Assessing the "TARP tax"

David Stockman, head of the Office of Management and Budget during the Reagan Administration, has this to say about the 0.15% "financial crisis responsibility fee" proposed by President Obama.

"Not surprisingly, the bankers are already whining, even though the tax would amount to a financial pinprick -- a levy of only 0.15% on the debts (other than deposits) of the big financial conglomerates. Their objections are evidence that the administration is on the right track.

Make no mistake, the banking system has become an agent of destruction for the gross domestic product and of impoverishment for the middle class. To be sure, it was lured into these unsavory missions by a truly insane monetary policy..."

See his whole argument on the Wednesday, January 20, op-ed page of the New York Times.