Posted on 04/09/2008 1:11:54 PM PDT by econjack
Obama's newest TV ad tells about Exxon making $40 billion and how he's going to institute a windfall profits tax on the oil industry. Let's consider that idea.
First, taking money away from the oil companies helps me at the pump by...??? It seems to me that the windfall profits tax ends up in Washington or in some politician's freezer. I fail to see how that lowers the price I pay at the pump. More than likely that money will get sucked off into new programs that make people more dependent on the gov't...not what I want.
Second, while you may not like the oil companies, they do explore, drill, produce, refine, and distribute oil products. The economics of the situation tells me that some part of their profits will be used to produce more oil. On the other hand, sending a new tax to Washington does nothing to increase the supply of distillate fuels.
Third, you can't fool me again. You tried the tax idea before (e.g., the Alternative Fuel Tax) back in the 1970's and I'm still waiting to see some new fuel that you hacks in Washtington produced.
If you want to lower our cost at the pump, how about this:
1. Kill the federal taxes on gasoline and diesel fuels, at least in the short run while new supplies ramp up.
2. Offer incentives for states to abandon their fuel taxes, at least until new supplies come on line.
3. Have the EPA mandate only three blends of gasoline. As recently pointed out:
"As recently as the early 1990s, the nation's gasoline supply was fungible. The same regular, mid-grade, and premium fuel was sold from coast to coast. But today, we have a bewildering variety of gasoline recipes in use across the country. Each of these specialized blends was designed to help clean the air, but the decade-old track record for the experiment in boutique fuels indicates that it has done more economic harm than environmental good.
"Nobody even knows for certain how many different gasoline blends are in use at any given time. AAA has put the number at "more than 15." One pipeline operator says it has to cope with 38 types of gasoline, many of which have to be shipped on a segregated basis. Sen. John Kerry has made a campaign promise to simplify the 'more than 300 local and state fuel regulations in the U.S.' "(http://cei.org/gencon/019,04157.cfm)
If the tree huggers want to complicate things, let them pay higher prices through a voluntary donation to Washington.
4. Streamline the process of permitting new power plants and refineries. The current process is so bad that there hasn't been a new refinery built in two decades and the same is true for power plants. If Teddy gets PO'ed at seeing windmills in his ocean view, too bad. Perhaps he can just get in his car and take a long ride over a bunch of no-railing bridges.
5. Read a book on economics. Politicians have no clue how the economic system works. It's high time they learned.
Hussein Obama is this country’s worst nightmare, that is outside of Hildabeat.
We could have the tree huggers purchase a tree tax credit from algore.....
Good article
But unfortunately, nobody would even be allowed to pose that question.
This is utter BS...the oil companies profit margins are 10%...10%!!! Would the brainless Osama have them operate for free? Would the idiots in the democratic party tax their friends in Silicon Valley since their profit margins run 50%....????? These stupid assholes.....total braindead fools!
I’ve seen both the rat candidates referred to as socialists. That is just not accurate. They are both communists.
Did Obama mention that Exxon paid $30B in taxes in 2007?
I propose a windfall profits tax on politicians.
Yeah so Obama can add to the 120 billion in taxes the government made off of Exons 40 billion in profit.
Hmmmmm....following in the steps of Mugabe...and Chavez? How special.
Bravo for telling it like it is..
Every day we get closer and closer to seeing what Jimmy Carter’s Second Term would have been like...
You're absolutely right. But, when I ask students what they think about the idea, they think it's great. When I ask what the profit margin is for the oil companies, they say "over 100%". Obama misleads the public by stating Exxon "made $40 billion", when that's actually total sales, not profits. Smart people (i.e., us Freepers) need to spread the word about this BS before it gets out of hand.
LOL! Actually, I did pretty well with some zero-coupon bonds thanks to Jimmy's 21% prime interest rate!
If we had a windbag profits tax, Obama and the rest of the liberals would be broke.
Success Tax.
I remember driving my VW bug from Omaha back to my parent’s house in Ohio in the early 1970’s with two 5 gallon cans of gasoline in the back seat “just in case”. Talk about dumb!
"Unfortunately, he is a powerful speaker with an appeal to the emotions. He leaves little doubt that his idea of the 'challenging new world' is one in which the Federal Government will grow bigger and do more and of course spend more.... Under the ... boyish haircut is still old Karl Marx ... There is nothing new in the idea of a Government being Big Brother to us all."
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