H8tank Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Monday he would impose a windfall profits tax on U.S. oil companies as he sought political gain from Americans' pain over high gasoline prices. Will the corporations eat the tax... or just raise their prices? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEC=UGA Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 (edited) H8, you phrased the question poorly. Yes oil companies should be taxed, but at a lower corporate rate, the same lower corporate rate that should be afforded to all corporations. Now, if the question is, "Should we impose a windfall tax on oil companies" I would say, "no we should not". No they won't take the hit to their margin, they'll pass the tax on to the consumers, as all companies do. Corporations don't pay taxes, consumers do through higher prices of goods and services. Edited June 11, 2008 by SEC=UGA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 [Jimmy] Companies don't have their tax liability built into their prices. [/Carter] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarc117 Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 lets punish success!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 I think that oil... being inherently necessary to the security of our nation, should be nationalized. Therefore... it'd be tax free! Winner is you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 H8, you phrased the question poorly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaterMan Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 lets punish success!!! That's the motto of a drug dealer. Why do you support drug dealers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H8tank Posted June 11, 2008 Author Share Posted June 11, 2008 H8, you phrased the question poorly. "Should the Gov't Tax Oil Company profits with a windfall tax?" It's in the poll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarc117 Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 That's the motto of a drug dealer. Why do you support drug dealers? dealing drugs is illegal. making lots of money is not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEC=UGA Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 "Should the Gov't Tax Oil Company profits with a windfall tax?" It's in the poll. Please be consistent with your headings, I have a very short attention span and pay no attention to detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheShiznit Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 I think we ought to remove the loop holes in the tax law that gives reduced tax rates to oil companies. I also think we need to remove the ability of the companies to price based on the futures market. Because they raise based upon the futures market...but don't lower. For Example, on Friday last week, there was a hugh spike in oil and wholesale unleaded prices. The price at the pump jumped 14 cents by that evening....this was based upon a 19 increase in the futures market for wholesale unleaded. Now, between Monday and Tuesday, the wholesale price went back to where it was Thursday.....and guess what....price dropped only 4 cents. That is a total of 10 cents per gallon of pure profit for no reason other than they can because we have virtually no other choice. That makes it not a free market...but a manipulated one...one where we are held hostage to the profits of various companies. Exxon's profits have increased by 8times in the amount of time that gas has went up 4 times? Can someone do the math? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 If they insist on pushing through some kind of windfall profits tax on the oil comapnies, I hope that they are prepared to do the exact same thing for every other industry whose profits are higher than that of the oil industry's. Of course doing so would expose the lunacy of the idea, so I don't expect that to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yo mama Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 (edited) I don't have a problem with a windfall profits tax, so long as its capped at the value of the tax credits and other corporate welfare the federal government has bestowed on the oil industry. If their making record profits, they don't exactly *need* my tax dollars to keep the doors open. These days, I think me and my family need the money *I* earned more than Exxon does. At a minimum, I'd rather have my tax dollars go to national infrastructure, reducing federal debt, etc., rather than increasing a some oil exec's bonus. Edited June 11, 2008 by yo mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 (edited) I think we ought to remove the loop holes in the tax law that gives reduced tax rates to oil companies. I also think we need to remove the ability of the companies to price based on the futures market. Because they raise based upon the futures market...but don't lower. For Example, on Friday last week, there was a hugh spike in oil and wholesale unleaded prices. The price at the pump jumped 14 cents by that evening....this was based upon a 19 increase in the futures market for wholesale unleaded. Now, between Monday and Tuesday, the wholesale price went back to where it was Thursday.....and guess what....price dropped only 4 cents. That is a total of 10 cents per gallon of pure profit for no reason other than they can because we have virtually no other choice. That makes it not a free market...but a manipulated one...one where we are held hostage to the profits of various companies. Exxon's profits have increased by 8times in the amount of time that gas has went up 4 times? Can someone do the math? While wholesale gas is not directly tied to the price of oil, they're a decent approximation. Oil = 122 Oil = 128 Oil = 138 Oil = 133 ...that's the price of oil in the four days you're talking about...to me, it looks like oil and gas moved up more than they moved down, and so, the price of gas at the pump moved more up than down... Are you griping about market prices being reflected in prices at the pump? Also, Exxon has something imbedded in their business (as do all businesses worth anything) called 'operating leverage' ... when times are good, profits expand (as a %) faster than revenues. Once fixed costs are covered, extra revenue drops to the bottom line pretty quickly... ...sorry if I'm confused... Edited June 11, 2008 by muck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clubfoothead Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Why do companies that make billions a year in profits also need $17,000,000,000.00 in tax breaks over the next 10 years? F*ck yes there should be a windfall tax and slap a cap on gas prices. I shudder to think how much gas would cost if Exxon's 2007's $40.61 billion in profits hadn't exceeded it's $39.5 billion in profits the year before. We might remember those crazy far away days when $100 a barrell was a record. How has Exxon's massive profits benefited the economy of the United States since 2005? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yo mama Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 How has Exxon's massive profits benefited the economy of the United States since 2005? If you were a stock holder, it did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknrobn26 Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 I own Exxon stock. There are no dividends, and the stock worth is not keeping up w/ the price of oil/gas. F' them! All they are doing is socking it away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 (edited) i was just curious so i ran some quick numbers: approximately 300,000,000 people in the US approximately The Pentagon is spending nearly $5 billion per month in Iraq and Afghanistan, a pace that would bring yearly costs to almost $60 billion. Those expenses do not include money being spent on rebuilding Iraq's electric grid, water supply and other infrastructure, costs which had no parallel in Vietnam. Divvy up that $60 billion by giving everyone in the US a $200 gift card to Walmart, now that will stimulate the economy edit: i just did a quick search and the 5 billion number is from a 2003 USA Today article...not sure what the actual number is now Edited June 12, 2008 by keggerz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 The US Agriculture Industry had record profits this last year. They also receive huge Federal subsidies. Food prices are soaring in lock-step with gas prices. Should the wind-fall profits tax also apply to Big-Ag? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isleseeya Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 dealing drugs is illegal. making lots of money is not. It is when you are stealing and lying and ....you get the picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isleseeya Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 The US Agriculture Industry had record profits this last year. They also receive huge Federal subsidies. Food prices are soaring in lock-step with gas prices. Should the wind-fall profits tax also apply to Big-Ag? maybe so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clubfoothead Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 I haven't looked closely at the numbers, but just cuz the profits are in the billions, doesn't mean it's all that great of an investment. I never said it was. My question is why are the oil companies so worth protecting? Looks to me like neither America nor most Americans have been helped by 2 years in a row of record profits for Exxon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 (edited) I never said it was. My question is why are the oil companies so worth protecting? Looks to me like neither America nor most Americans have been helped by 2 years in a row of record profits for Exxon. That would be the same Exxon that STILL hasn't forked over the money to compensate for the Exxon Valdez disaster, nearly 20 years later. The same Exxon that ran it's fleet out of Cuba. The same Exxon that has interfered with the Wiki article on the Exxon Valdez oil disaster trying to play it down. This is not an American company, this is the definition of a multinational, owing allegiance to no nation. Edited June 12, 2008 by Ursa Majoris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yo mama Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 The US Agriculture Industry had record profits this last year. They also receive huge Federal subsidies. Food prices are soaring in lock-step with gas prices. Should the wind-fall profits tax also apply to Big-Ag? Removing the subsidies to *not* grow food would be just fine with me. Removing the subsidies for growing corn for bio fuels that don't work would also be fine with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheShiznit Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 While wholesale gas is not directly tied to the price of oil, they're a decent approximation.I am stipulating that the wholesale price for unleaded gasoline was 3.37....then shot up 19-21 cents....gas in my town rose suddenly...same day...14 cents a gallon. Tuesday, wholesale unleaded gasoline contracts were going for the 3.37 to 3.39....my station dropped 4 cents. And yes, that is the price that, if I had a tank, I could buy it for...then add the appropriate taxes...state and fed. Oil is not what I was referring to.Oil = 122 Oil = 128 Oil = 138 Oil = 133 ...that's the price of oil in the four days you're talking about...to me, it looks like oil and gas moved up more than they moved down, and so, the price of gas at the pump moved more up than down...unleaded gas moved differently....and besides...the 138 was Friday....133 monday....tuesday was darn near the 128 area...then closed above 130. Are you griping about market prices being reflected in prices at the pump? I am griping that the futures contracts.....the price you would pay right now at market to get gas....gets reflected at the pump even though that gas is not in the ground yet. I forget the legislation that allows this...it allows the price of gas to be set on the futures market. Also, Exxon has something imbedded in their business (as do all businesses worth anything) called 'operating leverage' ... when times are good, profits expand (as a %) faster than revenues. Once fixed costs are covered, extra revenue drops to the bottom line pretty quickly... ...sorry if I'm confused... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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