Milder Welch Bill Outcompeting Kucinich On Wall Street Tax
A few days ago, we noted a particularly strong Wall Street reform bill coming from Representative Dennis Kucinich. H.R. 4414, the Responsible Banking Act, would establish a 75 percent tax on excessive bonuses paid by a wide range of finance companies. So far, the bill has only 9 sponsors, including Kucinich himself.
However, there is a similar bill, introduced almost simultaneously by Representative Peter Welch. H.R. 4426, the Wall Street Bonus Tax Act, would establish a smaller tax of 50 percent, a tax that would apply only to finance companies that have accepted TARP money enabled by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act passed by the 110th Congress and approved by George W. Bush. Welch’s bill has a total of 18 sponsors, including Welch.
Watch the status of these two bills as a kind of relative barometer of Capitol Hill commitment to taking on the power of Wall Street interests.
