Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders and the "Robin Hood" Tax

Vermont Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders unveiled a "Robin Hood Tax" proposal during a Capitol Hill press conference earlier today.

Bernie Sanders, who is the only person not named Hillary Clinton to throw their hats into the ring for the Democratic Presidential nomination, plans to use this "Robin Hood Tax" to fund free tuition at all of the nation's public college and universities.

The bill, if passed, would set a 50-cent tax on every "$100 of stock trades on stock sales, and lesser amounts on transactions involving bonds, derivatives, and other financial instruments." So, if an investor decided to sell $100,000 worth of the stocks in their portfolios, they would need to cut a check for $500 for the "Robin Hood Tax" - I cringe to think of how much an active trader in the markets would have to shell out every year.

The proceeds of the "Robin Hood Tax" would, as mentioned, go towards funding free tuition for all public colleges and universities in the United States.

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One of the other benefits of such a plan, Sanders went on to say in a press release, is that "a small tax would make risky HFT (High Frequency Trading) unprofitable, and help reduce the excess speculation on commodities like food and gas that drives up prices, which will protect the economy from computer-generated collapses and market manipulation."

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In reality, the "Robin Hood Tax" would stand virtually no chance of being made into law, even if Sanders somehow managed to shock the world and win the 2016 Presidential election.

The tax proposal does, however, continue to show the gulf between Sanders and Hillary Clinton, who has been trying to portray herself as a champion of the middle class and an enemy of the 1%.

Source: Bloomberg.com - Bernie Sanders Wants To Tax Stock Trades to Pay for Free College

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