Middle-class disappearing? And a possible antidote?

http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/infuriating-facts-about-our-disappearing-middle-class-wealth


1. Each Year Since the Recession, America's Richest 1% Have Made More Than the Cost of All U.S. Social Programs.
2. Almost None of the New 1% Wealth Led To Innovation and Jobs.
3. Just 47 Wealthy Americans Own More Than Half of the U.S. Population. 
4. The Upper Middle Class of America Owns a Smaller Percentage of Wealth Than the Corresponding Groups in All Major Nations Except Russia and Indonesia. 
5. Ten Percent of the World's Total Wealth Was Taken by the Global 1% in the Past Three Years.

Solution: A Financial Transaction Tax (FTT)
More appropriately called a Financial Speculation Tax, it would help to limit the speculative trading that contributed to the financial meltdown in 2008.

The FTT has extraordinary revenue-generating potential, on a global scale. The Bank for International Settlements reported in 2008 that annual trading in derivatives had surpassed $1.14 quadrillion. Just one-tenth of one percent of that is a trillion dollars.

It's also a fair tax. While average Americans pay up to a 10% sales tax on shoes for the kids, millionaire investors pay a zero sales tax on financial purchases. They pay just a .00002% SEC fee (2 cents for every thousand dollars) for a financial instrument.

In addition, the FTT is easy to administer and difficult to evade. Clearing houses already review all trades, and serve as collection agencies for transaction fees.