Propose whatever ya want, Mikey!
It ain’t gonna happen!
Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire financial media mogul and former mayor of New York City who is running for president, has unveiled a plan that he says will curb Wall Street excess — including a tax on stock trades and other financial transactions that takes a page from rival candidate Bernie Sanders.
The Wall Street plan comes as Bloomberg qualified to appear in his first Democratic presidential debate, thanks to a boost in polls after flooding key TV-market airwaves and social media feeds with hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign ads. He’ll share Wednesday night’s debate stage in Las Vegas with five other Democrats in the race: Joe Biden, Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg.
Bloomberg’s proposal to rein in Wall Street may raise some eyebrows, given he advocated against aggressive new regulations that targeted the financial sector back in 2010. At the time, he was serving as New York’s mayor as the U.S. economy was regaining its footing following the financial meltdown of 2008. Adding financial regulations, he wrote in a 2010 letter, would be “punitive” and hurt economic growth.
Bloomberg got his start working on Wall Street as a bond trader in the 1970s and made his billions founding a company that delivers valuable financial data and news to high-priced clients that include the country’s largest banks and investment advisers. He had previously opposed taxing financial transactions like stock and bond trades.
Bloomberg’s latest plan, however, focuses on consumers and investors, with the candidate arguing that the economy is still vulnerable to a shock like the 2008 financial crisis. His proposal combines a return to Obama-era priorities, such as strengthening the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with a few progressive-leaning ideas, such as the financial transaction tax and capping student loan repayments.
“President Obama made important progress strengthening our financial system and protecting consumers – but President Trump has spent the last three years gutting those safeguards, while giving a huge tax cut to the wealthiest people.”
Mike Bloomberg
Obama made progress?
My Ass!
Mike Bloomberg’s Wall Street plan includes taxing stock trades
Calamity Jane