Dodd: Government Can Mandate What Profit is 'Fair' for Business

businessandmedia.org ^ | June 10, 2008 | Jeff Poor

[Red Badger]

Am I missing something here?

The WPT will have the effect of eliminating all profits, so there won't be and "windfall" to tax...............

[MissouriConservative]

“How in the hell do we defeat this power????????????”

Our founding fathers showed us the way.

[reagan_fanatic]

Dodd’s windfall profit tax would not lower the price of a gallon of gas by one damned cent, and he KNOWS it.

Why the hell isn’t the press doing its job and asking Dodd how his tax proposal will lower the price of gas???

[SE Mom]

Kernan then emphasized the point. “That’s not the way it’s done in this country, senator. It could never be done that way, could it?”

...
“Yes, it could be,” Dodd said.
...
Dodd also made the extraordinary statement that these taxes should be taken from the oil companies and invested in other sources of energy or be given back to consumers in the form of a rebate.

[RexBeach]

Mr. Dodd never met a payroll. However, he has chased a lot of booze down his throat, and, I hear, a few waitresses at “The Hawk and Dove” on Capitol Hill.

A question, Mr. Dodd: If oil reverses course and goes to 12-dollars-a-barrel, will the government begin paying the oil companies to make up for the drop in crude prices?

Honestly, the government has given us trillions of dollars in debt, and the Congress can’t even run its restaurants at a profit. Who in blazes in the government can say “how much” is a good profit?

What complete and total nonsense.

[RogerD]

Actually, Dodd can mandate what profit is 'fair' for business. If prices are too high for what he gets in return, he can refuse to buy from that business. That's what I do, and as a result, for every purchase that I make, I always get something worth more to me than I'm paying. If I benefit from every purchase that I make, prices are all fair by definition - set by my own free choice. Supply and demand, moderated by enlightened self-interest, is enough to guarantee that business profits are fair.

For those who don't like that model, we have the option of using force to level the playing field. A businessman can work long hours and take financial risks to start a company that provides goods or sevices that people want, and if he succeeds know that Dodd will stroll in, define his profits to be excessive, and use the police and FBI, or the threat that the IRS will call them in, to take the "excess" for a higher purpose, one that only coincidentally looks like rewarding his big donors. Since Dems never believed in the Law of Unintended Consequences, there's no risks that the Dodd approach will discourage businessmen from putting in the hours needed to find oil, produce new medicines, or create thousands of jobs at a new company.

[tophat9000]

Hmm is Hugo Chavez oil company's charing less then the Evil US oil company's?

[RaceBannon]

He even went to Nicaragua to negotiate a seperate peace with Danny Otega in the 80’s too, let us not forget!

[Myrddin]

Dodd is a stupid commie who doesn't understand the concept of "enumerated powers" in the Constitution. There is no enumerated power to control the profit margin of businesses in this country.

[RogerD]

I guess he never read “Atlas Shrugged”

Or the Bible, especially a line: "Thou shalt not steal." A man who read, understood, and believed that simple commandment would never advocate taxing "excess" profits.

[JamesP81]

Kernan then emphasized the point. “That’s not the way it’s done in this country, senator. It could never be done that way, could it?”
...
“Yes, it could be,” Dodd said.

Who the hell let this guy out of the ash heap of history?

[swain_forkbeard]

DRILL NOW!

[SE Mom]

And Obama just smiles...he suggested a windfall profit tax a couple of days ago...

Obama is TOO YOUNG to remember that LAST time we had one of those, we ended up PRODUCING LESS OIL.

I’m so mad I could spit nails.

[wastedyears]

What’s your opinion on him?

[Myrddin]

Dumbass Dodd is ignorant of history as well. Price controls result in absence of goods on the shelf. Businesses have no obligation to operate at a loss. Regulation that guarantees a "fair" profit e.g. public utilities encourages inefficiency as there is no incentive to operate efficiently if you are guaranteed a "fair" profit. There is a tendency to increasing prices as no competitive pressure is present to hold costs down to preserve profit margin.

[roses of sharon]

The founding fathers did not have to contend with the ABCCBSNBCMSNBCPBSNPRNEWSWEEKTIMENYTWPHOLLYWOODCNNACADEMIA, war room monopoly.

[Neoliberalnot]

How bout the Gov mandating how much profit they can make/steal from my labor. I pay about 50% of my income in taxes. People are concerned about private sector companies making $100 while stupidly sitting by while the government steals their income with the threat of gun violence should they resist. Go figure.

[wastedyears]

What’s your opinion on him?

[Myrddin]

The WPT will have the effect of eliminating all profits, so there won't be and "windfall" to tax...............

The oil companies will cut production as they have no incentive to sell a product for no profit. That oil will still be in the ground at some point in the future when more intelligent policies are in place. Prices will rise on what is left and shortages will become common. The left is dumb as a sack of rocks.

[Phantom Lord]

Hey, nut ball PA democrat Paul Kanjorski wants to set up a "Reasonable Profits Board" for government to determine if a companys profits are "excessive."

HR 5800

Congressman Proposes that Government Establish a "Reasonable Profits Board"