What We're Hearing

I love a good 'wedge issue' so here goes: There is new talk in Washington about revising the idea of instituting a .25% tax on stock transactions to help pay for the $700 billion bailout of our nation's financial system. (Roughly, $250 billion of TARP money is left in the government's kitty.) This could be a real killer of an issue for Republicans because during the Bush years they were known in Washington as the 'Don't Tax and Spend Party' and now they have religion and are sounding angry for all the 'little guys' out there back in their districts who are unemployed. So, if the GOP is for the little guy, shouldn't they like the idea of socking it to Wall Street to pay for this mess? But wait, don't all Republicans have carved into their chests a motto that says, "Read my lips, no new taxes"? Meanwhile, the Ayn Rand capitalist pundits are on CNBC ranting about the idea because it will hurt all Americans because so many of us own stocks. But wait, if you're unemployed you've probably sold your stocks by now. Yesterday both parties were venting their spleens on Capitol Hill about Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's handling of the bailout and the economy. (A lynch mob was formed, almost.) But wasn't it the Bush White House (and Bush Treasury) that pushed the $700 billion bailout through Congress? And wasn't it the Republicans who killed the first version of the bill, sending the stock market into a death dive? As for the Democrats, they like to spend, sure -- and they're kidding themselves about how to pay for anything they propose. Come next fall it certainly is going to get interesting in Washington. The whole issue of taxes (of any kind) boils down to this: do you want government-provided services or do you want to keep more of what you earn? Right now, I would suspect that 10.2% of our nation's eligible workers would love some government help, regardless of their party affiliation...