Dems propose 'Reasonable Profits Board' to regulate oil company profits

[R.Zaragoza]

Dems propose 'Reasonable Profits Board' to regulate oil company profits
By Pete Kasperowicz - 01/19/12 10:20 AM ET

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.).

Dems propose 'Reasonable Profits Board' to regulate oil company profits - The Hill's Floor Action

[PortDawg]

Overblown, Overbearing, crap-filled windbags.... card carrying members of the Communist Party.

[73sbVert]

I'm sure James Taggart and his cronies will be quite pleased.


Atlas Shrugged, coming to a country near you.

[Scissors]

[Captain Obvious]Horrible idea.[/Captain Obvious]

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by PortDawg

Overblown, Overbearing, crap-filled windbags.... card carrying members of the Communist Party.

That Kleveland clown should have been shot decades ago, but then again I feel that way about ALL communists.....

[LATB]

Originally Posted by mrvette

That Kleveland clown should have been shot decades ago, but then again I feel that way about ALL communists.....

you want to shoot Joecoool?

[DAB]

how about a 'reasonable government' board, to set the pay and work hours of congress?

want friday off? got your budget done? nope?? then back to work. and no OT pay. and your pay is tied to budget. deficit? no pay, in fact, pony up some bux.

[RedLS1GTO]

Are you f**king kidding me?

Hard to get any more blatantly anti-capitalist than that.

[Kneel 8250]

Under Obama's plan energy prices would skyrocket.

They have. You got what was voted for in 2008.

Now Obama wants a Board to find out why and regulate the Industry??????

How do you spell "stupid"???????

Kneel.

[RetiredSFC 97]

Welcome to the new america. It's not even the oil companies who dictate price. What a bunch of morons.

The dems, and of course the pubs, allowed Enron to convince them to allow for specualtion in the oil markets.

Was it a plan to get fuel expensive to give dems the avenue of control? I believe it was.

[73sbVert]

Originally Posted by Kneel 8250

...

How do you spell "stupid"???????

Kneel.

Easy! O, B, A, M, A. Stupid.

[VITE1]

Idiots. So when do they go after Investment companies for making "Too much Money" or Tech firms? Or you are me? When do they set up labor boards that decide which jobs and professions get get paid?

Anyone that supports something like this should be charged with Treason.