On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 14:50:58 GMT, "Mike Rapoport"
wrote in
t::


What I want to know is why the Windfall Profits Tax (implemented by
President Carter in 1972 IIRC) hasn't been mentioned yet. It would
seem that domestic oil producers' costs haven't risen anywhere near
the price of crude.

Why should they be taxed more just because they are in the right place at
the right time?

The windfall Profits Tax was enacted as law when OPEC raised oil
prices in 1979. If that policy made sense to lawmakers then, why
wouldn't it be valid now? Why should domestic oil producers reap
unearned millions in profits at the expense of the American people
just because OPEC wants to price gouge?*

Think of it as the credit reporting companies making millions of
citizens' personal information public due to lax security procedures,
and then charging to insure those whose data they have compiled
against identity theft, as is currently occurring. While not the same
situation at all, it is another example of business victimizing the
people of this noble nation.

Should we tax stock investors at a higher rate during bull
markets?

Stock investors have their money at risk; think October 1988. Domestic
oil producers control a vital commodity without which this nation
would grind to a halt pronto. They should be regulated.

BTW Nixon was president in 1972

Oh yeah. That was the year he was impeached, wasn't it.

*
http://www.kucinich.us/archive/repor...7+10%3A06%3A14