This is an open letter I have send to my Congressmen. If you agree with me, cut and paste the bulk of the letter to your congressmen. You can find their email address easily on this link.
Now to be clear, I did vote for Mr. Obama. I would have voted for Romney if I had the chance. Although, I think the Religious Right thought Morman looked too much like Muslim so they couldn’t get around and vote for the guy who could have actually won the election.
Back to my point, I did understand that we would have an economic struggle ahead, and we still do. I still believe that we are doing things that have needed to be done for sometime. However some of what is being proposed is simply madness.
Take for example the “Make Wall Street pay for its own Wall Street Bailout Bill”, HR 1068, legislation which is being considered in Congress.
Here is the actual bill, HR 1068 proposed by Dem. – Rep. Peter DeFazio from Oregon. This guy is the most naive IDIOT on the markets I have EVER seen. UNFRICKIN’ Believable!!!
After reading the bill or watching the clip you can sign the petition to stop the bill
I cannot believe what I am hearing from this lawmaker.
If that is not enough, check out this Fox Business News clip from March 5th, 2009
Tim Sykes properly points out:
“Listen to his smug little story and prepare to be outraged that he thinks the market is anything like the 1930s…when day trading wasn’t possible due to the fact that online discount brokers didn’t get invented until the 1990s!
The guy doesn’t seem to get his little rule is going to hurt the smallest of market players and especially ALL the online discount brokers…companies that each employ a few thousand people DeFazio.”
This is the most idiotic thing which has been conceived since the Paulson $850B “Failout” bill, which had NO oversight.
This proposal will do NOTHING to stop corruption, or large salaries given to the Wall Street elite. It will be a pass-through tax on the American public. It will also crimp liquidity in our markets.
Here is the letter I crafted and sent to all the Congressmen in Colorado. I ask you to cut and paste, or write a letter of your own. If you don’t, you will be paying for many years to come.
re: HR 1068, aka “Make Wall Street pay for it’s own Wall Street bailout bill”.
Dear Congressman,
My name is Jonathan Lawson. I am a ski instructor and small business owner in Summit County. I am also actively involved in the Stock Market (Equities, options, and futures). I have been able to navigate the treacherous markets over the past 18 months well through nimble hedging and risk management. The money I make with investing and trading helps supplement my family’s income, this has been helpful during such difficult economic times as these.
It is my understanding that Congress is creating a “Make Wall Street pay for it’s own Wall Street bailout bill”. I don’t have all the details but my understanding is that the government is planning to charge .25% (25 basis points) on all stock/mutual fund/options/futures transactions. A $10,000 stock/mutual fund purchase would be taxed $25 to buy and $25 to sell. A $100,000 transaction would cost $250. Giving myself the opportunity to SELL my position is a way for me to preserve my capital, not “churn” my account.
This is a HORRIBLE idea conceived by people who have little understanding of market functions, or pass through costs. The Congress needs to stay away from market taxation and regulation, and allow the market to function properly. Higher costs create a barrier to entry. This is hardly the American Way.
When the short sale bans took place in the summer/autumn it created disarray in the markets. These actions further panicked institutional investors, and those who used Long and Short strategies to mitigate market risk. When such investors were unable to mitigate risk they sold and exited their positions. We, the American Citizen, were told to BUY and HOLD 401Ks and retirement plans suffered from the mass exodus in the Equity and asset markets. The result has been an unprecedented loss of wealth for people of all ages and financial strata.
To tax a transaction such as this should be illegal. The only right the government has to tax this transaction is given by the government itself. The government already taxes income from gains created in the markets.
I am sure the thought is to have Wall Street pay from its own active trading. Please understand, these fees will be passed on to the individual investors across America. 401K, mutual funds, and individual investors will be paying for this terrible idea. As usual the American Citizen will be screwed by ignorant Government officials who are trying to do the “right” thing. However, the right thing is to properly fund and mandate the SEC and similar agencies and have them do their job to fight corruption. As long as I can remember I have paid an SEC fee on every equity transaction. I thought that it was used to fund the SEC. We don’t need new fees, we don’t need new government agencies.
We need a fair playing field with minimal taxes, minimal government intervention, and minimal barriers to entry. These tenets should be the government’s responsibility in market functions. The government should be here to enable the US Citizen to have the opportunity to be great. We don’t need new taxing schemes. Please vote NO to “Make Wall Street pay for its own bailout bill”. It will come back to bite Main Street.