Article: No To Austerity With The 1% Wall Street Sales Tax

Rather than get bullied into budget cuts as pushed by politicians on both side of the aisle, it is high time that we the people come together and demonstrate the leadership that is lacking in the present political charade.

This means one initial message: Make Wall Street Pay!

Yes "Wall Street" should pay its fare share for the depression it is responsible for getting us into.

Presently financial turnover on Wall Street/Chicago Mercantile Exchange/and private equity plays and trades, is on a scale of $5 Quadrillion Dollars per year . This is the derivatives black hole that is swallowing the real economy. This is the gambling casino, caused by bipartisan deregulation back in the 1990's that needs to be addressed.

When President Obama talks about "Shared Sacrifice" without addressing the multi-quadrillion dollar derivatives black hole, he is not serving those who elected him, much less our Republic.

We need to change tactics. Yes the rich are not paying their fair share, but their personal funds do not have the money to solve the problem. So what needs to be done? Put a modest 1% fee on institutional trades, of the Wall Street and the hedge funds. This is where the big money is and will serve to help curtail the absurd volume in flash trades derivatives gambits that is destroying real investment.

Thankfully many groups, including the Nurses United union and some members of Congress are calling for a variation of such a tax. The problem is that the populist potential of these proposals have not been utilized to its full potential.

People do not know what a Tobin Tax is, but people do not have to be educated on the self evident name of a Wall Street Sales Tax.

Also advocating a 1% Wall Street Sales Tax rather than a 0.005% tax makes more sense to people who pay an 8% Sales Tax to buy shoes for their children. Why people on the street when they are introduced to this idea invariable think 1% is too small.

What is too small is the united advocacy for such a plan that solves the budget crisis and serves to put a check on worthless trades.

I represent the United Front Against Austerity, http://againstausterity.org a coalition formed to advance a program-based response to austerity. While there are many worthwhile political issues, we see the 1% Wall Street Sales Tax as the only one that can secure a major victory against Wall Street's austerity agenda, and which appeals to all classes and income brackets, save those professional speculators who make their living gambling on the earnings of others. For those concerned about their retirement accounts, this tax should include a $1 million annual exclusion, so retirees and those putting children through college are exempted, and won't be made enemies through Wall Street's political propaganda.