Blogger charlestrippy.com tags the fighting spirit of President Obama
Ok Money Matter Listeners with Greg Bowens, you heard it here first and now its official. President Obama announced his intention today to get every penny back that the governemt used to bailout the financial industry. He wants to levy a tax on the biggest banks. Read on…
Obama proposes bank fee, slams Wall Street
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Thursday proposed Wall Street banks pay up to $117 billion to reimburse taxpayers for the financial bailout, as he slammed bankers for their “massive profits and obscene bonuses.”
Striking a populist tone, Obama called for a fee on the biggest U.S. banks to “recover every single dime” the government spent rescuing the financial sector from its worst crisis since the Great Depression.
“My determination to achieve this goal is only heightened when I see reports of massive profits and obscene bonuses at some of the very firms who owe their continued existence to the American people,” Obama told reporters at a White House event.
Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress are seizing on the chance to cast Wall Street as its political foil in a congressional election year when their party is worried Republicans might weaken its majority status.
Obama, who has labeled financial executives “fat cats” for the huge bonuses they have received, is taking an increasingly tougher line against the industry.
Democrats hope that will resonate with an American public furious at multimillion-dollar bonuses being handed out by banks as the middle-class struggles with double-digit unemployment.
The fee is also aimed at helping to reduce the ballooning U.S. budget deficit.
Democrats in Congress signaled they would quickly take up the legislation.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus praised Obama for “working to ensure taxpayers see a return on their investment.”
“I remain committed to working with the president, and my colleagues across the aisle, to make sure this proposal is right,” he said.
But Republicans may try to block it. Some of them have criticized the bank fee as a tax that would be passed on to small businesses and Americans with savings accounts.
(see full story here: http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=OBR&date=20100114&id=10986827)
So here is a salute to the President for continuing to take on Wall St. for the American people. As legendary singer Issac Hayes sang…who is the man who will stand up for his brother man…
p.s. Don’t let the financial industry pass along that tax to you by burying it in higher credit card fees and interest rates. If you have $10,000 or more in credit card debt, call our friends at freedomdebt.com at 800-834-9515 and let them take on the Wall St. fat cats for you. They may be able to help you cut your debt in half.
