According to Obama Weighs Tax on Banks to Cut Deficit in today’s New York Times, the Obama administration is considering a significant tax on large banks to help close the current deficit. Needless to say, the banks aren’t exactly thrilled at the prospect, pointing out that most of them have already paid back their bailouts. While true, this amply demonstrates that the big players in the financial system still don’t get it, not that we were holding our breaths expecting them to. Leaving aside the obvious fact that government does not always tax based on direct relationships, if they did we would see taxes on the poor to pay for poverty relief, the major element here is that the costs of the irresponsibility of the financial institutions do not start and end with the costs of directly keeping those institutions afloat. One suspects that the bailouts for the banks and brokerages represent a tiny fraction of the damage that was done. Even when the US Treasury has been made whole, the American people won’t have been. If a tax on the financial industry can help cover some of the other costs of the recent economic crisis it will be a good step; if the administration conjures up some way to structure the tax so it eliminates the high-risk strategies that got us in this mess, that’s better.