Posted on 01/20/2012 2:23:36 PM PST by tom h
Six House Democrats, led by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), want to set up a "Reasonable Profits Board" to control gas profits.
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.
The Gas Price Spike Act, H.R. 3784, would apply a windfall tax on the sale of oil and gas that ranges from 50 percent to 100 percent on all surplus earnings exceeding "a reasonable profit." It would set up a Reasonable Profits Board made up of three presidential nominees that will serve three-year terms. Unlike other bills setting up advisory boards, the Reasonable Profits Board would not be made up of any nominees from Congress.
The bill would also seem to exclude industry representatives from the board, as it says members "shall have no financial interests in any of the businesses for which reasonable profits are determined by the Board."
According to the bill, a windfall tax of 50 percent would be applied when the sale of oil or gas leads to a profit of between 100 percent and 102 percent of a reasonable profit. The windfall tax would jump to 75 percent when the profit is between 102 and 105 percent of a reasonable profit, and above that, the windfall tax would be 100 percent. The bill also specifies that the oil-and-gas companies, as the seller, would have to pay this tax.
Kucinich said these tax revenues would be used to fund alternative transportation programs when oil-and-gas prices spike.
"Gas prices continue to rise, creating a hardship for the American people," he said. "At the same time, oil companies are making record profits gouging their customers. This bill would tax only the excess profits and create forward-thinking transportation alternatives."
Specifically, he said the money would be used to fund a tax credit on the purchase of fuel-efficient cars and set up a grant program for mass transit programs when oil-and-gas prices are high.
The bill does not estimate the size of these grants or the amount of money that might be collected through the tax.
Co-sponsoring the bill are five other Democrats: Reps. John Conyers Jr. (Mich.), Bob Filner (Calif.), Marcia Fudge (Ohio), Jim Langevin (R.I.), and Lynn Woolsey (Calif.).
First thing that I thought as well. Maybe they can find Wesley Mooch to head the board.
That woman is obviously a crazy person.
Whatever happened to the "Takings Clause"? Did it just slide off the parchment?
Kucinich (Communist, Ohio), the jackass that bankrupted Cleveland as mayor and also wants a Department of Peace.
☭ Leftist Appяoved
*All your oil profits are belong to us!*
Oil profits, base, freedoms, air, money, land.
And don’t forget that you are not allowed to breath.
CO2 is a deadly toxin you know....despite what the trees say....
Met with an elected official who was an elector for Obama in the last election. Atlas Shrugged was displayed prominantly in his office bookcase. Graduated as Salutatorian from a very prestigious law school.
Things that make you go Hmmmm!
These people believe they can change the end of the book and are playing for keeps.
Let's be sure to include universities!
Don’t forget rich liberal income such as Warren Buffet.
How about a “reasonable amount of oxygen” for these congressmen? Right now they are obviously inhaling far too much.
Not real clear on the idea of “the future” are you? How do you take delivery on a future product?
Do you think people buy futures and then the product never gets delivered?
The Communist Party in our Congress.
All the big oils need to do is to S-T-O-P funding any democrat candidate for office or any liberal advocacy group
Stop donating money to elect marxists.
d.oh.
Huh??
REASONABLE, We need to reasonably remove these bastards from DC
Will the Equalization of Opportunity Bill be next?
Please enlighten me. How are the oil company profits of 8% tied to speculators? For that matter, how is that profit margin unfair?
That’s for SURE!
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