Do people REALLY believe there should be a "Windfall Profits Tax"? Really?

Question

So what uniform should the people wear when they break into a publically-owned building and take their money because they're "too" successful? Maybe the good 'ole SS unifoms with swastikas on the sleeves, or maybe a throwback KGB uniform with a snazzy hammer and sickle on the chest. I mean you've GOT to be kidding. What is the difference between this and Hugo Chavez privatizing the oil industry?

Obama just proposed a $1000 rebate to consumers to be funded by a windfall profits tax. So wait, their profit margins aren't that high, not like Microsoft. So shouldn't we get a rebate for using Windows and take their profits too? What about hospitals?

If they really want money, why not set a maximum profit margin rule and take any money from any company that makes over that percentage, after all, we shouldn't strive to be as successful as possible, right.

I can't believe that anyone that has any kind of sense of what's right would ever allow something like this to happen. Pandering to the public, basically offering a bribe to strike back and the great satan "Big Oil" to get a vote.

I think the great satan "Big Oil" should stop delivering for a week and see what everyone thinks. What is this country coming to?

Oh, and I vote the SS uniforms, they'd have the shock factor they'd need!

Answer 1

I believe that if the politicians want to start a Windfall Profits Tax, they should first be forced to

(a) state publically what level of profit margin is acceptable and how they arrived at that figure

(b) apply the limit to taxes before applying it to company profits.

Answer 2

There will never be a windfalls profit tax.  It is only hot air coming from politicians that want to have some one other than themselves to blame for  the present economic problems.

Answer 3

It's human nature to want to blame someone when things aren't going your way.  And many people are hurting over gas prices, so are easy marks for a politician who says "we're going to get that dirty rotten company that's doing this to you" even if they AREN'T doing it to you. While their TOTAL profits are high, their profit MARGIN is much less than many other companies. In general, people don't understand basic economics so many people don't understand even what that last sentence SAYS.

Unless the "windfall profits tax" ideas are just campaign rhetoric, the politicians pushing it are showing THEIR ignorance of basic economics.  And before anyone thinks I'm just anti-Democrat, I think McCain's proposal to suspend the federal gas tax is a real bad idea too.

I'll admit to some shock the first time a fillup for my fairly small car was over $50 - but do I have a lot of sympathy for the person whose 17 mpg SUV that they paid $44,000 for takes $100 worth of gas?  Not a lot - buying that was their choice, and it's not like the US has never seen a gas shortage before - OK, some of these people were 5 years old in the 70's the last time it got bad so don't remember it.  Do I have sympathy for the person who drives a fairly gas-efficient car, but drives 25 miles each way to their job every day - yes, I do, but life isn't always "fair".

It might be very interesting to see just how the politicians pushing a "windfall profits tax" define windfall profits. They'd have to come up with a better definition than "gee, they're making a ton of money".

They could always just try price controls.  It worked so well in the 70's.

Answer 4

These proposals are designed to enthuse those who are facing hard times and give them someone to blame for their troubles.