Whatever happened to the "Windfall profits" tax?

[Generic Other]

I recall Senator Henry Jackson using this threat to rein in oil companies during the Carter years. Why isn't it being used again?

According to Wikipedia:

In 1980, the United States enacted the Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax Act (P.L. 96-223) as part of a compromise between the Carter Administration and the Congress over the decontrol of crude oil prices. The Act was intended to recoup the revenue earned by oil producers as a result of the sharp increase in oil prices brought about by the OPEC oil embargo. According to the Congressional Research Service, the Act's title was a misnomer. "Despite its name, the crude oil windfall profit tax... was not a tax on profits. It was an excise tax... imposed on the difference between the market price of oil, which was technically referred to as the removal price, and a statutory 1979 base price that was adjusted quarterly for inflation and state severance taxes."

[Drale]

1. I like it but before they pay a windfall tax

They have to pay regular taxes first.

[Generic Other]

2. good point!

still, we need to discourage this sort of crap. If they are unable to profit, they will be less likely to try this rampant thievery.

[iemitsu]

3. its time we nationalize the oil companies.

or at least all of the profits being derived from public lands. very little of american oil is being sucked from private lands.

[Generic Other]

4. I just want it to be illegal to screw with vital commodities

simply to speculate. Seems particularly egregious in time of war. Seems treasonous when the country is in such dire straights.

[unblock]

5. if you don't let the rich keep their windfalls, they'll have nothing to refuse to give the poor.

or something like that.