Posted on 06/09/2008 10:50:12 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Obama says he would impose oil windfall profits tax
33 minutes ago
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Monday he would impose a windfall profits tax on U.S. oil companies as he sought political gain from Americans' pain over high gasoline prices.
Launching a two-week focus on the economy after clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, Obama drew a sharp contrast between his economic policies and those of John McCain, his Republican rival in the November election.
"I'll make oil companies like Exxon pay a tax on their windfall profits, and we'll use the money to help families pay for their skyrocketing energy costs and other bills," the Illinois senator said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Oh, yeah: it was a HELL of a time. At $4.00 a gallon, it ought to be even more fun this time around.
kingattax might be right, though. C.W. McCall's "Convoy" does capture the spirit of the time a little better. Maybe we'll all start using CB lingo on our cell phones, now. "10-4, good buddy, what's your 20? I gotta Smokey in the bushes northbound back 'round the 22-mile marker. He's taking pictures so y'all might wanna ease back on the hammer and not be bear bait, c'mon?"
If Barry Hussein does this I got two words...
Gas Lines.
If the government prohibits the drilling and hence the production of oil, that will cause the price to rise exactly as it would if the oil companies were colluding in monopoly behavior to do precisely the same thing.And if the government then expropriates the increased oil company profits, the net result is that the government is functioning as a monopolist of the production and sale of gas/oil.
Back in the Eighteenth Century, the king of France used to sell patents on commodities to particular vendors, and prohibiting all others from selling the particular products - and this is exactly the same idea so far as economic consequences go. It drove Thomas Jefferson crazy when the French king sold a patent on tobacco, thereby expropriating a monopolist's share of the profit in tobacco and limiting the market in France. That was to the disadvantage of Virginia planters (albeit probably to the benefit of the health of the French public).
I remember them well. Better make sure I have one car liscensed with odd number and one with even, so I can get gas in an emergency on either day.
I remember those days. Farmers could still get all the gas they wanted. Most had a tank in the ground with one gas pump. It was good to know a farmer back then.
OH, and don’t forget stations running out of gas entirely. That always adds to the fun.
Here we go again! The wife’s mini-van has an odd plate and my truck has even. I can get gas for one and siphon it for the other. So I guess I’ve got that going for me.
What will the vanity plate people do?
I had similiar thoughts early on about Bill Clinton.
I thought if Jimmy Carter's first term gave us 12 years of Republican Presidents, Bill Clinton's should have given us a couple dozen.
Power has already gone to his head. The president doesn’t impose a tax. The Congress does, and the jerk in the White House signs it into law.
The problem we face is that we find ourselves embarrassed for a second Gipper. Reagan would be able to puncture populist economics; McCain doesn't even disagree with it. Just what we need, a Republican Jimmy Carter - a.k.a., another Hoover.
Oh yeah, Convoy is the perfect example. It illustrates the problem caused by high fuel prices now AND it can be used to illustrate just how much worse it’ll get.
Either as the oil companies sought to recoup the venture capital they need to continue development, exploration, and production, or on the black market as the oil companies were squeezed between the cap and the tax to the point they could not continue operating.
Where's his sign?
The difference is that now almost all gas is self serve. No attendant to enforce the rule. Maybe they can rig the debit card readers to read the last digit.
And he’s going to add new taxes on banks because their profit margins are twice the oil companies. /sarcasm
The sheeple will buy this. And I thought liberals were supposed to be well educated.
Who does he think is going to pay for the added tax? Obviously the oil companies will pass it on to the consumer. We need to encourage the oil companies to spend more for new energy sources not less.
The Obaminator, what a ride.
What public outrage! The vast majority of the American public is clueless when it comes to economic issues. If the MSM tells them this is a good thing, they will shallow it hook, line and sinker! I would wager that most people haven’t the foggiest clue where the money in their employee retirement funds are invested.
I have zero faith that Democrats will keep their hands out of my pockets (yes, even the ones with their own 401k). Wealth distribution, in whatever form it takes, is coming if the socialist/marxist Democrats, lead by Barry Obama, get full control of the US government.
even so, how could this be Constitutional? Where does it say that punative taxes can be levied against a company? The crime? Playing by the rules and making $.
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