Capital would not be limited by bank tax, Geithner said

by Jay Heflin - 05/04/10 3:55 PM ET

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) countered the Secretary’s rationale by noting a report from the Congressional Budget Office that found that the availability of credit would be restricted by creating a tax on banks that take extraordinary risks.

“I’m concerned that however it works in practice it may not be that clean cut,” Kerry said. “And the result could be that small business [loans] may have an impact.”

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said one study estimates that a tax on banks would reduce the amount of capital for loans by $1 trillion.

Tags John Kerry Pat Roberts