Nurses Say, "Heal America: Support the Robin Hood Tax!"

[limpyhobbler]

See also: Wall Street Sales Tax.

[socialindependocrat]

1. Think about the logic

If someone uses their physical energy to work 8, 10, 12, 15 hours a day
Shouldn't they be taxed at a lower rate than someone who has enough
money to invest and earn more money without expending physical energy?

This tax would be on investment earnings that do not require them to
expend physical energy.

If you argue that there is a risk to the investment - The potential loss is
partially covered by claiming the loss on income taxes.

I need to do some reading to see what the situation was in 1962 when they
did this before and why they decided to stop the tax if it was successful...

[limpyhobbler]

2. Cool.

Also a financial transaction tax like this is recommended by liberal economists like Krugman, Reich and Stiglitz.

Lots of info here: http://www.cepr.net/index.php/issues/fst/

[limpyhobbler]

3. Oh,

and also Senator Sanders from your avatar image. They have a version of it in the Senate again this year.

from February 28, 2013

Thursday morning in the US Capitol, Senators Tom Harkin and Sheldon Whitehouse, along with Representative Peter DeFazio, announced the latest version of a tax on Wall Street trading: it would place a small tax of three basis points (that is, three pennies for every hundred dollars) on most non-consumer trades. Senator Bernie Sanders is also a co-sponsor of the legislation, as are nineteen members of the House.

If enacted, the tax would generate $352 billion in revenue over the next ten years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. It would apply to traded stocks and bonds, derivative contracts, options, puts, forward contracts, swaps and other complex Wall Street instruments. It would not cover the initial issuance of any stocks or bonds, nor covers or loans in the form of stock.

Three pennies per one hundred dollars would not be noticeable to most retail operations and average Americans—someone with a 401(k) balance of $60,000 (the median in the United States) would pay $18 per year in financial transactions taxes under this bill, and it contains a tax credit to cover the cost of the tax for contributions to tax-benefitted pension, health and education plans.

This transactions tax would most notably impact high-frequency traders—and this is a feature, not a bug. High-speed trading presents a real threat to the economic system and would theoretically be slowed if the bill is passed. DeFazio said the measure would “bring more stability to the financial markets, favoring long-term value investors—those who want to build an economy.”
...

http://www.thenation.com/blog/173134/financial-transactions-tax-introduced-again-can-it-pass-time#