Taxing Oil Companies For Making A Profit
According to the newspaper, oil company third quarter profits are expected to be up forty-three percent. This is an indication that the rising cost of fuel is not totally reflected in cost alone, but that we are being taken advantage of during our nation's hardship. This is not morally right.
According to Land Line magazine, Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) has proposed a windfall profit tax to "pay back" from the profits. However, this government money-grab is worse than the greed of a few businessmen. Many politicians believe that by grandstanding against certain classes of people and pitting one class against another, they can create a need (and more power) for themselves. As the welfare state increases, more and more people buy into the idea of their victimhood and these arguments begin to carry weight.
The fact of the matter, and what many people fail to understand - or their vision gets clouded in their search for a boogey man, taxing oil companies or any business for their "greed" or any other reason, does little to punish the business. Every dime taxed to the oil companies will be passed on to the consumer - plus markup. Does it make sense that if you increase their cost, they will decrease their price?
The best patrol is consumer pressure. The fact of the matter is that we do not have enough refineries, especially in time of war or in natural disaster. If the politician truly intends to help the consumer, they would work for measures to decrease red-tape so that more refineries could be built at reasonable prices. Then let the market place control the prices.