Sure, in a recession, let's impose new fees.

Obama To Announce New Big Bank Fees Thursday

President Obama will announce new fees on "high risk" transactions carried out by big banks as part of a complicated White House effort to recoup bailout funds, address simmering anger over bank bonuses and simultaneously shield consumers from the bank levies.

"As the banking industry recovered, the President and the economic team felt it was important to discuss ways to recoup every dime for the American people more quickly than the law required," a senior administration official said.

Let me fix that for you.

"As the banking industry recovered, the President and the economic team felt it was important to discuss ways to recoup every dime for the American people to speed up the destruction of the American economy more quickly than the law required allowed."

Some economists and private sector advocates oppose or are at least skeptical of any fee structure on banks.

"Bank fees are a terrible idea for trying to spur lending," said Jeff Miron, an economist at Harvard University. "It just takes cash away from the bank. That means they have less cash on hand that they can lend out. I think it's a mistake to think there's anything policy can do to spur lending at this point. Banks have plenty of cash available."

Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said he doubted the new bank fees would not harm consumers or stockholders, warning fees will reduce bank "profits, the value of their stocks and that means the value of 401Ks (holding big bank stocks)."

"This is not a very good idea," Donohue said.

Miron said the public should be "suspicious" of what appears to him to be retribution against big banks and the likely post TARP bonuses they will soon ladle out to top executives.

"This is bonus season," Miron said. "This is when there's all these news stories about the bankers getting the big bonuses which, of course, annoys the heck out of everybody. But this is the wrong response. The right response, it's too late for. We should have just let their companies fail back a year and a half ago. The best we can do now is just hold our noses and let it (the bonus process) go through."

Tar. Feathers. Rails. Rope.

Long overdue.