Patterico's Pontifications

12/2/2008

Obama Drops Windfall Profits Tax

Filed under: Obama — DRJ @ 12:46 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

The Obama team revealed it will shelve efforts to pass windfall profits taxes on the energy companies now that the price of oil has fallen below $80/barrel. Obama originally planned to use the tax proceeds to pay energy rebates to consumers.

Some Obama supporters will undoubtedly be disappointed by this cave-in to Big Oil. As Tom Maguire says (channeling Democrats’ advice to Republicans after Obama’s victory): “Obama is your President – suck it up.”

— DRJ

17 Responses to “Obama Drops Windfall Profits Tax”

  1. Well, they’re hardly experiencing windfall profits any more, so this makes sense. 🙂

    aphrael (e0cdc9)

  2. It does, but that’s also why it never made sense to begin with. Commodity prices fluctuate and now there are wells operating at a loss or near loss because the prices have dropped. Oil companies understand this but if they are going to be taxed in the good times, they won’t undertake the exploration and development that will tide us over the bad times.

    In other words, there never was a windfall. It’s an industry that is cyclical, speculative, and fluctuates dramatically.

    DRJ (a50047)

  3. Everyday, more and more, O’Messiah is looking more and more like George W. Bush. ROTFLMAO!

    J. Raymond Wright (0440ef)

  4. Everyday, more and more, O’Messiah is looking more and more like George W. Bush.

    That will be convenient. In 6 months, all the lefties can simply scratch out “Bush” and replace it with “Obama” in their “Impeach Bush!” bumper stickers.

    JayC (7c1245)

  5. This also suggests Obama’s economic advisers realize increasing taxes hurts the economy and that’s worth remembering when conditions improve and Obama/other candidates claim taxes don’t hurt.

    DRJ (8b9d41)

  6. That will be convenient. In 6 months, all the lefties can simply scratch out “Bush” and replace it with “Obama” in their “Impeach Bush!” bumper stickers.

    That’ll never happen. To the Obamabots, capitalism is like socialism in that it’s okay as long as it’s got the right people running it.

    Steverino (69d941)

  7. “they’re hardly experiencing windfall profits”

    aphrael – If anyone could actually present a logical explanation of what “winfall profits” means other than we think you are making too much money and no, we don’t care about your skinny profit margins in relation to other industries, it’s the dollars we care about because they look obscene and we don’t care of other indistries actually have higher profit margins and we don’t categorize their profits as windfalls.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  8. I see the problem as not one of “windfall” profits, because they are making basically the same profit per gallon of gas they always make….the reason they are not making the same “windfall” profits is because the purchase of gas is down as the economy slowed, and as the price fell…

    So, since the “windfall” is down, Obama has to stay away, because he would lose the power to say “windfall” when they won’t make the same gross amount of profit….

    reff (556669)

  9. I would like to see a windfall profit tax on any book sales by a politician and on an actor’s salary in excess of $100,000 per movie.

    Perfect Sense (9d1b08)

  10. Personally, I like windfall profits. If the wind makes something good fall in my lap, and I don’t have to do any work…so much the better.

    Doubt if you can drill or refine oil that way, though. That takes work.

    When the demmy-wemmies talk about “windfall profit taxes”, that means they’re stealing somebody else’s profits via taxation, and it’s a windfall for them, since they pocket a chunk of the tax money and pass the rest on to their friends (like say Obama’s pals at Freedie Mac and Fannie Mae), without the politicos having to do any productive work.

    Easy money.

    Dave Surls (f231d2)

  11. Could it actually be true that he had to play to the looney left in order to get elected? Is he actually going to be a moderate?

    Icy Texan (formerly Icy Truth) (b7d162)

  12. Could it actually be true that he had to play to the looney left in order to get elected? Is he actually going to be a moderate?

    As a guy from Illinois, I can say with confidence: “No.”

    Scott Jacobs (90ff96)

  13. The Left is really not as looney as the right, spicy poop.

    truthnjustice (3d65f9)

  14. Obama is a stone cold liar. Is anyone really surprised by that?

    PCD (7fe637)

  15. Comment by liesntyranny — 12/4/2008 @ 4:15 am

    The Great Projector speaks!

    Another Drew (410846)

  16. Can truthnjustice possibly address the substance of this post? Of course not. A very simple element of basic economics ran afoul of an oft-repeated applause line and Obama emerges looking like a very by the book bland populist politician.
    How much of the Democratic Party’s basic playbook is based on the appeal of loaded phrases like “windfall profits.” The term became part of the lexicon when Evil Bush was purposely jacking up gas prices because he’s Hitler. Is he Mother F’n Teresa now that he “made” the prices drop? Or did Obama HOPE our way to low gas prices upon his coronation?
    It’s so transparent it’s absurd: Obama made a gut level promise to capitalize on a grievance and is now casually tossing it. And his acolytes that still see a higher purpose in his every breath twist themselves into knots to affirm they’re sense of Obama’s true, enlightened motives for doing what he’s doing.
    People. Newsflash. He’s a freaking politician who played you for a sucka to get a job. That’s what politicians do.

    Jack Klompus (b0e238)

  17. Since I’ve been a grammar and usage fascist I will call PIMF and correct “they’re sense” to “their sense” in the next to last line.
    And Sierra Nevada is really tasty when nice and cold.

    Jack Klompus (b0e238)


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