. Email them. Tell them that they should be covering this angle on the story.
