"The 'windfall profits' tax is back, with Barack Obama stumping again to apply it to a handful of big oil companies. Which raises a few questions: What is a 'windfall' profit anyway? How does it differ from your everyday, run of the mill profit? Is it some absolute number, a matter of return on equity or sales -- or does it merely depend on who earns it?
"Enquiring entrepreneurs want to know. Unfortunately, Mr. Obama's 'emergency' plan, announced on Friday, doesn't offer any clarity. To pay for 'stimulus' checks of $1,000 for families and $500 for individuals, the Senator says government would take "a reasonable share" of oil company profits.
"Mr. Obama didn't bother to define 'reasonable,' and neither did Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, when he recently declared that 'The oil companies need to know that there is a limit on how much profit they can take in this economy.' Really? This extraordinary redefinition of free-market success could use some parsing."
Monday, October 26, 2009
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