Obama wants to tax oil companies more because of their “high profits”, etc. etc. What this is really about, I think, is raising the price of gas as a tax is thought to raise the prices of goods, just as a subsidy (in theory) is supposed to lower the cost of a good. This is basic micro stuff I think, so why does everyone fall for it?
Because everyone doesn’t know basic micro.
Why the hell doesn’t anyone just come out and say it? “When Obama says he wants to tax oil companies what he really means is that he wants to raise the price of gas.”
Well, some try. That’s what a majority of Mises Dailies are for. But we just established that people don’t even understand basic mirco. So they obviously don’t think about it like that…and certainly can’t see it that way. All they hear is someone telling them what Obama “really means.” Not only that, but they hear someone saying “Obama wants to raise the price of gas.” You have to admit that sounds pretty outlandish, and exactly like a baseless partisan attack.
And when all you know is partisan attacks (because you don’t understand anything else), obviously virtually everything you hear that doesn’t align with your viewpoint is going to be brushed off as…you guessed it…a partisan attack.
Anything that doesn’t fit the leftists worldview is just misinformation propagated by some fatcat trying to exploit someone and make a buck. That’s how it always is. If you don’t agree with them, it’s not that you’re wrong, you actually have an agenda, and you’re a bad person. Or you’re just a complete idiot who doesn’t even know what’s good for him.
This is in line with the thoughts of the Green® college professors I’ve talked to. The understand that “alternative” energy isn’t feasible unless the price of gasoline is high; so, if the market doesn’t raise the price, then they want the government to impose taxes to make the price higher. Furthermore, those taxes would be used to subsidize the alternatives.
Now, you either have to be ignorant or be in on the scam to not realize that the biggest alternative energy companies are the big oil companies.