Reply #10: As an accountant, you should remember that several years ago

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it cost $50 or more to trade 100 shares of stock depending on the share price. Now I can trade any number of stocks over the net on my Vanguard account for just $3.00 a trade. The internet has brought the cost of trading down and added to short term speculation. They could put a $20 trading fee on all stock and commodity transactions and probably make a big dent in the deficit and trades would still be much cheaper than in the past. There is one Democratic Congressman (his name escapes me) that has been advocating that very thing but he gets zero support from either side..