Yukon Cornelius Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 So the definition of treason is not agreeing with the president? Teddy Roosevelt would be interested to hear that. he has no idea who teddy is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 How do you feel about the provisions of the bill that eliminate current tax breaks for oil/gas companies and the proposal to raise royalties for offshore drilling? If they are settting record profits, do they really need these things? Well, the nation needs domestically produced oil. So, from my point of view, any tax breaks given to US oil/gas companies to explore for oil/gas on our dirt (or in the water just off the coast) is not really any different than spending money on diplomacy, a new fighter jet, kevlar vests, or other "national defense / international relations" sort of expense. The fact that this tax break stays in the country in the form of more/better jobs for citizens, higher corporate dividends, better stock buy backs and increasing share prices which benefit anyone that owns a diversified equity mutual fund and/or has a pension, is merely a bonus. Someone (Sacrebleu?) made a comment a couple of weeks ago about his view on taxes ... part of it is for basic necessities (roads, military, judicial/prisons, etc), and everything else that he has to pay over and above that that the gov't pisses away is essentially a fee to live in a (largely) free society with a stable government and low threat of an invading army. I like that view; I can relate to it. To some degree, I don't really have a problem with viewing tax breaks to an industry with crucial "national defense" overtones. Relatedly, if the company is setting record profits, does the government really need to jack up its tax rate to thwart the profits? Seems to smack of beurocratic opportunism, more than thoughtful economic strategy. As for me personally, if I received an increase like that in my salary, I suppose that I would end up in a higher tax bracket, lose some of the credits/adjustments that are capped based on what you make, and therefore end up paying a higher percentage of my income in tax. I guess that I am like big oil. Do you feel dirty now? Simply said, I have a hard time seeing how a "windfall tax" is thoughtful economic / tax policy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.