Nurses Urge Pelosi and Others to Back the Robin Hood Tax

Nurses and other activists today targeted

Nancy Pelosi and other key members of Congress.

By Alex Kekauoha

San Francisco Bay Guardian
October 3, 2012

http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2012/10/02/nurses-urge-pelosi-and-others-back-robin-hood-tax

Activists nationwide are pressuring Congress to
pass a bill they say would generate hundreds of
billions of dollars and stimulate economic growth on
Main Street, targeting House Minority Leader Nancy
Pelosi and other key congressional votes with a
series of protests today.

The Inclusive Prosperity Act, or H.R. 6411, would
establish a 0.5 percent tax on the trading of stocks,
50 cents on every $100 of trades and lesser rates on
bonds, derivatives and currencies. It's being touted
as the "Robin Hood tax" because it would generate
an estimated $350 billion dollars annually that
would go towards growing local economies, taking
for the rich to help the poor.

Supporters for the national campaign are knocking
on the doors of their congressional representatives
asking them to back the bill. Campaigners and
members of National Nurses United today gathered
at Pelosi's office to ask her for support, but she was
nowhere to be found. Roughly two dozen nurses
and activists attempted to enter the building when
security promptly stopped them, allowing only four
members to enter to speak to a Pelosi representative
in the lobby.

Inside, the four activists - including Deborah
Burger, a registered nurse from Santa Rosa - were
told that although the bill fits with her values, Pelosi
is currently focused on the November election.

"We were told that after the election she might use
her influence to back the legislation," says Burger.
"We do plan to go to Washington to push this bill
and we're going to do it with or without Nancy
Pelosi."

Eighteen days after the stock market crashed in
2008 - four years ago today - Congress approved the
Troubled Relief Asset Program, or T.A.R.P., that
saved the "too-big-to-fail" banks from financial
collapse. Now, the national unemployment rate
lingers above 8 percent. HR 6411, introduced by
Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, is being promoted
as a way to enforce accountability on the part of
major Wall Street banking institutions.

"The destruction they've done to this country is
enormous," says Charles Idelson, communications
director for the California Nurses Association. "They
pay no tax when trading and all we're asking for is
Wall Street to pay us back and help local
economies."

When asked why nurses are interested in the bill,
Scott Hornback, a nurse at UCSF, said people in his
profession spend their days caring for those hit
hardest by the recession: "We care about the health
of the American worker and the people who make
up this economy."

Supporters say the revenue generated from HR 6411
would also help strengthen Medicare and Medicaid,
put more resources into the infrastructure and
education, and help tackle climate change.

The obvious question is whether or not such a tax
would encourage financial institutions to move their
transactions offshore. Idelson rejected this
possibility, saying, "When you have something
totally computerized, like financial transactions, it's
easy to monitor and track."

According to National Nurses United, more than 40
countries currently have some form of financial
transaction tax in place. Last week Germany and
France urged the European Commission to draft FTT
proposals for nine nations in the EU.

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