Obama as Robin Hood

hotair.com ^ | August 1, 2008 | Ed Morrissey

[Free ThinkerNY]

Barack Obama has released his “Emergency Economic Plan,” a clever mechanism that owes much more to Robin Hood than Milton Friedman. Obama plans to impose windfall-profits taxes on oil companies, and then redistribute the funds to taxpayers in the form of one-time rebates of $1000 per family. Obama also plans on spending an additional $50 billion, half of which will go to state governments:

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Friday announced an “Emergency Economic Plan” that would give families a stimulus check of $1,000 each, funded in part by what his presidential campaign calls “windfall profits from Big Oil.”

Details in this six-page policy paper.

The first part of Obama’s plan is an emergency energy rebate ($500 to individual workers, $1,000 to families) as soon as this fall.

“This rebate will be enough to offset the increased cost of gas for a working family over the next four months,” Obama said. “Or, if you live in a state where it gets very cold in the winter, it will be enough to cover the entire increase in your heating bills. Or you could use the rebate for any of your other bills or even to pay down debt[."]

The Obama campaign simply can’t keep its credentials as a Carter retread hidden. The windfall-profits tax got tried by Jimmy Carter in the last desperate months of his presidency as he tried to demonize oil companies for fuel price increases and shortages. The tax hit decreased domestic production and forced us to import more oil, and it did nothing to relieve weary consumers. Only when Reagan took office and eventually got the tax rescinded, along with other arbitrary tax disincentives towards domestic production, did fuel prices and supply stabilize.

The Congressional Research Service analyzed the Carter-era WPT and called it a complete failure

[Grandsons of Liberty]

I don’t even think such a “safety net” is needed. Churches and charity did just fine for 150+ years...and they quite aptly weeded out the dregs, hangers-on and the just plain lazy, from the truly needy...Now any dreg can get by, multiply their numbers far faster than we, who toil and struggle to raise a family, and eventually rule over us through the moonbat party.

[Sam Gamgee]

So....if annualized profits from Exxon are 44 billion, and $500 at 200 million taxpayers is 100 billion, after destroying Exxon where does he get the other 56 billion.

You know, the moment I have just had it with the GOP, Obama manages to go one further and remind why to vote McCain.

[Stand Watch Listen]

don’t even think such a “safety net” is needed. Churches and charity did just fine for 150+ years...

True...in the past...But churches/charities are no longer adequately funded. Contributions are at all time lows. Food pantries/charities/churches today are struggling daily to offer any means of 'assistance' or help.

Is the daily need greater nowadays..or society (in general) relinquished its responsibility, its accountability and now just rely on the Fed Government to 'make things right'"?

[Grandsons of Liberty]

When charities flourished, people were happy to donate since they knew their donations would be put to good use helping those worth helping to become self-sufficient again...Their taxes were low (if not non-existant) and they felt a responsibility to those less fortunate.

Now, we are forced by government to “donate” through taxation, and to an increasingly large number of the recipients who are just bums and have no intention of making it on their own - ever. Since we already “donate”, we are averse to making additional donations to charities...This explains your inadequate funding. Add on top of it government’s “service charges” and red tape that ensure probably less than half of the tax money intended to “help” meets it intended recipients.

If a friend, neighbor or family member of mine had fallen on hard times, I’d be more than happy to give them a hand, knowing full well that it could happen to me as well...I don’t feel anywhere near the same empathy when it comes to a bureaucrat dishing out funding that I’m forced to pay.