"Half Tax" To Target Bailed Out Banks

[22350693521]

@vanityngreed yeah right, if your below 6 digits u are at 10% / 15% / 25% brackets, at most half of the half tax

[Ninjax2000]

No, we're not entitled to any of that money.

[SupremePenguinTone]

GREAT IDEA. Sounds like America is adopting a little more Socialism each day.

[vanityngreed]

I get taxed at 50% on all bonuses that I make and I'm under six digits for salary.

[AndreastheRed]

Gotta love the senators from Virginia

[elmirasahar]

I think when a person gets into politics, becomes a politician, or anything close they should be able to always choose over their social relationships.

[882me]

Jim Webb has a great, great, great idea. If this doesn't pass, we can blame the tea party, ie the Republicans. And never, never again (as that lobbyist memo suggested)should we resist 'storming the castles'.

[harr77]

Great report on how the repubs fight for corporate rights as usual love that hell no you can't sound effect.

[lordaltay5]

Cenk -- We shouldn't of bailed them out. We did, and they are laughing all the way to their banks.

If we just throw out a new law to tax just banker bonuses, it erodes the rule of law even further. We need to be even handed.

[882me]

@lordaltay5 I believe this would only apply to those bonuses of execs at banks/financial institutions that received, or will receive, TARP funds. Which makes it very 'even handed'. There are plenty of tax laws out there already that apply only to specific instances. How is this any different?

[882me]

@882me But, hey, just watch, if this tax should pass, these 'wizards' will file some sort of law suit (?), or more likely, find loopholes to evade it like they do with all the other tax laws.

[jotunobsidianeyes]

@cam1126 No, you hate America like all feudalists.

[Charmer4856]

HELL NO U CANT

[Scroozin]

bill of attainder?

[blackmullen182]

I promise.

[blackmullen182]

I will kill propaganda!!!!!!!!

[Mika20]

How bout over 9000%? That sounds fair enough. :B

[garrythegeld]

The problem is that same banker will receive 50 different $399,999 bonuses at the end of the year. It is ridiculously easy to evade this law.

[tehant1liberal]

i dont like obamas bailouts to the banks that violate free market principles, but if obamas nazi-esque taxes and enormous government spending didnt ruin the economy in the first place, we wouldnt have even had those bailouts. but regardless these banks have private contracts that the government has no right in regulating, and if obama is allowed to tell bankers how much money their allowed to earn, then what next? how long your allowed to live? who your allowed to vote for?

[megamarsvin]

Hey the ant, don't you get tired of spewing the same tired bullshit on every video. The economy crashed over a year before Obama came into office. You do not appear stupid enough not to know that. So are you lying and spreading propaganda or are you just that dumb?

[DrEvilmonki]

@tehant1liberal - you are a retard. The financial crisis started BEFORE Obama even got into office. In fact it was BUSH and the Republicans who started the bailouts.

The rest of your comment is simple bullshit.

[CReece2738]

@tehant1liberal How the hell did Obama ruin the economy?!?

[MRmattconnell]

@tehant1liberal by obama you must mean bush, right?

[teleutube]

Fair enough: Companies that received more than 5 BILLIONS TARP dollars.

and CEOs that received bonuses of $400,000 or more: Tax them at 50% rate.

Answer: "HELLLLLL NOOOOO YOOOUUUUUUUUUUU CANNNNNN' T "

[Thrashaero]

fuck the banks. fuck them hard. the money system is a fucking joke overall anyway, all because of slimey banker fucks. these pieces of garbage are THE major reason (besides religion) that we have as many problems as we do, in almost every detail of life here on planet earth (yes, it goes very deep and wide).

[HostileNegotiator]

I say pull the damn red carpet out from under their filthy dirty feet. Take everything. 100% plus fees and interest. No more loans, grants or anything for you. Mathematical magicians. Crooks.

[kstipek]

Its against the constitution to tax a select group and only a select group. I have a better Idea, don't bail out companies.

[zygi22]

greedy cunts !

[Freethinker94]

95% for bonuses, at least a standard tax for salary!

[KyleVarner]

Hussein's dirty daughters....how shameful!

[Magicwillnz]

Perhaps it's time some bankers saw the interior of jail cell.

[jjacks81]

@Magicwillnz or the interior of a coffin...

[jefevonQ]

@Magicwillnz " Perhaps it's time some bankers saw the interior of jail cell."

Some!? It's time to drive buses, marked 'Leavenworth', up to the largest banks. Next, the can go to Wall St, the capitol and then the Pentagon. Yeah, I said it, the Pentagon! They assist the crooks, with the promise of becoming crooks themselves.

[manonthemount]

in 2008, when the capital market determined the default risk was too high to lend to the big banks at any rate, the government provided capital on terms that were favorable in any market condition. Anything up to 100% is a reasonable financing cost for a firm that would otherwise be worthless

[dietsnapple89]

I like how leaving the bankers with only $10 billion is "hurting" them

[tthemessenger]

Don't blameWallstreet for giving out 20 billion in bonus'.  Blame Congress for not addressing this issue in the initial legislation. Or you can blame Congress for bailing Wallstreet out, while the average Joe ends up losing his job and home.

[gilbet]

Here's an analogy: Milk cows.

The highest producing milk cows cost the most to maintain because they eat the most food. Farms have computer systems that give the higher producing cows a "bonus" of extra pellets which cost more than the regular feed. What would happen if you taxed (took away) 50% of those extra pellets? The milk production would go down.

[moulingalette]

@gilbet So in your analogy the milk is like the job performance of the bankers. So if we take away 50% of their bonuses we will get less shity job performance? Seems like a good idea...

[yuukisama2001]

@gilbet

Interesting analogy. In a way it's like if we have to take away 50% we have to lose something just to make up for what they lost. Even when it's a few pellets. Now that's serious greed. Oh and for the record, milk production has already gotten crappy. Organic is all that's left slightly above or below what's considered "true" quality. While costing more. :)

[yzman123]

@gilbet

Except in this case, the cows went dry, so they should not be given more food. So now, with these cows producing nothing, we gave them pellets for free. The people have every right to get some of the milk they produce, when we kept them from starving.

[TomWDemarco]

I think 90% would be acceptable, they accepted the bailout money, they should accept these terms.

[mlking213]

i hope this passes.

[cherubicwindigo]

Interesting topic.

[jefevonQ]

Perhaps we don't need them to hold those positions. Actually, we'd be better off if they didn't. Just ram it down their throats the way they rammed this economy down our throats.

[garrythegeld]

Also ram cyanide down their throats.

[thuzan117]

this is absolute genius it needs to pass. the way to enforce it is this. they either completely comply and cooperate with it or we make them pay back everything. I have repeatedly used this analogy the casino does not pay you back when you blow your kids college fund on black jack why the fuck should we compromise with them. i don't necessarily want them to go out of business but that's certainly not going to happen anyway.

[SupaAmi]

I love how conservatives always cry that socialists are trying to take money, meanwhile they shameless accept public money and use it to make bonuses that they refuse to share with the rest. They want the public to share in the risk but not the profit. The level of hypocrisy here is just overwhelming. I think I have to go lay down for a while.

[RavenBlaze]

harry reed does not have the gonads to do it

[DarknessWhispers]

I say we go with a 100% bonus tax, and a 50% income tax.

[Imprezaman555]

@DarknessWhispers Yeah! Then all that money goes directly to anybody who lost money, the middle class.

[hollaboutit]

where are all the idiot conservative trolls when facts are spoken? friction? sarah palin's dickless troll?

[threephasewolf]

the bankers say if they don't pay big bonuses they will lose the best skilled workers.

yes most of them are the same people that started this mess, but if there is no real gain even with a bailout paying for it there would be less incentive for those greedy enough in the banks to try and save the banks and not just themselves. Leaving everyday joe to pay the cost. We have to pay bankers to save us from them. wtf

[yourboycal]

@threephasewolf It amazes me how much influence the banks have over obama . Nobody cares lol , this whole mess seems like a nightmare but its the reality of life. We truly are taxed lived stock and our farmers (governments) keep us in check. A salve who has the illusion of freedom is far more productive then a slave in chains

[thuzan117]

@yourboycal actually dude you should look a few uploads back, obama is refusing to compromise on any part of his financial reform bill. he is starting to lay down the law. it's not enough but it's an encouraging side. as cenk always points out either obama is a pussy ass liar or he's playing a game of three dimensional chess and just waiting to get his opponents in checkmate.

[Craigipedia]

oh my god progressives need to stop wasting time with the fucking bailout. learn to fight another day. the bailout is OVER its done you aren't getting your money back, get the fuck over it. we need to spend our attention making sure that Obama doesn't get pussied over to the Right with his SCOTUS nomination. we need to make sure we put something into education, infrastructure, and NASA development LEAVE TARP THE FUCK ALONE.

[fret2424]

The idea of a 50% tax on all bonuses over $400k is nothing more then appeasement for political points. It will NEVER happen. NO elected politician wants it.

Was the bank bail out necessary? YES

Should conditions have been attached to those bailouts? HELL YES!

Was it an accident that NO conditions were put in place for the greedy bastards that STOLE the American economy? HELL NO!

It's over Cenk, the bankers got away with robbery, and they paid themselves very well for doing it. FORK=DONE!

[phenforreal]

How bout a bill that makes lobbying illegal? Voting for a politician who has a bunch of lobbyist friends seems rather ironic. And people say proffesional athletes make too much.

[RAMKING61]

Logical...which means it won't happen.

The Banksters make the rules and run the show.

[StyngRay1]

These welfare capitalists should have been allowed to go bankrupt and the fed would take some over and provide capital needs for small businesses and banks.

S

[thefairlysimple1]

good god, i just found you, ive subscribed, am australian, but this is an amazing site.

[dEdGrimley]

Shoulda declared the banks bankrupt and nullified the contracts that guaranteed them bonuses.

Also, note to Teabaggers as was pointed out recently - all the bitching and moaning about taxes, and taxes are lower for the middle class than they have been in decades, and are less than half than in the past for the rich. To bitch about taxes these days is to admit you don't know what you're talking about.

[BloggerMusicMan]

I'm for this.

[zundey2000]

FUCK I wish I were working for Goldman Sachs...

[xXxDragunov14xXx]

I agree with this, and I'm libertarian - we deserve that money too!

[lakeb0dom]

Mhmhm this seems suspicious.. Where exactly the money gonna go? It's still better than nothing though..

[miniges]

@lakeb0dom hopefully deficet reduction, but yeah, I'm wondering that too.

[antifaith82]

OK, who here remembers the weather underground?

[Kioti077]

This shit is obscene , what those economic terrorists "bankers", deserve is 20 to life in a high security federal prison, and those fucking politicians should be sharing their cells,

[alizee2010]

@Kioti077

give them life in prison and quarter them with other violent offenders.

[DarthVantos]

The bankers are starting to seems like the new congress of the us

[mosniper831]

and everyone is surprised why :O.

[megagagnon1]

harry is crap

[watsonp2]

Harry Reid is a big pussy. One of the biggest corprocrats. He wont rock the boat. Never has, never will.

[fret2424]

@watsonp2 "Corprocrats" Best phrase I've heard this week! I'm going to use that one!

[LJonathan]

50% is too low, but is better than nothing. 100% over 400,000 seems more reasonable

[ideasarebulletpr00f]

@LJonathan I'd say 100% over 15 dollars... let them get a bus or train home, after that they can kiss my ass. lol

[MClown69]

hell no you can't!! lol

[2PaperTigers]

Great idea! I sure wish someone would have thought of this before the money was given out...

[Buergs323]

this is a brilliant idea...too bad dems and reps are both pussies and take it up the ass from bankers nonstop

[enchlossen1]

@Buergs323

They don't take it up the ass, we do and they get paid off too.

[MrGish1]

This reminds me of an "K"

[itsmeYKW]

*cue eyeroll* obviously that would require way more backbone that Harry Reid will ever have so I'm not even going to get my hopes up on this one.  As wonderful and reasonable as it sounds it's just too good to be true. I've lost faith in them doing what's right.

[NoxieDC]

Sounds reasonable.

If this idea gets public exposure it will be a major debate subject. If the lobbyists work well though...

[Stonehawk]

REEEEEEEALLY?! O_O -MY- JIM WEBB? Seriously? ... I like this. I think I'm going to call him with some praise!

[marsCubed]

UK already does this.. it is now being proposed that such taxes become permanent and that any Bonuses which get too big will be investigated and capped too if required.

[kenners1201]

That does it. I'm getting a credit card so I can sign up for membership

[bulbinking]

I agree with this

[GKCanman]

As much as i dont like the bailouts, you dont change the terms in the middle of it. They should have done something like this going in.

[GCWTitan]

@GKCanman Well the problem is that they have already broken the agreed upon terms. The excess cash they have now was suppose to be used to help create jobs but instead they are giving it to themselves. They aren't talking about their salaries or anything this all about the billions of dollars they giving to themselves as bonuses instead of creating jobs.

[joebrueske]

@GKCanman Totally agree. It's like Congress realized that they just screwed themselves out of a LOT of tax money. It's like a banker forgetting to increase the APR on a loan below $5k. Oops.

[l0gically]

@joebrueske I think they couldn't care less about the tax money. It's all about campaign money, and how they can put *themselves* in a more advantageous position (at the expense of the law-abiding taxpayers, of course).

[l0gically]

@GKCanman These guys f*ed up the ENTIRE ECONOMY - they should feel lucky they aren't headed off for prison. Further, we aren't talking about the operating capital of the banks themselves, we're talking about that portion of the bank's profits to which these thieves feel they're entitled.

[specialjr11]

I love it. They should do this tomorrow and make it retoactive. Make those bastards pay for the mess they caused.

[kirbienstien]

Chenk your common sense and truth is simply to much for brainwashed americans watching Fixed News.

[wongdor]

wouldn't they just give themselves multiple $399,999 bonuses then? the bastards..

[EscpdFrmPsykward]

That half tax should be retroactive.

[EMPERORMIKI]

@EscpdFrmPsykward agreed.

[ArandurKing909]

Obviously the government and the MS media are corrupt, why do Americans put up with this shit? It's obvious the political elite help the financial elite to keep themselves politically elite, and that they don't care about America. That's the problem with a Democratic Republic, since they need public favor to get in office, they need money and what not. I don't think a honest republic fixes this either. You're all sheep, you imbeciles make me ashamed to be human.

[darealdjnutz]

Big Business owns U.S.a.

[TheGiantRobot]

It's already absurd that any income over $400,000 isn't taxed 50%.

What happened to that 9x% banker bailout tax? I still want to see everyone who gave them that money on the end of a pitchfork.

[xadam2dudex]

that $20 billion dollars came from other government programs.. they paid the TARP money back with other government money..google the scam it was exposed last yr by Matt Taibbi..but after getting on the news it was swept under the rug

[darealdjnutz]

@ecwaufisxtreme That bitch has already sold out, dumbass.

[asperin]

@ecwaufisxtreme

Palin will continue to wage war overseas and keep funding Israel.

She will continue to send "foreign aid".

Is She serious about ending the FED?

And no, she cannot win, only a fraction of Republicans will vote for her.

Palin running will only help Obama get re-elected, the Democrats know this.

Ron Paul would get votes from all parties, including some Democrats if they had to choose between Obama and Paul.

[fu3ar25]

@ecwaufisxtreme your a fuckin wakejob that needs to be on Meds

[TidalApocalypse]

@ecwaufisxtreme You are joking right? Because Jesus threw "the money changers" out of the temple...ie...the business people. He said to pay taxes "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's". Also he said in order to get into heaven you had to sell all of your things, give ALL of your money to the poor and follow him? How does that fit into republican keep-all-your-money ideology at all? Unless you mean because the FED causes the deaths of thousands of God's children through war...okay...

[TheSoSoAgnostic]

@TidalApocalypse said, " Also he said in order to get into heaven you had to sell all of your things, give ALL of your money to the poor and follow him?" Yet another example of a supposedly divine book exposed as falling way short of godly. How could that possibly work? Give everything to the poor, then they won't be poor, so they must give all their belongings to the poor who then must give all that to the poor who then have to....

[marsCubed]

@ecwaufisxtreme LOL are you kidding, it was republicans who gave the bankers everything they wanted, including tax evasion schemes.

1% came to own 43% of financial wealth.

Gold is a sham, it is not used as there is not enough of the stuff to go around for trade. plus reublicans like Ron Paul stand to make a fortune from the hype, his major backer is a bullion salesman.

[robfathah]

@ecwaufisxtreme Also there will be a mass exodus as anyone with an IQ above 50 gets the fuck out of any country ignorant enough to vote Sarah Palin into the White House.

[moneycrab]

im so sick of the motoblur adds

[1tofallen]

@moneycrab ad blocker plus for firefox.

[dragonflychainsaw]

i would love to see it brought up for vote

[forgetititititit]

Limiting confiscating their ridiculous remuneration to bonuses won't work. So they up their salaries.

Limit their total remuneration to to $400,000 no matter what you call it. Including company cars, expense accounts and jobs to wives, kids, mistresses and other assorted relatives.

[Asymmatrix]

Pathetic

[bamboo4tameshigiri]

More than fair!

[rollinmitchell1]

This sounds more than fair to me.

[xirtos]

we know we know ... corporations ... bonuses ... bailouts ... talking about it won't stop it so why bother

[jgordon707]

@xirtos apathy is what fuels their success.

[xirtos]

@jgordon707 our outrage is what fuels their laughter

[Asymmatrix]

Interesting

[kazooga1234]

1st ha bisky