"Obama and McCain spout economic nonsense"

This is on the Wall Street Journal website, among many others. (It's in the Car forum because it deals with oil)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121383441884986739.html

This is on the Wall Street Journal website, among many others. (It's in the Car forum because it deals with oil)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121383441884986739.html


In Raleigh, N.C., last week, Sen. Obama promised, "I'll make oil companies like Exxon pay a tax on their windfall profits, and we'll use the money to help families pay for their skyrocketing energy costs and other bills."

Set aside for a minute that Jimmy Carter passed a "windfall profits tax" to devastating effect, putting American oil companies at a competitive disadvantage to foreign competitors, virtually ending domestic energy exploration, and making the U.S. more dependent on foreign sources of oil and gas.

Instead ask this: Why should we stop with oil companies? They make about 8.3 cents in gross profit per dollar of sales. Why doesn't Mr. Obama slap a windfall profits tax on sectors of the economy that have fatter margins? Electronics make 14.5 cents per dollar and computer equipment makers take in 13.7 cents per dollar, according to the Census Bureau. Microsoft's margin is 27.5 cents per dollar of sales. Call out Mr. Obama's Windfall Profits Police!



This right here is what frickin scares the crap out of me about Obama. You increase taxes on something, you get less of it which means an utter disaster at the pumps as they will cut back fuel production and cause a major increase in pump prices. Oil company margins have always been less than many other industries. Nobody seems to be angry that Google(GOOG) made a 25% profit margin last year. I hope everyone is getting ready to prepare themselves for the next winter as heating bills are going to be obscene with record prices for natural gas, propane, and heating oil. If someone can't afford to heat their home, i'm not sure what I can tell them except to put on an extra layer of clothing.

I'm no big fan of Karl Rove, but I think he got this right. Senator McCain should know better-- and I think he does, he is just pandering for votes . . . But, on the other hand, I fear B. Hussein Obama II believes he could do this.