Petróleos de Venezeula, the nationalized energy company.
Now that the election is over, Sullivan is back to his Libertarian hi-jinks:
The oil industry does make big profits, but they are also already one of the most heavily taxed industries. And their tax payments to governments increase along with their profits. There has been a lot of coverage given to the record profits being made by the oil companies, but much less to the record windfalls in the form of taxes that governments have received over the past few years as a result.
Saying a windfall tax punishes humble the entrepreneur who was just following the rules assumes the taxes were made fair and square. And even if his profits were made technically by the rules, you’re deluding yourself if you think his company had no role in making those rules. Mother Jones (among others) has exposed the collusion of the Project for a New American Century (think tank of Cheney, Wolfowitz, etc.) and big oil. If nothing else, the silly graph above shows that the Bush misadventure provided a new theater for profit-making.
Thus the current discourse around energy reform pointlessnessly pits consumers against producers. This lets politicians take a convenient pass on the issue. Chávez’s solution is clearly the sober way to deal with it. Energy, like the postal service, should serve the people, not a group of powerful plutocrats. It would be cheaper and have more effective planning.
It’s sad how many sharp thinkers have been hoodwinked by the neoconservative discourse on taxation.
