Changing the Law to Make Stealing Legal

I am not sure if it is the fault of the moronic politicians, or the economically stupid sheep of this country. Have you seen the Congressional hearings about the oil profits lately? I think that most elected officials in the Senate know how stupid all of this is, but they are massive demagogues to their constituents. There is currently a bill in the House and Senate called the Windfall Profits Rebate Act of 2005. The bill basically states that all excess profits, above a certain amount, will be seized from the oil companies. Those seized profits will then be used to give tax credits to other individuals (tax reduction). How brilliant, right? INCOME REDISTRIBUTION! I recently wrote a letter to my representatives in the Senate and House. You should do the same, and I’ll tell you why.

This bill moves us closer to a Fascist State. The United States Government should not control any more of the country’s private sector- it already controls too much! The Federal Government controls entirely too many facets of our society already. This bill jeopardizes capitalistic principles on which our country was founded.

As any private company, oil companies have an immense responsibility to its shareholders to maximize profits. At such a low average profit margin of around 9%, owners already have little incentive to continue operations. However, if the government redistributes private income, it directly discourages these companies to exist. This equates to fewer oil companies investing in more efficient and newer alternatives to fossil fuels. As a private individual, any tax imposed upon a particular industry or economic sector would discourage me from investing in that type of business, or in companies involved in those business sectors. If a corporation’s ability to control how its earnings are distributed is taken away, or further restricted, owners and investors will exit the business, leaving fewer companies in the marketplace and essentially no competition. As you know, our country was founded on capitalism, and any effort to redistribute a corporation or an individual’s wealth, is communism- something this country once feverishly opposed!

So, what makes a job so essential that the government forces you to give them the money that you make? An appraiser, a retailer, a banker, a doctor; are these essential functions? If you perform these functions, how would you like it if some half-baked politician told you that your money is not really your own, and that it will be redistributed to less fortunate people? Don’t forget, they do that already with higher taxes, but that is a discussion for another time. How will this country sustain greatness if we continue to take profits and reward out of the hands of those people who create it? If oil companies are “making too much money” who’s to say that your doctor or your auto mechanic isn’t making too much? Where do we draw the line? This is nonsense, and our country was founded and made great by people who wanted to succeed and make money! The goal of every for-profit business is the bottom line. If these companies are burdened by more taxes and more complex regulations- they will close shop and move outside the USA. Then comes the debate of “how to keep more jobs in America,” but again, I digress.

Many people use Marxist principles to justify this crap, because in our society gasoline is a considered a need for existence. However, what is the driving force behind the implementation of fuel cells or hybrid cars? There would be no demand for better alternatives if it weren’t for higher and higher oil prices. The higher price for oil drives demand for cheaper and more efficient energy sources, independence from foreign oil, and ultimately higher national security.

What’s really sad (but people don’t see it) is that the higher oil prices are really of no cause of the oil company executives. They are driven by several other important factors. Most importantly, the federal and state governments have imposed higher taxes on the oil companies that have been passed on to each of us. In addition, the EPA has imposed costly regulations on the American oil companies, putting even more tax burden on them and on us. Lastly, but certainly not least, the population and manufacturing sectors of two countries, India and China, are skyrocketing, which has significantly driven up global demand for oil. Subsequently, prices have risen exponentially in the past several years. As if that weren’t enough reason for oil (and thus, gasoline) prices to have increased, the recent hurricanes drove up prices even more (temporarily) because of the decreased refining capacity in the Gulf of Mexico. I would argue that higher oil prices are not consequences of the “greedy” oil companies or the war in Iraq, but rather the simple economic principle of supply and demand. Maybe our elected officials should have an introductory lesson in Macroeconomics. Then they might see what they are really doing to us all.