Obama: $1000 check to families to be paid by big oil

[BrunoPuntzJones]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12237.html

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Friday announced an ?Emergency Economic Plan? that would give families a stimulus check of $1,000 each, funded in part by what his presidential campaign calls ?windfall profits from Big Oil.?

Details are in this six-page policy paper.

The first part of Obama?s plan is an emergency energy rebate ($500 to individual workers, $1,000 to families) as soon as this fall.

?This rebate will be enough to offset the increased cost of gas for a working family over the next four months,? Obama said. ?Or, if you live in a state where it gets very cold in the winter, it will be enough to cover the entire increase in your heating bills. Or you could use the rebate for any of your other bills or even to pay down debt

Separately, Obama?s plan includes a $50 billion stimulus package that his campaign claims would save more than 1 million jobs.

Half of the money would go to state governments, which are facing big budget shortfalls, and half would be used for national infrastructure, including replenishing the Highway Trust Fund, rebuilding roads and bridges, and repairing schools.

Obama announced his plan 27 minutes after a Labor Department report showed unemployment hit a four-year high of 5.7 percent in July ? the highest rate since March 2004, when it was 5.8 percent.

?We need to do more,? Obama said in a statement. ?That?s why today I?m announcing a two-part emergency plan to help struggling families make ends meet and get our economy back on track.

McCain reacted to the surprisingly dour jobs report with a two-paragraph statement: "Across this country, Americans are hurting and today's job numbers are just the latest reminder of the economic challenges we face. ... Unlike Sen. Obama, I do not believe that raising taxes is the answer to our economic problems. There is no surer way to force jobs overseas than to raise taxes on businesses.?

Obama announced his plan for a windfall profits tax on oil companies on June 9 in Raleigh, N.C., as he launched a two-week economic tour after clinching the Democratic nomination.

Friday?s proposal says Obama ?is proposing to offset the cost of his emergency energy rebates over the next five years by enacting a windfall profits tax on big oil companies.?

?Obama simply asks that big oil companies contribute a reasonable share of the windfall profits they receive from high oil prices over the next five years to pay for emergency assistance for families right now,? the campaign says.

Yeah, because the folks getting the rebates will be spending it on spinners. I guess he figures that the oil companies won't raise their prices to counteract the tax.

Wealth redistribution eh comrade? Don't worry, the .gov will save you.

 

[Genx87]

He is still peddaling that windfall profits tax eh? What a progressive thinking mind he has by falling back on the old robin hood platform!

Edit:btw I find it amusing he is talking about a reasonable share of their profits. Maybe he should recite how much the govt reaped from Exxon's quarter.

 

[yllus]

No politician ever lost an election because he/she promised the voters money from their own pockets.

Cue the "omg what will the Obama worshippers say now" posts though, which are remarkable because with the exception of SlingXShot nobody here seems to think Senator Obama is anyone's saviour, idol or whatever.

 

[jpeyton]

That's better than the "economic stimulus" package we just got, paid for by ourselves (with interest).

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
That's better than the "economic stimulus" package we just got, paid for by ourselves (with interest).

I'd rather have my own money back than receive what it had been taken from someone else.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
That's better than the "economic stimulus" package we just got, paid for by ourselves (with interest).

Yeah, who wants money they earned themselves? I mean, that's for suckers.

 

[cubeless]

...he asks...

eh? does that mean they can say no? oh yeah, he asks with the backing of the guns of the government...

now we pray for gridlock, or we will be rushing backwards to meet the chinese model somwhere in the middle in a few years...

 

[CalvinHobbes]

I support this, it's like a nation wide profit sharing plan. You could also consider it a dividend payment on our investment in the big oil companies.

 

[lupi]

So we can't have a gas tax holiday cause big oil would manage to find a way to still get that money from us, yet somehow this will totally be transparent.

 

[sactoking]

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones

Originally posted by: jpeyton
That's better than the "economic stimulus" package we just got, paid for by ourselves (with interest).

I'd rather have my own money back than receive what it had been taken from someone else.

It's not your "own money back". That implies that you paid it and are getting it back. In reality, you're getting an interest-bearing loan from the government on NEXT year's taxes. To me, that's a BAD deal, not a good one.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
That's better than the "economic stimulus" package we just got, paid for by ourselves (with interest).

I wouldnt say either is any better or worse. The idea that govt should be a tranfer of wealth mechanism is flawed.

 

[Slew Foot]

The problem with Obama is when he comes up with ideas beyond "HOPE" and "CHANGE", they're usually pretty stupid.

 

[Jaskalas]

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
Yeah, because the folks getting the rebates will be spending it on spinners. I guess he figures that the oil companies won't raise their prices to counteract the tax.

Wealth redistribution eh comrade? Don't worry, the .gov will save you.

I'm sure he'll make it illegal to raise the price to pay for the tax. Limited government is a foreign concept to the men currently in Washington. They will enact whatever powers are necessary to achieve their goals.

He'll enact the tax, prices will rise, and then he'll move for a complete shutdown/government take over of oil companies. Viva Chavez!

 

[ElFenix]

they should tax MS for that piece of crap vista they've foisted on everyone

 

[miketheidiot]

this is probably not the best idea, still less terrible than the gas-tax holiday though

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Originally posted by: lupi
So we can't have a gas tax holiday cause big oil would manage to find a way to still get that money from us, yet somehow this will totally be transparent.

gas tax holiday means the gov gets no money. Why would they do that? With this "hope and change" idea(recycled liberal BS) they get 3 "wins". They placate the plebes with greenbacks, screw "big oil" with taxes, increase tax inflow dollars to the gov so they can spend more.

 

[Queasy]

Windfall Profit Taxes were a failure in the 70s and they'll be a failure again now. I don't care how much you repackage it with hopium.

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: Queasy
Windfall Profit Taxes were a failure in the 70s and they'll be a failure again now. I don't care how much you repackage it with hopium.

I could tell you how the "windfall profits" tax of the late 70's was so mismanaged by the government that the oil companies actually made MORE MONEY.....but none of the scared little liberals around here would even believe me. They would demand a "link" with proof as the internet is their god, but even if one was provided they would just call the source into question. People are so damned stupid these days we are sinking fast.

 

[m1ldslide1]

Call me crazy, but I'd rather the stimulus come in the way of improved education and opportunities for employment, not through handouts - whether they be big oil windfall or tax money redistributed. Whats a thousand dollars going to do for any one family anyway? A whole lot of not much, but it will of course benefit retailers and create artificial growth in that sector for a few months. Even if it creates a few sales jobs, I don't see that changing the economic outlook in any meaningful fashion.

I think that voters who get motivated by this are in about the same intellectual arena as those who think BHO should be wearing a flag-pin.

 

[OrByte]

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: Queasy
Windfall Profit Taxes were a failure in the 70s and they'll be a failure again now. I don't care how much you repackage it with hopium.

I could tell you how the "windfall profits" tax of the late 70's was such as successfully run program by the government that the oil companies actually didn't care.....but none of the scared little neocons around here would even believe me. They would demand a "link" with proof as the internet is their god, but even if one was provided they would just call the source into question. People are so damned stupid these days we are sinking fast.

I can do the same thing

 

[CycloWizard]

Originally posted by: CalvinHobbes
I support this, it's like a nation wide profit sharing plan. You could also consider it a dividend payment on our investment in the big oil companies.

Originally posted by: ElFenix
they should tax MS for that piece of crap vista they've foisted on everyone

Ah, the common thread. Someone makes a product and we buy it. We didn't do our homework, and now we're pissed that we paid for the product. Therefore, the company should give us some of our money back in what amounts to government-sanctioned (and perhaps even government-perpetrated) robbery.

F'ing whiners. Let the buyer beware. You don't want oil companies taking your money? Stop buying oil and oil-related products. Don't want MS making money? Stop buying its operating systems. The idea that the role of government is to protect you from your own stupidity is asinine and simply demonstrates that stupidity for everyone to see.

 

[conehead433]

Gas tax holiday paid for by the oil companies or $1,000 rebate paid for by the oil companies, either way they raise oil prices so the consumer pays for either in the end.

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: OrByte

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: Queasy
Windfall Profit Taxes were a failure in the 70s and they'll be a failure again now. I don't care how much you repackage it with hopium.

I could tell you how the "windfall profits" tax of the late 70's was such as successfully run program by the government that the oil companies actually didn't care.....but none of the scared little neocons around here would even believe me. They would demand a "link" with proof as the internet is their god, but even if one was provided they would just call the source into question. People are so damned stupid these days we are sinking fast.

I can do the same thing

You really are an idiot if you actually believe that. I actually know people who were involved. I bet you don't know jack, but that would never stop you anyway and one of the reasons I refuse to get into protracted and useless discussions in this hell hole.

 

[OrByte]

Originally posted by: CycloWizard

Originally posted by: CalvinHobbes
I support this, it's like a nation wide profit sharing plan. You could also consider it a dividend payment on our investment in the big oil companies.

Originally posted by: ElFenix
they should tax MS for that piece of crap vista they've foisted on everyone

Ah, the common thread. Someone makes a product and we buy it. We didn't do our homework, and now we're pissed that we paid for the product. Therefore, the company should give us some of our money back in what amounts to government-sanctioned (and perhaps even government-perpetrated) robbery.

F'ing whiners. Let the buyer beware. You don't want oil companies taking your money? Stop buying oil and oil-related products. Don't want MS making money? Stop buying its operating systems. The idea that the role of government is to protect you from your own stupidity is asinine and simply demonstrates that stupidity for everyone to see.

Let the buyer's beware huh?

can we apply your logic to abortion and same sex marriage?

Don't want to have same sex partners being wed at your church? go to a different church!

Don't want to have an abortion? dont have sex!

my point is, you're setting up false dilemma's and usually the circumstances are a bit more complex than that.

 

[Queasy]

2006 Congressional Study - The Windfall Profits Tax that was passed at the end of Carter's term in the 70s and was enacted in 1980 produced 1/4 of the expected tax revenues and caused domestic oil production to drop and foreign oil imports to increase. This tax was so bad it was killed in 1988 before it was set to expire.