Neeeever mind (again!): Obama abandons windfall profits tax
Reality bites Barack Obama in the ass again.
Here he was in May/June of this year, vowing to punish the oil companies and redistribute the wealth: “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,” the Illinois senator said.
And now? Barack Obama is morphing into SNL character Emily Litella. Neeeever mind:
President-elect Barack Obama has shelved a proposal to slap the oil and gas companies with a new windfall profits tax because oil prices have dropped so much in recent months, the transition team confirmed today.
“President-elect Obama announced the policy during the campaign because oil prices were above $80 per barrel,” a transition aide said. “They are currently below that now and expected to stay below that.”
Obama’s proposal had called for using the proceeds from the tax to give American consumers an energy rebate worth up to $500 per individual or $1,000 per married couple.
As Thomas Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research, put it: “A windfall profits tax is bad policy at any price.”
Another Obama shift:
Asked whether the energy rebate plan had likewise been put on hold, the transition aide said the rebates were included in a middle class “rescue plan” Obama released last month.
That plan calls for a permanent tax cut of $500 for a worker or $1,000 for a family, with the Internal Revenue Service using 2007 tax returns to send out the checks. Tax cuts also would be extended to seniors.
The policy shift came to light after officials at the American Small Business League noticed that the windfall profits tax language had been removed from the transition team’s Web site in what the group called “an unceremonious and abrupt manner.”
Yeah, that’s happening a lot lately.
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all this BEFORE he’s even in office. All Hail Our Great Leader.
The first problem with a so-called “wind-fall profits tax” is defining “wind-fall profits”
This is an idea doomed, thankfully, to failure.
If someone wants a part of a companies profits, let them do it the old fashioned way.
Invest and take your chances in good times and bad.
Otherwise it is just theft.
And it will, HARD, over the next four years.
No wonder the presidents – Clinton, Bush, etc. – leave the White House looking like they’ve gone through the wash cylce a few times.
This is hard work. Obama’s in for a rude awakening now that the buck stops with him. Pretty speeches and feel-good platitudes don’t an administration make.
No one stakes out a position like Our Beloved Leader.
Free pies for all has a very short shelf life.
Reject Obamunism.
So, lgm is wrong as usual. This website did note something positive about Obama.
Could it be possible that he’s actually a conservative who just told people what they wanted to hear to get in the big office? No new taxes, keeping the tax cuts, keeping our troops in Iraq until the job is done, opposing gay marriage, pissing off Jesse Jackson. If this guy builds the fence, he’ll be better than McCain.
HEY! I was planning on my $1,000.00 rebate to start my O’Bummer collectables collection. Now how can I afford the $15.00 pin? Oh well, Better cancel the newspaper, I’ll need the cash.
I’ll bet it’s really painful to be constantly beaten over the head with reality while forcibly having a spine shoved up your backside at the same time. Beware, however, because just because the language has disappeared now doesn’t mean that it won’t rear it’s ugly, misguided head later (you know, like the Clintons).
The Pres-Elect is gonna have one hell of a tough four years.
If he keeps throwing all his campaign promises under the bus, this guy may not turn out so bad after all.
I think it would be eaiser to count the promises he does keep. That will be a very short list.
Wait till you find out the new definition of “Middle Class” is anyone making less than $15,000 a year.
To paraphrase Bart Simpson, “I never said that, you never saw it, nobody can prove anything.”
More change I can believe in.
While traveling on business Monday, I saw this story in the USA Today.
Obama probably read it, and it probably influenced his policy shift, as it’s written for a sixth-grader’s education and understanding of the nation.
We still don’t have a clue about what Obama will do next. He floats “trial balloons” to see what happens, licks his finger and sticks it up to find out which way the wind is blowing, and says something–anything–WORDS–JUST WORDS. He seems completely divorced from any and all previous statements and or “positions” he has taken–a very short “attention span”.
***
As the immortal bard (Shakespeare) said, “ALL SOUND AND FURY–SIGNIFYING NOTHING! He seems to pull all this stuff out of his A** at random–maybe this is a RANDOM PROBABILITY or a HEURISTIC way of governing–like watching a stick swirling down the river rapids.
***
I don’t think this man has any core values. At least with Ronald Reagan you had a pretty good idea where he stood on most issues. I can’t listen to / watch the Messiah on T.V. for more that about 30 seconds–great melodious voice, no substance, pure C**P. Hope and change are here–losing this election is going to have real consequences for the American People.
***
John Bibb
I was going to add “What is it about change you don’t understand?” but Cosmo more-or-less beat me to it.
The only sound judgment this man seems capable of is when he backs off of one of his promises.
So, he’ll say ANYTHING to get elected. Then he’ll do just what he darn well pleases, cuz, hey, he doesn’t need those poor, crawling worms now.
The fawning support he gets from his followers and the MSM (redundant, I know) will prevent any of this from mattering.
He can do no wrong. They won’t let his actions be portrayed as “wrong” in any way, regardless of how much it goes against what he “promised”.
That’s fair, because neither does Obama. It is a combination of moon phase, solar activity, and relative humidity as best as I can tell.
I would love to see him explain why open borders and uncontrolled immigration are a threat to our national security and sovereignty. How would the press spin that one?
More like chicken bones scattered across a tabletop yahtzee-style.
Only The One knows what the chicken bones are saying.
As a fair and reasoned argument from a leader whose confident smile and kind eyes are an inspiration to us all.
Then they will instruct us to make sure the kids drink the punch first.
Obama appears more “Clintonesque” by the day. After the 1994 Republican takeover of Congress, Clinton,in many ways, moved right (Welfare reform, Defense of Marriage Act). This can happen when a person’s core beliefs are in flux.
Obama may end up like Clinton, pointing in whichever way the political winds are blowing. This may be a good turn of events. The problem comes in when you need real leadership. A weathervane can only tell which way the wind is blowing, not which direction you should go.
As I (and others) have said before, the danger isn’t so much in the policies he implements or legislation he gets passed. It’s in the judges he gets confirmed that he will have lasting impact.
Hey, weren’t these new corporate taxes going to pay for tax cuts for 95% of the rest of us? I was really looking forward to that.
Did anyone actually believe anything bHo said? I didn’t. He is a democrat after all.
/fixed
Some animals are more equal than others, Boxer.
I am expecting a proposal to substantially increase federal taxes at the pump now that prices have dropped. These new funds will be used to subsidze green technology or mass transit or generously given back to us in tax credits or rebates. The line will be that a tax increase is really a cut because prices have dropped or it encourages conservation or it gives us hope or some such garbage. Then the outcry will force him to reconsider.
Eventually he may realize not all Americans are dunces and don’t drink the hope and change kool-aid. Many even notice when they are being robbed so their money can spread around to others less deserving.
Hope and Change: I HOPE things work out the way I planned, if not I’ll CHANGE my mind.
Where are the MSM cries of ‘Flip Flopper’!
never forget that Obama is not even in office yet.
He can say anything today.
It means nothing.
Once in office he has Nancy and Harry to do his dirty work.
Just wait…..
We are in good company, obama doesn’t either.
Nice.
Now will Obama consider repealing the eighteen cents per gallon federal gasoline tax that we all pay at the pump?
Not likely, but something to think about.
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com
Rational thought wins again. Maybe there is hope in change.
Everyday I am LIKING this guy better and better… He is doing more to PISS OFF the EXTREME LEFT then any REPUBLICAN could ever even hope for…
I thought it was going to take 18+ months for the left to turn on him.
Now – I’m thinking that it’s going to be around Late Spring before his base starts to turn on him.
Can’t wait till he starts to get hard questions from the press and I do believe that at some point it will happen.
Four more years of Bush.
The NY Times web site had an article yesterday about how Obama’s going to handle the CIA, and the “neverminds” have already started over whether we might depart from the “Army Manual” when it comes to terrorist prisoners. (He most likely will.) Reality sucks for diehard kool-aid drinking libs.
Wow, think of all those suckers who gave him money hoping for Communism. At the rate he’s going, I think AlohaGuy is right: O’Bama’s actually Bush 44. They must be p!$$3d.
this just proves how gullible and easily misled the democrat voters are. blacks have been voting democrat forever despite the 50 years of promises made and promises not kept. unions have been voting and paying for democrats since the 30′s and gee hows that working out. New York bankers get billions, automakers get a choice between a hosing and a piece of bubble gum, and we’re fresh out of bubble gum.
I think that is more accurate. Dance puppet, dance.
The Genius in waiting does not seem to grasp basic principles of business and economics. The end consumer of a product pays the tax in the form of higher prices. I wonder what other misconceptions he has about the real world. He seems determined to foist Marxist “progressivism” on us in some form or fashion. Totally unfit for the job. At this time in American history this amateur is the last thing we need.
The (H.) part of his name obiviously stands for (Hooey).
Obama hasn’t the courage to lead. He’s already quaking in his boots – he’ll be wearing Depends on a regular basis come next year. I’m betting he won’t finish his first term except in a sanitarium, with the ’90s Clintonistas running the government.
Had Obama gone through with the tax, there’s no doubt that Michelle would have been complaining about how ridiculous it was considering the drop in oil prices.
If you disagree with a politician’s ideology, the best you can hope for is pragmatism. This seems to be a pretty pragmatic move.
Seems there might be an alternative motivation for this post. ODS, anyone?
Has there been a single campaign promise he has kept yet?
Sooooo this is a bad thing? Let’s just be happy that Obama is scrapping the policy due to reality. So far every campaign promise Obama has broken has move him further to the center – we want to complain about it? How about we leave the whining over Obama’s right-shifting policies to the Lefty blogosphere.
No, we are mocking him for having the unrealistic positions in the first place – positions which reality will cause him to abandon.
It’s even better because the kool-aid drinkers are both annoyed and yet defending him…
It could be an amusing four years.
Putting on my best libthink hat: Some of the relatives are in Kenya, some are illegally in Boston. Do we average out the humidity in those places?
Do you remember George H. W. Bush’s promise of “No New Taxes”? How much bashing did he take for signing a tax increase after making that campaign promise? This is just another one of his promises that he’s backed down on. Personally, I think it’s a good thing that he’s moving toward the center. It shows that he’s smart enough to see the reality of the situation.
So why don’t you go stuff a bluesoc in it, mister.
No lilObamaAplogist. What Michelle Malkin was commenting on was the stupidity of the suggestion in the first place and now the change in plans because the sun is on the opposite side of the house.
Disagree if you want but if you want “windfall profits” tax – how ’bout taxing the Obamas for their windfall. Any money the guy has acquired is only the result of being in the right place at the right time. It certainly isn’t based on accomplishments, risk, or hard work.
I thought the clinical term for what you suffer from is MMDS?
I don’t think it’s any kind of “DS”. In fact, the joke is on the retards who were hoping this guy was going to be the new Stalin (which he may still be). He’s going to continue the policies of the Eeevil Bush/Cheney, but claim that the world is now all rainbows and unicorns, and take credit for the success of policies that were inevitable, given the circumstances.
In other words, the revolution won’t be televised, because it ain’t gonna happen.
Not that I can think of.
As the truly loyal opposition we should encourage Obama to embrace reality and applaud him when he does. First, I’d rather see him do the right thing for the wrong reason than see him stick to his leftist guns and harm the nation.
And second, watching the left realize they fell for a bait & switch is awfully amusing.
Wow – no windfall tax? Guess they’re next on the bailout list then.
Oh, please. Until you see people around here saying Obama was complicit in the murder of 3,000 Americans, assaulting Obama supporters, being driven into therapy by his victory or fantasizing about killing him you have no business using the term “deranged”.
Very well said.
MM, you use the phrase “vowing to punish the oil companies and redistribute the wealth” in describing Obama’s initial plan of a windfall profits tax. I’m wondering, would you use the same phrase to describe what Sarah Palin did in Alaska? I find it ironic that Palin did the exact same thing in Alaska, but yet she is the far right’s beacon of hope.
How about taxing GE for any obscene profits they make on their windmills? Now that is a true windfall profit tax.
If Obama keeps reversing his campaign promises at this rate, maybe I’ll end up liking him afterall
It seems odd to me that I haven’t heard outrage from his constituents though. I guess they all stopped paying attention again, once they voted him in.
TOS: Plain is not pResident (elect). Do keep up
plain = Palin. opps.
In Alaska, “Big Oil” is using a disproportionately large share of the state’s resources and Alaska is getting compensated for that. How exactly does that logic translate to the entire U.S.?
It’s micro vs. macro, moron.
How much more proof does the country need to know that Obama was never experienced enough for the job. The reason he’s backing off of his policies is because he found out they don’t work.
Obama’s a Grade A idiot.
I don’t think they were paying attention before they voted for him.
Good point. lol
They weren’t, they just bought the hype. Low grade morons one and all.
Isn’t this a good sign? He’s moving away from the socialist rhetoric now that he’s in power… maybe, just MAYBE he’s throwing yet another group under the bus in order to expand his power: Moveon and their bunch. And I’m all for that.
Clarification: I’m all for throwing the MoveOn people under the bus and removing the loony wacko-attacko lefties from any position of influence.
I remember after the election my 81 year old neighbor was gloating over Obama’s victory and he asked “So what do you Republicans think of that?” I said “Frankly BO is looking like Bush more and more all the time..” for which my neighbor gave a “what the f%^k?” look. I then said:
1. He’s willfully keeping Gates so were not pulling out of Iraq like he promised.
2. He’s gone lockstep with Bush on the bailouts. and he is keeping Paulson or one of his cronies handy.
3. He’s backing off the tax hikes and windfall profits tax.
After that conversation, I got into my car, leaving a befuddled neighbor to ponder his foolishness..
The libs are beside themselves i would imagine right now. Perhaps this why the Chambliss victory was so lopsided.
The purpose of Jimmy Carter’s windfall tax on oil companies was to keep prices high so Americans would consume less.
Is Obama, for all his green talk, trying to encourage us to use more gas with this shift in policy?
Two weeks ago he said this on 60 (boring) Minutes:
“You know, oil prices go up, gas prices at the pump go up, everybody goes into a flurry of activity. And then the prices go back down and suddenly we act like it’s not important, and we start, you know filling up our SUVs again.
And, as a consequence, we never make any progress. It’s part of the addiction, all right. That has to be broken. Now is the time to break it.”
Never mind indeed.
Obama is making it up as he goes along.
Which, by the way, illustrates what we’ve been saying all along. Bush is neither Conservative nor Right Wing.
At this rate, Obama will reverse all of his promises before he even gets into office and be a lame duck POTUS by Feb.
Looks like the useful idiots that voted for hope and change are only going to get is hope. God I love them!
I seem to remember that he was pretty good until 2003 or so. What happened?
I think you’re remembering that because the one thing he did do well, handle the WoT, was front and center during that period. But Bush has never been the kind of small-government, fiscally responsible leader we prefer around here. He ran, after all, as a “compassionate conservative”. The implication there that plain old conservatism is inherently uncompassionate is just plain insulting, by the way.
When President Bush strung together compassionate and conservative, I cringed. Compassion is teaching a man to fish and showing him the ocean. Conservatism does thatby risk/reward, incentive/consequence, but GWB seemed to think government was the method to accomplish those aims (as opposed to the libs who think only the gov’t can do the fishing).
Theotherside:
Exact same thing? Alaska’s constitution says that its oil resources belong to its citizens.
Exact same thing? Renegotating the amount the oil companies kept for their profits after they had been static for thirty years is not an imposition of a “windfall profits” TAX.
Exact same thing? Every Alaskan citizen, rich or poor, gets the same share of the profits from those state-owned resources. What wealth REdistribution?
Exact same thing?
Bullbleep.
Um, slight correction. The government doesn’t do any fishing. They take fish away from the successful anglers and give it to people too lazy to fish for themselves.
From Michelle’s quote:
Does this mean that B0 and his gang think that our domestic oil companies (Exxon, etc.) are on the receiving end of the $80 per barrel? Do they truly not understand that that is what Exxon et al are paying for oil???
And these people are running our entire country…?
Will someone suspend this nonsense?
I just hate it when pure capitalistic supply and demand curves get in the way of a good Socialist Utopian dream.
More on the job training for BHO. If I was one of the goofy lefties that would come in here to lay bombs, I would give up my log in to this site out of embarrassment. It seems BHO showed up for his meeting with GWB swaggering on his way in and walked away with completely different talking points and his tail between his legs. He has the black and probably alot of the Latino vote just because his skin is not white, but he is losing the base quickly. Hopefully the left will see now what we have been fighting with and the DINO’s will be battered in the next election year.
TOS, Normally I disagree with your posts but as a conservative I must admit that I AM bothered by governor Palin’s “tax and re-distribute” policy towards oil companies. Fortunately her other overwhelming conservative principles and practices make up for that flaw.
As Obama supporters are quickly finding out there is no “perfect” candidate — no matter how the mainstream press tries to spin things.
Obambi is not going to have much ass left by the Inaugural circus. He is also having a hard time finding a CIA chief because they are afraid that doing their job will get them indicted.
Hey, all you folks have missed it! BO was just joshing around. Behind that scholarly demeanor lies a comedian that likes to scare the pants off of Republican fatcats! He was just kidding….sheesh, everybody takes everything he says as the truth. Get a grip people. He didn’t mean it…he didn’t mean anything he said! It was all a joke he played on everybody.
Just wait until he’s sworn in. There are some real knee slappers coming. He’s gonna have all the world leaders in hysterical convulsions.
Just one more Chicago street hustler, Pelosi and Reid have to be worried. Now we will hear talk of Unity, Coming Together. Fine; abandon your Liberal ways and join us.
Say hell-o to Revs JerryBoy Wright and Pfleger for us BroBama. Made your Haj to Mecca yet, Bro?
That is true, being a government worker I see many department heads that are unsure what to do. They will probably fear BHO’s justice department and shriek at the sight of their own shadow, ultimately getting nothing done. I don’t think it matters how he runs national security, we are sure to be hit by terrorists and the CIA believes it will be our children via multiple Beslans in the U.S. I just wonder who will be thrown under the bus after that one. BHO had better put a short leash on his new AG, he surely won’t survive that kind of attack.
Well, I guess we can all be thankful that he’s full of $h*t on this one, and hopefully many more campaign promises.
The broken promises of Obama are staggering. And yet the beatification of this man continues. It ought to be sickening to every American, regardless of party affiliation.
Yes, I have ODS. Watching the man’s multiple personalities, shifting positions, and near schizophrenic delusions of grandeur has driven me over the edge. Guilty as charged.
Comparing Obama to Bush and turning around and saying: “ha ha, I told you so!” doesn’t make sense. We should all be scared that Obama is acting like Bush. Bush increased the size of the Federal Government to historic levels, appointed Paulson, brought about bail-out mania and ran up huge deficits in the process. Also, let’s not forget he nationalized an entire industry (airport security) following 9/11.
Government has become larger and more intrusive under Bush. Conservative, Bush is not.
PS – this deal about Palin taking oil company profits and distributing to them “the people of Alaska” is a terribly wrong-headed idea. Just because Palin is a popular, so-called Conservative does not make that right.
Now rip me for not pointing out all of the government downsizing and hugely positive things Sarahcuda did for Alaska
Hey, I got a great idea, instead of these piddly rebates & stuff we trash all these Bailout plans amounting to 7+ Trillion dollars.
Then we can save Billions by simply having each Legal American citizen get $1 Million dollars!
Just think how this would positively impact our economy and have a “Trickle Up” effect on all these failed businesses.
—Al
RockyR…Don’t forget the Bush Prescription Drug Program that has no funding source! BO will want to top that one.
“I won the election. The heck with my campaign promises. I can do what I want, now”.
The funny thing (if you want to clal it that) is, the oil companies are still making the same percentage profit per barrel as when the cost per barrel was $140.
Oil company profits are based on volume of sales and costs. When the price/cost of oil goes up, that same percentage that isn’t a “windfall” at $50/barrel suddenly becomes a “windfall” at $150/barrel.
Demand has become the big push in the drop in cost per barrel, not a decision by the oil comapanies or even OPEC to reduce any “windfall” profits.
Any objective person would realize that a “windfall” would exist if the oil companies increased price so as to increase their percentage profit while their costs remained constant.
If the Government had ANY chance of proving that, the oil companies would be nationalized today. But the Government can’t, so all they do is call the Execs in for a round of scolding and threaten “windfall” profit taxes.
The only wind falling out of this is what Obama and others are blowing out their rear ends. Give me whiff of gasoline any day; it smells a lot sweeter and costs a lot less…
Dexter – you are of course correct in exactly how the government provides fish. However, how many times have we heard politician talk about how many jobs they will create?
Those who are financially astute (meaning can reason above the level of 5 years old) realize that gov’t doesn’t create jobs, only “demand” creates jobs.
Jobs are created to provide supply to fulfill demand.
Pardon me for my ignorance here – exactly what did Palin do? Did she impose additional “profits” taxes specifically on the oil industry or did she increase lease/royalty payments rates. There is a vast vast difference between the two. I honestly don’t know and don’t have time this morning to look. Sorry for my ignorance on this.