VIEW ONLINE: http://dev.portside.org/2012-06-19/us-campaigners-launch-robin-hood-tax-plan-outlaw-wall-street-excess SUBSCRIBE: http://portside.org/subscribe VISIT PORTSIDE.ORG: http://portside.org -------------------------------------------------------------------- US campaigners launch Robin Hood tax plan to outlaw Wall Street excess 2012-06-19 00:00:00 <p>Actor Mark Ruffalo and Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello<br /> have launched a new US campaign for a "Robin Hood tax", a<br /> small levy on Wall Street transactions that organisers say<br /> could generate hundred of billions of dollars a year.</p> <p>The campaign, backed by National Nurses United, the largest<br /> nursing union in the US, has already launched in 14<br /> countries, including the UK, France and Germany.</p> <p>Organisers of the campaign, which also features Coldplay<br /> singer Chris Martin, are calling for a tax of "less than<br /> half of 1%" on Wall Street transactions, which they say<br /> would not affect most Americans' financial activity.</p> <p>Adopting the 99% language of the Occupy movement, the<br /> campaign said the tax would "easy to enforce and tough to<br /> evade".</p> <p>"This is a tax on Wall Street, which created the greatest<br /> economic crisis in our nation and globally since the Great<br /> Depression," a statement said on the movement's website.</p> <p>"The same people who have returned to record profits and<br /> bonuses while ordinary Americans, the 99%, continue to pay<br /> the price of their crisis."</p> <p>Supporters are encouraged to take a $1 bill and draw a Robin<br /> Hood-style hat on George Washington's head</p> <p>A video released to coincide with the launch encourages<br /> supporters to take a $1 bill and draw a Robin Hood- style hat<br /> on George Washington's head along with a mask over his eyes<br /> "because the government is robbing our people at this<br /> particular point".</p> <p>In a blogpost on the campaign's website, Ruffalo said that<br /> the "tragic irony" of the financial crisis was that "while<br /> ordinary Americans are still picking up the pieces today,<br /> those most responsible - Wall Street - have returned to their<br /> stranger-than-fiction reality".</p> <p>"A Robin Hood Tax would raise revenue from Wall Street while<br /> reining in their worst excesses - helping to rebalance the<br /> American economy," Ruffalo said.</p> <p>"For all these big ambitions, the tax is surprisingly small:<br /> less than half of 1%, or about 50¢ on every $100 of trades.<br /> It would apply not to ordinary Americans (the rate is set so<br /> low precisely to avoid impacting ordinary people and<br /> businesses) but to Wall Street's sprawling, churning<br /> predatory casino-style trading that helped drive the<br /> financial crisis. We're talking high- frequency trades<br /> carried out by computer algorithms, billion-dollar bets on<br /> currency fluctuations, credit default swaps and other<br /> derivatives.</p> <p>"Because these financial markets have grown so large, the tax<br /> is capable of raising hundreds of billions of dollars a<br /> year. Money that could stop foreclosures, fund new jobs and<br /> help repair the social safety net in the US."</p> <p>Since the first Robin Hood Tax campaign launched in the UK in<br /> 2010 it has been supported by economists, charities and<br /> various celebrities. Bill Gates gave his backing to the tax<br /> last year, presenting a report - Innovation with Impact -<br /> commissioned by Nicolas Sarkozy to the G20 meeting in<br /> Cannes.</p> <p>The US campaign launch comes after hundreds of registered<br /> nurses travelled to Chicago in May, demonstrating with Rage<br /> Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello for the Robin Hood<br /> Tax ahead of the Nato summit.</p> <p>On Tuesday supporters were expected to rally at JP Morgan<br /> Chase's offices in New York, the demonstration coinciding<br /> with JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon appearing in front<br /> of Congress. Dimon will be quizzed by the house financial<br /> services committee over his bank losing $2bn on high-risk<br /> derivative trading.</p> <p>[photo - andertoons - http://www.everystockphoto.com/photo.php?imageId=10313100&searchId=57a0c808b146307f45efe32333c8747b&npos=10</p> -------------------------------------------------------------------- Portside aims to provide material of interest to people on the left that will help them to interpret the world and to change it. Submit via email: [log in to unmask] Submit via the Web: http://portside.org/submittous3 Frequently asked questions: http://portside.org/faq Sub/Unsub: http://portside.org/subscribe-and-unsubscribe Search Portside archives: http://portside.org/archive Contribute to Portside: https://portside.org/donate ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the PORTSIDETEST list, click the following link: &*TICKET_URL(PORTSIDETEST,SIGNOFF);