The Micro-Cent Tax — Revisited
An Open Letter to Andrew (Cuomo), Phil (Murphy), Ned (Lamont) and Charlie (Baker):
You guys remind me of Charlie Brown playing football with Lucy (a/k/a Mitch McConnell). Every time you run up to kick the ball, she pulls it away. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Lucy isn’t going to give you money to support your state and local governments and President Biden may have to surrender on this point to get the other Covid relief we all need.
Instead of screaming “Aaaarrrrrrgggggg,” New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts need to pass a financial transaction tax on stock sales that occur in these states with projected annual revenues ($24b) shared 40% (NY), 40% (NJ), 10% (CT) and 10% (MA).
The common wisdom is that the exchanges will threaten to leave the Northeast and relocate if this regional tax is passed. Such a loss would be a huge blow to the region and that is true. But, the common wisdom is wrong. Here’s why.
First, Senator Elizabeth Warren, supported by a Democratic Senate and House majority, will attempt to use the reconciliation process to impose a national financial transaction tax that will be much larger than what David Applefield and I proposed (3/4 of a penny per traded share). So, here’s what I say to Wall Street: pick your poison, and to make it go down a little easier, we can agree in advance…
