Shek

First off, welcome to the board. I think you're shooting a little astride of the points being made, at least in this thread. I think you're also missing out on the philosophical point being made.

Let's start with the point being made in the thread, which is that the doctor is prescribing medication that the patient thinks will make them feel better, but instead, it will just keep them sick. What do I mean by this? Well, by punishing "big oil", Obama's plan will punish Joe American. Gas prices will increase, the primary stockholders of "big oil", who are not part of "big oil", will be punished when the value of the stock decreases.

I think that there is a strong argument to be made for increasing gas taxes, but it has absolutely nothing to do with hurting "big oil". This is a general observation that applies frequently when politicians propose taxes to punish big business, when in reality it will simply punish those who are not big business. It's econ 101.

Here's another piece that gets at what you don't hear when politicians rail against big business, in this case, "big oil".

http://www.qando.net/ - Obama, Exxon Mobil, economics and populism

The broader implicit philosophical point that you're running into is that what is wrong with profits being made? That is what underpins the capitalist economy, the system that has lifted more of mankind up out of subsistence living than anything else. If one is to mention record profits in one breath (and this isn't a supply side creation, but rather a demand side creation due to the growth of China, India, etc. among other things), then you must also mention the subpar profits (not losses, but weak and sagging profits) from the late-80s for about a decade.

This is nothing but political opportunism, and brings us back to the first point that Obama isn't doing this for the purported economics of it, but to hone some populist appeal.

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"So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3