Confronting the Malefactors

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/opinion/krugman-confronting-the-malefactors.html?_r=2&hp

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 9:35 AM
Subject: re: Confronting the Malefactors
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

  The monstrous edifice that is Wall Street stands on three legs. The first is the vast revenue reaped by millisecond and microsecond trading on the stock market. The second is the vast political influence that this wealth buys. The third is a claim to personhood as interpreted by the Supreme Court in re Citizens United.  The protesters on Wall Street need more that slogans. We need new legislation to topple this monster. The first bill would reform taxes on capital gains. Any profits on an asset held less than an hour should be taxed at no less than 95%.That rate can ramp down to the long-term capital gains rate over two years. The second bill would take donations out of campaigns for federal office. The third bill would define personhood. Corporations may be legal persons in that they can be sued in court, but they do not deserve rights that are properly reserved for humans. Only when campaigns for the senate, for the White House and for the House of Representatives are federally funded will we have achieved one Person, one vote.

Barry Haskell Levine