MONEY MATTERS

United States President Barack Obama on Saturday pitched his proposed tax on banks to recover the cost of bailing them out during the financial crisis, saying if they can afford billions more in bonuses, they can pay back the taxpayers, too.
The banks and Republican lawmakers oppose the tax, which Mr. Obama announced this week. “We’re going to pass this fee into law,” the President said in his weekly radio and Internet address.
Congress must approve the tax and that was not assured, given the immediate opposition from Republicans. Democrats also appeared in jeopardy of losing their 60-vote majority in the Senate, with Democrat Martha Coakley in an unexpectedly close race against Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts to fill the seat held for decades by the late Democrat, Edward M. Kennedy.
Mr. Brown opposes Mr. Obama’s bank tax. Mr. Obama was heading to Massachusetts on Sunday to campaign for Ms. Coakley. The proposed 0.15% tax would last at least 10 years and generate about $90 billion over the decade, according to administration estimates. It would apply to about 50 of the nation’s biggest banks, those with more than $50 billion in assets, and include many institutions that accepted no money from the $700 financial industry bailout.
Most of the banks have returned the money they borrowed, but Mr. Obama wants the tax-payers money back. He has challenged those who say banks cannot afford the tax without passing the costs on to shareholders and customers.

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