One reason people are angry–a sense that the elite still get away with what regular people can’t. You may not be able to deduct a penalty but the banks can (via The Financial Times):

The planned new US levy on top financial institutions will be tax-deductible, a Treasury official told the Financial Times on Friday.

However, the levy will still produce a net $90bn in additional revenues over ten years, the official said. He said the $90bn number already takes into account the effect of tax deductibility.

   And any costs that are incurred will not be borne by the people who created the mess but by the shareholders. That is wrong.