"Pay a penalty for windfall profits"
Kentucky is late in the game when it comes to primary elections - so we're late at getting the ads. i'll pick on anyone from any candidate that i find something to pick at. i am no fan of obama - who is not a liberal - he's a leftist IMHO. so, i am right out front with my opinion of the man - just to make things clear from the starting gate.
Gas prices are horrid ... i'll agree with everyone on that ... but anytime i hear anyone attach the word "Big" to an industry - my crap detector starts ringing. Compaines work to become "Big" and anytime an industry is making money - the people down the chain are making money as well. i am not saying that industries cannot get top heavy - they do - but they won't stay that way ... not in the marketplace. now, one industry which will get top heavy (the money collects at the top) and doesn't have market forces working upon it - would be governments. when governments get top heavy - it takes a huge amount of energy to bring about any force that will effect a change to the ever hungry government mochine (spelled as i wanted to spell it).
fact check .org has a piece on this obama ad about "big oil" - you can read that for yourself.
here's the script from an earlier version of this ad - very similar to the one i heard:
this brings up another pet peeve of mine ... when the candidate is the one speaking in the ad - why do they need to say anything like, "I approve this message...."?????Since the gas lines of the ’70’s, Democrats and Republicans have talked about energy independence, but nothing’s changed — except now Exxon’s making $40 billion a year, and we’re paying $3.50 for gas.
I’m Barack Obama. I don’t take money from oil companies or Washington lobbyists, and I won’t let them block change anymore. They’ll pay a penalty on windfall profits. We’ll invest in alternative energy, create jobs and free ourselves from foreign oil.
I approve this message because it’s time that Washington worked for you. Not them.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/28/obamas-big-oil-ad-draws-fire/
it makes no sense - they're the one speaking ... of course they approve of their ads. duh?
a penalty on windfall profits?!!! that's wacky crazy talk!!!! this has been done before to oil companies - it doesn't change the price of oil - or the cost at the pump - and actually would increase the cost of gas (if one thinks about it - companies don't pay taxes - excise type taxes like this - they have to put it into the cost of the product). to tax a company for market changes which profit a company is stupid - and not corrective. it also has proved not to increase the revenue to the "government" as much as people would think (wikipedia's decent take on this).
The Congressional Research Service has analysed that the windfall profit tax brought in $80 billion in extra revenues for the United States government, which was far less than the projected $393 billion. Also, domestic oil production by oil producers was said to be lowered. (source)the only industry which stands to profit from such odd actions as described by obama would be the government. politicians of all stripes get stupid when a great deal of money is floating around anywhere.
Americans live in a country where we cannot build nuclear power plants (like the gen 5 plants that consume their own waste); a country where we haven't built new refineries in decades; a country that doesn't drill for its own oil - even though we have it in abundance; a country that seems daily to buy into the carbon emissions rationale for the climate shifts and changes which have been stuffed into a sack named "global warming" - which when i was a kid was going to be "global cooling" - come on? it's weather forecasting ... tell me how much you trust the weather forecast? how often are they right? shouldn't we at least bring the healthy skepticism we hold towards our local weather chica or guy to the prophets of global doom (minus the sandwich boards) that chrip like chicken littles "the sky is falling" ... er ummm "the earth is warming!"
i've wandered into side territory ... excuse me for that...
obama's ad is one aimed at "the pain at the pump" everyone feels - with the exception of my family - we cut it down to one economy car and walking 2 years ago - because - hey, we ain't rich.
it's almost always an appeal to emotion (maybe it always is an appeal to emotion) to call for sticking it to the "big insert industry name here" and it appeals not to reasoned thought - no matter how big the issue of the times. to simply do a "I'll stick it to them" and "not you" kind of message is an "us vs them" mentality that never wins anything in real time - but maybe some bucks for the government (and never as much as the government wants - ever).
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