It appears that the Stock Market is not reacting well to Obama’s administration.  (That’s an understatement).  We are down 2400 DOW points since the first of the year.  To be fair, Obama inherited a mess; there is no question about that.  However, it is clear that he will be a tax and spend Democratic President. 

My issue is that it feels like socialism.  Citi-Bank is now 36% government owned.  The Feds have stepped up big time in the spending department with TARP, TALF, the $75 Billion housing bailout package, Automakers bailout etc.  I have to hand it to Obama, he is not sitting around doing nothing.  It begs the question as to how we are going to pay for all of this.  The answer is raising taxes on “The Wealthy” and increasing capital gains and dividend tax.  In other words, he is taxing capital creation and discouraging free market capitalism.

Case in point is the tax on the wealthy.  If you make more than $250,000 a year, you will be paying a disproportionate amount of taxes in order to fund all of these programs.  $250K may sound like a lot of money to some, maybe even most people feel that’s a large amount of income, but it doesn’t go as far as it used to.  I’m not sure that making $250K a year qualifies you as being “RICH”.  Some people in this category may be on their way to being rich, but I don’t feel that it’s fair to shift the tax burden to them.  It feels like class warfare.  If these people worked hard to make more of themselves through dedication, sacrifice and creativity, then they deserve their success.  Why penalize them.  Many people in this income bracket are small business owners who have probably worked 29 hours a day 9 days a week to build their businesses and they are providing employment opportunities to others.  It’s hard enough to make it as it is, why discourage entrepreneurship.

You might be saying, aren’t you “Robin Hood”.  Rob from the rich and give to the poor?  I need to make a very clear distinction here.  I am not for taking money from those that had the ingenuity and work ethic to build wealth.  I am for shutting down the Bernie Madoff’s of the world and returning their ill gotten gains back to those who rightfully deserve it.  I am for enough regulation to root out those who would perpetrate such schemes, but not for the kind of government intervention that takes away the business spirit that built our great country.

Many politicians are full of themselves and some are on a power trip.  What in the world is this proposed “Trader Tax” supposed to accomplish.  When interviewed on CNBC recently, Congressman Peter DeFazio, the sponsor of house bill 1068 said something to the effect that “What kind of contribution do traders make to society anyway”.  (not the exact quote, but you get the idea).  This guy wouldn’t make such a statement if he had any clue at all.  He is placing the average retail trader in with the Gordon Gecko’s of the world.  What a joke.  Peter,  how about going to work on something that will really make a difference rather than wasting everyone’s time on a piece of legislation that only serves to further alienate the people you should be serving.  Next time do your research.  OK, I’m done with my rant.  Best Robin

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