Dems propose board to regulate oil profits: What could go wrong?

All they want is oil companies to make "reasonable" profits - as if there was such an animal in a free market economy.

The Hill:

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.

Silly us. Why would we think that responsible lawmakers would want to, you know, act responsibly and tell us what their idea of "reasonable profit" might be?

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.

What possible incentive would an oil company have to drill only to have congress steal 100% of its profit?

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.

Only a liberal could come up with a bill that refuses to define "reasonable profits" - but will take 75% of profits over and above whatever liberals deem to be "reasonable."

They may as well just put a gun to the head of oil company executives and demand they open the safe. They have no clue about drilling costs or transportation costs, or any other cost of doing business in the oil sector. All they know is, profits are "too high."

They should be locked up in a loony bin for being a danger to themselves - and us.