Yes, we can.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

The profits do benefit the people....it's a publically traded corporation.

And tax revenue benfits the people. It's a government of the people, by the people, for the people.

As I've said before, I do not consider oil profits evil or wrong. But neither do I consider revenue for the government evil or wrong. Both are amoral and can be put to good use or destructive use. Blanket statements like "better in the hands of the people than the government" read as kinda nonsensical to me as the government IS the hands of the people. Doesn't mean all money should go there, but pooling a portion of our money together is one way to get more economic bang for the buck. There's a reason that any group of people trying to accomplish something very quickly ends up with a treasurer, some things can just get done more effectively when acting as a body with a pool of money vs. acting as individuals. We can debate for eons on exactly where that benefit begins and ends, but it's absolutely not a black and white "less taxing means better economy". Don't make me pull the graphs out again.

But all of that is beside the point. I think it's absurd to accept subsidies in desperate times and not expect to have to pay for that benefit if it works. It's not a loan because the government is willing to eat the loss if the subsidy fails. But if it works and they're in a position where they're not only succeeding, but succeeding to an overwhelming degree, then I see nothing wrong with insisting that they turn around and support the very body (i.e. our government that represents us) that got them to that point in the first place.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

And tax revenue benfits the people. It's a government of the people, by the people, for the people.

I suppose I disagree with that to an extent. The government is fat and bloated and wasteful and providing the government with more money leads to more of the same.

I would not even be against a higher tax rate in return when the company becaomes profitable after a subsidy - as long as that was a stipulation. Otherwise investors do not know what they are getting into. What happens to the price of a stock should the government just decide that industry A gets taxed at a higher rate because of their profitability?

But still, we can agree that it (meaning business) would be better without either subsidies or windfall profits taxes.