Rich Nations Urged to Weigh 'Robin Hood' Tax to Help Poor

As President Obama huddles with world leaders for the G-20 summit in South Korea to weigh proposals aimed at stabilizing the global economy, one idea being pushed is a so-called "Robin Hood tax," aimed at collecting money from rich nations to give to the poor.

The Robin Hood tax -- a global financial transaction fee that could raise hundreds of billions of dollars to pay the cost of the global financial crisis and support developing nations struggling to recover -- is not popular.

While Britain, France and Germany have championed a bank tax for all G-20 nations, finance chiefs from the industrialized nations shot down the idea at a previous summit held in Toronto last summer.

Still, the tax's supporters, which include unions, environmental groups, Comic Relief, UNICEF and others in a multinational coalition, say.......

Amen...but it has to start here at home. Those big tax breaks for the rich have to expire. All those do is the same thing...they increase the deficit to give a bunch more cash "thank you" gifts for those who donated to most to elect the GOP. They claim to be the "fiscally responsible" party but they ignore their own design to let these expire to avoid this $700 billion deficit. IT WAS THEIR IDEA THEY SHOULD EXPIRE. Actually I think it would not harm all of us to let them all expire. We are only talking a few percent, 3 cents on the dollar and it would help lower our deficit. We need the boost to our economy to help all of our wages increase. 95% of us just got tax cuts from Obama already. Our taxes are NOT high.

The claim that tax breaks create jobs leaves out the part that is most important to American workers...those new jobs were created in China, India and Brazil using that extra cash. Since the tax breaks went into effect 10 years ago big business has closed 40,000 factories in American. Most moved over seas. If this is the kind of "jobs" creation we can expect ( as history proved to be the case ) we don't want that kind of "help" from the wealthy.

And no...I don't excuse Democrats either although they just did pass legislation, over the objection of the GOP to close some tax breaks that rewarded companies for exporting out jobs.

We need a change that provides us with a Congress that places citizens ahead of greed. //

enforce free trade (free from interfering special interests)
protect individuals from the harmful acts of others

This is very true. But many confuse this with letting a company have free reign to do as it wishes without regard to any moral or ethical boundaries as they affect our citizens. Being free from special interests, this is openly violated by big business such as when recently the US Chamber, representing a multitude of special interests, used the financial status of the rich to manipulate our elections to their advantage. You cannot "enforce free trade" or it is not free. Trade where any one company or individual is free to force others out is not free trade. From the consumer standpoint, free trade is not free when there are no choices, or when the price is raised beyond the reasonable in the pursuit of greed.

Can democracy survive the meddling of special interests?

Big companies are not moral or ethical. Government is a moderating force where corporate actions harm society or individuals. Case in point is the estimated 48,000 deaths a year because Americans were turned away or denied health care due to high price or refusal of coverage.

The 2007-2008 recession was a grand example of an untamed "free market" financial system who's greed nearly destroyed a world economy.

There will always be a need for a government responsible to its masses to stand guard over abuse of the few to stop the harm to the many and to society. Government is not supposed to be "them" v "Us" it is us, doing for ourselves what we cannot do as individuals. All too often those we elect fail to do their duty.

A "totally free" market would destroy us all including its own destruction. Like a kid needs a parent to keep it safe from its own mistakes, our commerce needs us, those whom those markets serve, to have a mechanism of self preservation.

Poor nations are poor because of theft of resources by inept but powerful dictators. The only solution is that oft misused corrective action called “regime change” and replacement with free market capitalism and conservative political leadership. Since all these concepts are alien and anathama to any country outside the USA, the only alternative is to capitalize on “white guilt” and to shame successful countries into underwriting and enabling incompetence.

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