The White House press office announced on January 14 that President Barack Obama and his economic team are proposing a Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee on the largest financial firms until the American taxpayers are fully compensated for the bailing out Wall Street.
"My commitment is to recover every single dime the American people are owed. And my determination to achieve this goal is only heightened when I see reports of massive profits and obscene bonuses at the very firms who owe their continued existence to the American people – who have not been made whole, and who continue to face real hardship in this recession," said President Barack Obama in a prepared statement.
The proposed fee, scheduled to go into effect on June 30, 2010, will be in place at least 10 years, but would be in place even longer if there are still outstanding debts at the end of that period. The White House indicated that the cost of paying back the TARP funds will not be a cost borne by community banks or small firms. The proposal would affect only firms with more than $50 billion in assets–60% of the revenue will come from the 10 largest financial firms.
