A duo of Democratic lawmakers have spent the years since the financial crisis calling for a financial transactions tax, a small fee on individual trades that would slow down markets and make them safer for investors and the country as a whole. Sen. Tom Harkin (Iowa) and Rep. Peter DeFazio (Ore.) introduced legislation that would institute the financial transactions tax again this year, after 11 European countries announced they would adopt such a tax.

If you’ve watched any of the Republican primary debates, it’s possible to mistake presidential wannabee Mitt Romney as the voice of reason in that group, most of whom long ago teetered off the edge of rational discourse.