As Eliot Spitzer says, this idea is supported by a wide range of economists, including Nobel laureate James Tobin, as well as advocates, including Ralph Nader in the Washington Post [4] this weekend, and elected officials: a tax on financial transactions. It will give us gobs of revenue. It will fall on a sector that has generated enormous and unwarranted profits for a very few, who at the same time have benefited from huge bailouts and regulatory help and largely escaped any responsibility for their central role in creating the financial cataclysm that we are still struggling with. And as Spitzer says, there is an added benefit here: Trading in the equity and debt markets has gone wild over the past few years. High-speed trading and speculation have overtaken the economically legitimate reasons for our desire to have highly liquid markets: the capacity to raise capital and then allocate it efficiently among sectors and companies. The trading that has emerged over the past few years is not serving that purpose—it is a casino enterprise driven by hidden pools and computer algorithms that do not seek to hold capital for longer than an instant. To the extent that a financial-transfer tax drove some of those trading practices out of the marketplace, that would be another good outcome.

The recent election was a clear mandate of the people: We voted to end tax cuts for the top 2% and to demand that there will be no cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security....vital programs for the middle class and working people, children, and seniors, We are backing our Senators Feinstein and Boxer and President Obama to not give one inch on these vital programs and telling our Representative Ed Royce to support the mandate of his constituents, the 98% that he represents, over the interests of the wealthy 2%.

US Congress Add a 25% TAX RATE Hike above what you all ready pay. Or meet the tax cliff deadline.Show us you are in this by raising taxes on the top 2% to 80%. It has been done before and the Nation did just fine. Keep us out of a recession or allow jobless numbers to determine what percent to be added on top of your current tax base. Remember that top 2% taxes increase will not pay off the debt alone however it should go along way to help the homeless, starving, ill to obtain the basics needs. The top 2% should be taxed at no less than 50% above the current rate of taxation not to exceed 85 % overall We need to show compassion to the poverty, middle class, all of which well exceeds the upper 2%.

Wealthy Americans have not been paying their fair share of taxes here in the US: taxes upon wealthy Americans must be increased before the end of December, 2012!

President Obama and the Democrats WON--we voted for the top 2% to pay more (back to Cllinton era tax rates) and to protect the middle class. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid must be protected and are NOT part of the fiscal cliff problem the GOP created.

President Obama and the Democrats WON--we voted for the top @5 to pay more (back to Cllinton era tax rates). Protecting the middle class, Social Security, Medicare, & Medicaid must be protected and are NOT part of the fiscal cliff problem the GOP created.

In these times of building our struggling economy, it has never been proven that reducing the tax burden on the very wealthy has always directly resulted in their investment in our domestic economy, and the expansion of employment opportunities for the great majority of our people. Nor have the wealthy always been known to put their tax savings directly into play in our economy. But there has been a proven correlation in middle and working class people with a little extra money actually spending it domestically, regionally, and locally.

To make sure any fiscal deal reached ends the Bush tax cuts for the top 2% AND protects Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits from any cuts.

Republicans are pressuring Democrats to trade cuts to these programs before agreeing to higher taxes for the wealthy. We need to pressure our Representatives to "HOLD THE LINE" on NO CUTS to the safety net!

The nation voted for the ideas presented by President Obama concerning the preservation of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, without cuts. The winning vote also included a plan to end the Bush tax cuts for the richest 2% of Americans. Although Kansas is a red state, many of us believe strongly that cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security should NOT finance tax cuts for the wealthy. Our congressman should represent us, too.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced that he joined the steering committee of “Fix The Debt.” This is a group of corporate CEO’s who are pushing to balance the budget on the backs of middle and working class Americans. Mayor Villaraigosa should immediately resign from the organization. Fix The Debt’s plan includes major cuts to Social Security and Medicare while cutting taxes for millionaires and billionaires. This approach is not balanced and it is unfair to people like me. Expecting us to give up essential portions of our social safety net to give the wealthiest more tax breaks is wrong. As somebody who volunteered and knocked on doors to help elect for Mayor Villaraigosa, I feel disappointed and betrayed. As former chair of the Democratic National Convention, it is inappropriate that Villaraigosa use his position to help this corporate backed group gut Social Security and Medicare, which many of us will need someday. You can read about Fix The Debt here: http://blog.ourfuture.org/20121203/fix-the-debt-finally-shows-its-true-billionaire-funded-anti-tax-colors You can read a blog post on Mayor Villaraigosa joining Fix The Debt here: http://veniceforchange.blogspot.com/2012/12/villariagosa-partners-with-wall-street.html

My husband will go into an assisted living facility next week. It will cost 3/4 of our total income per year. I will live in our home on the approximately $20,000 left over. We both will be 85 next year. A few thousand dollars makes the difference of our paying our own way or looking for some entitlement from the government. Recent graphs showing the up turn for the top 2% of the country as the buying power for the middleclass has declined at almost exactly the same rate is a stark indication that tax cuts for the rich are NOT incentivies to providing more jobs.