Stan Geiger

Obama's Windfall Profits Tax: Where Did it Go?

Not too long ago, Obama was talking a lot about a windfall profits tax on those evil oil companies. Not so much lately, however.

Why? Well, that would be because oil prices have recently been cut in half. Nat gas prices have followed suit.

Yeah, I know. Exxon Mobile announced record quarterly earnings again. It will take a while to funnel through, but by the time the next president takes office there will be no "windfall" to tax. So that takes care of that.

If Obama had any eye to history, he would have seen that coming. But hey, he's not an historian. And even though he talks a lot about economics, he's not an economist. He's a freakin' lawyer that doesn't know his butt from bacon.

The windfall profits tax on oil companies was tried during the Carter administration. All it did was take money away from energy producers so they couldn't use that money to explore and drill. It made matters worse. To even suggest that such a tax be reinstated shows ignorance.

That aside, I would like to see a windfall profits tax implemented. Not on energy companies but on TV stations. The two principle candidates for president have spent a billion dollars between them. Most of that money has gone to media advertising. Add in the state and local races and the amount of money spent during this election cycle that has landed in the bank accounts of media outlets has to be staggering. We're talking billions and billions nationwide.

Even worse, the ads that run tend to tell people nothing. The gist of them is this: If you think I'm a worthless meat sack, hey, my opponent is an even more worthless meat sack. So you should vote for me as the lesser of two evils.

If we're going to tax profits, let's tax profits that produce nothing.

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