Politics Obama wants to slap a 0.15 percent tax on the liabilities of the biggest U.S. financial institutions to recoup the costs to taxpayers of the financial bailout. “We need to impose a fee on the banks that were the biggest beneficiaries of taxpayer assistance at the height of our financial crisis — so we can recover every dime of taxpayer money,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.
Politics Democrats in charge of the process appear likely to retain tough restrictions on banks’ trading and investment activities that could crimp profits for the foreseeable future. But with a self-imposed deadline of Thursday evening, last-minute dealmaking could lead to exemptions for mutual funds, manufacturers and other business interests
