Daily Archives: 23 January 2012

Hasn’t Our Economy Been Managed Disastrously Enough?

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Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D, OH) considers that the oil and gas businessmen are greedy b*stards, and they cannot be trusted.  He wants to put their business’ profits under government control—and not just any part of government; he wants to cut the Congress out of the picture and set up another Board for President Obama.  He’s joined by five more Democrats.

The Democrats, worried about higher gas prices, want to set up a board that would apply a “windfall profit tax” as high as 100 percent on the sale of oil and gas, according to their legislation. The bill provides no specific guidance for how the board would determine what constitutes a reasonable profit.

This “Reasonable Profits Board” is intended to control gas profits in the industry.

Further, in an amazing display of economic ignorance, the bill Kucinich proposes actually requires, in all seriousness, that it’s the oil and gas companies who must pay the tax.  They really don’t believe that the cost increase would be passed on to the customers.  They really don’t understand that the tax, and the cost bump to the end user, would simply depress the business’ ability to fund their own operations, expand hiring, search for more oil and gas supplies, conduct R&D, and so on; and it would similarly reduce consumers’ ability to put food on their tables and pay their rents.

But it’s all for a good cause.  Kucinich earmarks the taxes for funding alternative transportation programs when oil-and-gas prices spike.  This is just ridiculous on its face.  If those “alternative transportation programs” were any good, they wouldn’t need government subsidies—your tax monies—to compete in the market.  Just look at how the Obama High Speed Rail boondoggle, including the California bullet train, for instance, have turned out.  See who’s left holding the bag for that “alternative transportation program” stuff and nonsense.

I’m a bit confused by another aspect of this proposal, though.  It’s a lot of trouble to get such legislation passed these days, especially with unruly Republicans running amok in the House.  It would be a lot easier just to have the EPA issue a rule.

The other Democrats who are pushing this invasion of the free market are these

  • John Conyers, Jr. (D, MI)
  • Bob Filner (D, CA)
  • Marcia Fudge (D, OH)
  • Jim Langevin (D, RI)
  • Lynn Woolsey (D, CA):

All six need to be replaced at the 2012 election, if not in the Democratic Party primaries leading into the election.

A View of Fairness

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Spiegel Online International reports that the Italian Pime Minister Mario Monti wants his participation prize for the austerity measures the Italian Parliament talks about enacting.  And this prize ought to be in the form of Europe lending him yet more money, this time disguised as Euro bonds—for which Monti expects Germany to put up the lion’s share.  After all, goes his argument

Germany is benefiting from the crisis—interest rates on German bonds are way down and the weak euro favors German exporters—and should therefore share its favorable interest rates with its partners[.]

This is like arguing that, because I ruined my credit rating with profligate spending and irresponsible borrowing, which makes the sound credit rating you built with discipline and care seem even better, you, neighbor, owe me access to your credit card.

Moreover, Monti’s threatening to stage a temper tantrum, if his new-found “austerity” isn’t properly funded with other people’s money.

If this strong movement towards discipline and stability is not recognized as taking place, and a certain approach to financial aspects does not gradually evolve, then there will be a powerful backlash in the countries which are being submitted to a huge effort of discipline[.]

A discipline that other nations have been applying as a matter of course.

Hmm….