Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Peter DeFazio have introduced the Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Act. This would impose a 0.03% tax. The point of the tax is not to affect most long-term traders. It would affect a lot of those high-frequency traders. As you know, there are some people who trade so fast and so often that they need a computer program to do the trades for them. These high-frequency traders are making money through glitches in the economic system. This new bill would help close that loophole. This would raise more than $350 billion over a nine-year period. I support this tax. Look for congressional Republicans to fight this tooth and nail.

Bill Gates supports this tax.

A short but wonky paper on the transactions tax.