Political Quotes

“Mr. President, Martin Wolf said this: Windfall taxes are a ghastly idea. . . . No sensible person should support them. So why do I now find the idea of a windfall tax on banks so appealing? Well, this time, it really does look different. Mr. Wolf goes on to point out: Ordinary people can accept that risk takers receive huge rewards. But such rewards for those who have been rescued by the state and bear substantial responsibility for the crisis are surely intolerable. . . . The public finances will be devastated for decades: taxes will be higher and public spending lower. Meanwhile, bankers are about to reap huge rewards. This damages the legitimacy of the market economy. Mr. Wolf went on to support the very concept I am putting on the table today; that is, a one-time windfall profits tax on moneys that were earned in 2009 when this American taxpayer rescue of our financial system occurred, when earnings that occurred through work in 2009, which are paid in 2010--this is not a retroactive tax; one shot, balance the playing field and reward the people who stepped forward to help save our economy. Sometimes it is hard for us to remember the circumstances that took place when we were asked to vote for TARP back in September of 2008 because so much has happened to our economy and to the debate in this country since then. But we should remember that in September of 2008, Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke put us all on a conference call.…”