House Democrats Break With Obama By Calling For Wall Street Tax

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/12/house-democrats-break-wit_n_6457112.html

House Democrats on Monday unveiled a plan to cut taxes for middle-class families that would be paid for in part by a new tax on Wall Street trading.

The proposal, laid out by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the top-ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, represents a significant shift in economic policy and political messaging. In a speech at the Center for American Progress on Monday, Van Hollen not only sharply criticized competing Republican budget plans, but also broke with the Obama administration by pressing for a tax on financial transactions that both Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have rejected.

Van Hollen employed strong rhetoric for a detailed policy speech, attacking the GOP for favoring the rich and criticizing sky-high CEO pay and risky Wall Street activities.

"Republicans always say they're for smaller government and less spending," the Maryland Democrat said. "When it comes to the tax code they're simply for spending money through the tax code on powerful elites and the already wealthy."