Will Wall Street Be Punished?

salon.com — Who is ready to shed a tear for Wall Street? The moguls bet big, and lost. Now, if we are to believe their whining, they are preparing to pay the piper. If, during the negotiations to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” President Obama plays a level of hardball that was in short supply for most of his first term, the wealthiest Wall Streeters might see a return to Clinton-era income tax rates on the rich. Anything more meaningful, like a hike in the tax rate on capital gains, or an end to the exemption for carried interest, will require a major breakthrough — successfully bashing through the obstructionism of House Republicans who seem unlikely to accede to any elements of Obama’s agenda, no matter how forcefully the president seeks them. So come on, if the sharp drop in the stock market this week really was Wall Street’s reaction to Obama’s win, then the 1 percent doth protest too much.

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