The Secret Plan to Pass a Global Tax

By Cliff Kincaid,AIM

 When Just taxing America isn’t enough

With President Barack Obama attacking "fat cat bankers on Wall Street,"left-wing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) see a great opportunity to pass a global tax on financial transactions that could generate at least $700 billion a year from the U.S. and other "rich"countries. They are expecting Obama’s support.

The banks are a key target because of the "anger"that already exists against them for their roles in the global financial crisis,says a detailed 13-page memorandum from Max Lawson of the foreign aid group Oxfam. 

Calling the global Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) "an idea whose time has come,"Lawson says in his memorandum that "politically the time is now"to pass such a tax. "It will take some great campaigning but I think we can do this,"he says in a message introducing the memo.

Lawson explains,"The global anger against the bankers;the huge pressure on rich country budgets;the need for money in 2010 to rescue the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals] and from failure;to protect poor countries from the economic crisis;and the need to come up with money for climate change to unlock a global deal. All combine to make a very strong political backdrop."

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