Smoke and mirrors in Obama's budget? Five examples of creative accounting.

2. Poof! It's a tax

Obama's budget includes assumed revenue that will require Congress to pass new taxes or fees. For example, the budget includes a “Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee” that will total $30 billion over 10 years.

The major banks have already repaid most of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) loans they received during the financial crisis, and the US Treasury has profited on the most of the shares it received in return for the help. However, according to the Obama budget, the financial companies are continuing to “implicitly benefit” from the money they received from the government.

What are the chances of Congress agreeing with Obama?

“It is almost certain this won’t happen,” says Stan Collender, a partner at Qorvis Communications and a budget expert.

Davis agrees, adding it’s “almost certain the bank tax won’t even get a hearing.”

2 of 5
You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.