National Nurses United

NEWS BRIEFS Robin Hood Tax Bill Introduced F NATIONAL or more than a year now, NNU nurses have been pushing for Congress to adopt a tax on Wall Street. Now, thanks largely to their work, there is a concrete proposal to rally behind. The U.S. Robin Hood Tax campaign cheered on Sept. 24 the introduction in Congress of a bill that would impose a tax on Wall Street speculation.��Introduced by Rep. Keith Ellison, HR 6411, the Inclusive Prosperity Act,��would raise up to $350 billion in annual revenues that would be used to breathe new life into Main Street communities across America, as well as international health, sustainable prosperity, and environmental programs.�� �� The legislation establishes what is popularly known as the Robin Hood Tax, a 0.5 percent tax on the trading of stocks (or 50 cents on every $100 of trades) and lesser rates on trading in bonds, derivatives, and currencies.��It marks the return of a sales tax on financial transactions that had been in place from 1914 to 1966, and targets the high-risk, high-speed trading that currently dominates the markets. ���The American public provided hundreds of billions to bail out Wall Street during the global fiscal crisis, yet bore the brunt of the crisis with lost jobs and reduced household 10 N AT I O N A L N U R S E wealth,��� said Rep. Ellison in a press statement.�����This is a phenomenally wealthy nation, yet our tax and regulatory system allowed the financial titans to amass great riches while impoverishing the systems that enable inclusive prosperity. A financial transaction tax protects our financial markets from speculation and provides the revenue needed to invest in the education, health, and communities of the American people.��� The legislation���s goal is to raise meaningful tax revenue dedicated to strengthening the social safety net for low- and moderate-income families, and by expanding investments to protect health, rebuilding infrastructure, and creating good-paying jobs. The tax can also target international needs, including AIDS treatment, research, and prevention, and provide other critical assistance.�� ���Congressman Ellison is showing great leadership for our country,��� said Jean Ross, RN, co-president of National Nurses United. ���HR 6411 is a critical step to generate the revenue for the healing and recovery our Main Street communities across the nation so desperately need.��This is a small, commonsense tax, already in place and working wonderfully well in dozens of counCall your Congressmembers today and demand that they cosponsor HR 6411, the Robin Hood Tax! For more information, please visit www.RobinHoodTax.org. tries across the world. I pay a sales tax when I buy a pair of shoes, and so should Wall Street on its transactions. America is ready for the Robin Hood tax.��� Robert Pollin, an economist and codirector of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, agreed, saying the Robin Hood Tax would be ���the equivalent of sales taxes that Americans have long paid every time they buy an automobile, shirt, baseball glove, airline ticket, or pack of chewing gum, eat at a restaurant, or have their hair cut.��� �� The Robin Hood Tax also helps to control the volume of speculation engulfing the financial markets, where risky bets are causing instability and sidelining billions in funds that might otherwise be directed to a productive economy.��And the tax assists in curtailing speculation in food and fuel markets, where bets on these essentials are causing spikes in prices and serious shortages. The introduction of HR 6411 came on the eve of the one-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. Robin Hood Tax campaigners joined Occupy activists at a labor solidarity event at Zuccotti Park in New York City, then visited offices of financial institutions to demand imposition of the Robin Hood Tax. More than 100 organizations endorse the Robin Hood Tax, as well as world leaders, celebrities, and businesspeople, and the list continues to grow. ���Staff report W W W. N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G SEPTEMBER 2012

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