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red states rule
05-27-2008, 09:55 AM
Would this economic policy work better in Cuba or Venezuela?


Congressman Proposes that Government Establish a "Reasonable Profits Board"

by Gerald Prante


The current high price of gas has led to a lot of crazy proposals from gas tax holidays to creating a tax deduction based upon energy consumption. But Rep. Paul Kanjorski's (D-PA) may top them all in terms of its stupidity. From the Times Leader, Kanjorski's plan would do the following:

• H.R. 5800 would tax industries’ windfall profits.

• The bill would set up a Reasonable Profits Board to determine when these companies’ profits are in excess, and then tax them on those windfall profits.

• As oil and gas companies’ windfall profits increase, so would the tax rate for those companies.

• Kanjorski said his legislation will encourage oil companies to lower prices to prevent them from receiving higher tax rates.

While Hillary Clinton may have failed ECON 101 along with John McCain, it appears as if Kanjorski may been enrolled in Marxism 450 at the time. In all honesty, nationalization of the oil industry (i.e. Venezuela) may be better than Kanjorski's ridiculous proposal.

One can make a case for taxing that portion of the return to capital that comes from economic rents, but Kanjorski has probably never even heard the term. An economist who backed such a tax would understand that such a tax is not going to lead to lower prices at the pump, just as economists are setting the record straight on the current gas tax holiday gimmick. Furthermore, the justification for taxing economic rents would apply to all sectors, not just petroleum.

Members of Congress and the American public need to understand that no tax cut or tax hike in the short-term is going to lower the prices at the pump. And any tax hike is going to raise prices in the long-term. Raising taxes on energy is not all bad, however. While any tax hike has its costs, raising taxes on gasoline does lead to less pollution (indirectly whereas a carbon tax is more direct) and greater funds for transportation (assuming they are spent in the right way which is unfortunately not always a safe assumption).

http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/23183.html

PostmodernProphet
05-27-2008, 12:38 PM
reminds me of the Michigan Single Business Tax which was finally repealed last year.....the filing form identified profit as "unneeded income"......

theHawk
05-27-2008, 01:11 PM
The Dems know that raising the taxes is not going to bring the price down. They're just trying to cash in on someone else's profits. They know a cash cow when they see one.

red states rule
05-27-2008, 02:12 PM
The Dems know that raising the taxes is not going to bring the price down. They're just trying to cash in on someone else's profits. They know a cash cow when they see one.

Just like they saw a cash cow in the tobacco companies. They took the money to pay the health care costs incurred by smokers

Yet very little goes for that purpose. States have used the money for golf carts, trash trucks, and other "vital" spending projects

Pale Rider
05-27-2008, 02:40 PM
Not surprisingly, the RINO juan mccain supports it. This guy just can NOT get away from his liberal self. No wonder so many hillary voters are planning to vote for him if hussein gets the dem nod. He's more a liberal than he is conservative.

red states rule
05-27-2008, 02:44 PM
Not surprisingly, the RINO juan mccain supports it. This guy just can NOT get away from his liberal self. No wonder so many hillary voters are planning to vote for him if hussein gets the dem nod. He's more a liberal than he is conservative.

Where did McCain come out in support of this Pale? I must have missed that. That will sink him no matter how many fucking stupid things and lies Obama sprews