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19 Responses to “Would Obama’s windfall profit tax on big oil lower gas prices?”

1. HIllbilly Yacht Club Member, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:47 am Said:

   No, they will increase the cost of gas to cover their losses.

2. a_wood80, on March 12th, 2009 at 7:34 am Said:

   No. A lot of people don’t seem to understand that gasoline is one of those things we basically have to buy. Raising taxes on it will only raise the end price for the consumer.

3. Why Don't People Like Me?, on March 15th, 2009 at 12:03 am Said:

   No. It will increase them.

4. G-Man, on March 16th, 2009 at 11:57 pm Said:

   No, because no matter how much people would like oil to be lower that is not how it works. Oil is governed by the laws of supply and demand and right now demand is eclipsing supply. Add in the falling dollar and rising debt and oil keeps going up. Raising taxes on the oil companies will not help people, just give the govt more money.

5. Patrick G, on March 19th, 2009 at 4:58 am Said:

   Absolutely not.

   Who do you think will end up paying for that tax increase….

   Not the oil company.

6. Hacker_192.168.0.1, on March 22nd, 2009 at 6:48 am Said:

   It would take the “FOR PROFIT out of war and the savings in lives, money and lifetime medical expenses would pay for all the gas in this country by leaving that same money still in our pockets, so , YES. It would lift AMERICA up out of this “Bush Depression”.

7. Infernal Disaster, on March 24th, 2009 at 2:16 pm Said:

   Every time you increases taxes on a company, they will almost always raise prices.

   In the end, you pay more and the company still keeps their profit margine.

8. cowbignbrown, on March 25th, 2009 at 4:19 pm Said:

   No!!!! Only competition from new companies/refineries and greater amounts of available crude will control prices.

9. phillipk_1959, on March 28th, 2009 at 7:14 am Said:

   NO, it will of course increase the price.

10. double bungalow, on March 31st, 2009 at 3:59 am Said:

    No. No matter who you elect, the price of oil will continue to go up.

    Anyone tells you otherwise, they are LYING.

    There are no political ways out of this mess.

    Americans had the chance thirty years ago to get a head start on solving the energy crisis.

    Instead they got mad at Jimmy Carter for telling them to wear sweaters, they went out and bought stupid gas guzzling cars, they put all their attention on sports, and american idols and teenage girl whore-stars; they let oil men run the country.

    Now they are waking up to a messy room and wondering who made the mess.

    They did while they were sleep walking.

11. Return of Bite My Shiny Metal..., on April 3rd, 2009 at 9:01 am Said:

    Taxes are an expense. Anyone who has taken an accounting course or has a basic understanding of finance recognizes it. If “Mr. 8 Ball” gets this passed, what will stop the oil companies from raising prices to offset the lost revenue?

    Since oil company profits range between 7% and 12%, will other companies that have a profit above these levels also be subject to a windfall profit tax? Will people who sell on eBay and make a profit in that range also be subject to windgfall taxes? Afterall, isn’t it obscene that they can sell a $100.00 item for $107.00 and make an outrageous 7% profit on the transaction?

12. TheOnlyBeldin, on April 4th, 2009 at 11:56 am Said:

    No, since gas prices aren’t high due to oil company profits, which are about 9% of revenue.

    They’re high due to the weak dollar, which lies at the feet of the moron running the Federal Reserve.

13. tracymae64, on April 6th, 2009 at 2:01 pm Said:

    The “Big Oil People” actually are the owners of stock (and mutual funds) i.e. teachers retirement, municipal employees retirement, “Joe Blow” America that have an interest in oil company stock. Pass the tax onto the stock owners? Another Obamie, smoke and mirrors act.

14. smsmith500, on April 8th, 2009 at 4:49 am Said:

    No, the oil companies would just pass any tax on to the consumers. The only way to lower prices is to increase the supply. That means drilling in the ANWR, offshore and in the lower 48 states. It means building refineries and atomic power plants. It means doing the things that no Liberal will ever do, put the needs of the many before the desires of the few.

15. Quinn22, on April 11th, 2009 at 11:37 am Said:

    Only a liberal idiot would even think that taxing something would lower the price of the product. This is what happens when you teach communism or socialism and neglect to teach the free market system in the schools.

16. beta_hat, on April 13th, 2009 at 2:28 am Said:

    No, but they won’t raise prices either. The reason for that is that the oil supply is basically fixed in the short run while demand fluctuates seasonally. There is no reason to believe that oil companies cannot sell all of the oil they want at whatever price is determined by market demand, so they have no reason to raise or lower the prices if their profits are taxed. In the long-run, raising higher taxes on oil company profits would discourage investment in oil, but that’s the whole point of the windfall tax - it is not a permanent tax hike.

    Some people here really don’t understand basic economics.

17. ♥♥♥♥emtae♥♥♥♥, on April 14th, 2009 at 5:24 pm Said:

    No.

    Allowing drilling of new oil wells and building refineries so America can be energy independent would lower prices.

    This is not going to happen anytime soon as the liberals have their heads up their own ***** regarding whats coming in our immediate future…10.00 a gallon gas anyone?

18. ReelBrothers, on April 17th, 2009 at 9:00 pm Said:

    The price will certainly go up, Dems want the money to fund more social programs, and as soon as Govt sets controls on private enterprise investors will have no reason to invest in the stock market, killing everyones retirement 401K.

19. DD, on April 21st, 2009 at 3:18 am Said:

    No. Taxing the company that sells the product never makes the price go down. If anything, the cost of the tax will eventually be passed on to the consumer, there is no way around that. Companies must make a reasonable profit on their investments, or they will eventually go out of business. Big oil companies currently have net profit margins of about 8% to 10% of revenue . Why isn’t anybody proposing windfall profits taxes on the likes of Microsoft or Google who have net profit margins of about 28% and 25% respectively? You can check out those figures at MSN money, investing, stocks, company report.

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