Durbin's "windfall profit tax" is a lot of hot air

Senior Senator Dick Durbin of IL has proposed something called a "windfall profit tax" to cap the profits of oil companies and help ease the burden on the public reeling under the pressure of high gas prices. Now, what constitutes as "windfall profit"? Who will define that? And, why restrict it to just oil companies? Why not apply this to all companies? It would be interesting to see how this will apply to software companies after all the incremental cost of a software product is close to zero.

Why can't the good senator and his likes think of things that make sense and are within their control like improving the public transportation infrastructure (rather than giving free rides to senior citizens and the homeless) or increasing the fuel efficiency requirements on vehicles. Heck, all those require time, effort and will not have the same effect on the public as "windfall profit tax". We all need someone to be the "bad guy" and it is easy to paint the oil companies (and, in other occasions, the Chinese companies) as the "bad guys."

I guess it is guys like Senator Durbin who make sure that Chicago's legacy as "the windy city" lives on. Got to love him for that.

White lies or half truths?

The photo on the side is from BBC on an article on reservations. I like how BBC chooses its words to make this look as if Indians are against poor people having opportunities. I guess they feel that the so called "backward" classes are economically poor.

BBC does its best to keep the spirit of the Raj alive. To them the Kashmir terrorists are always "militants" (within the quotes). The government reservation is to help the "untouchables" and now, the "poor." I guess they do not know that yadavas are considered "backward" yet Krishna, a yadava, is one of the more popular gods. And, some of the rich Indians are still beneficiaries of the government reservation program(s).

Reservation in India in the form it is implemented is not about social equality or opportunities for the poor but creation of vote banks. As a famous Brit (that would be Maggie Thatcher) once said - the job of the government is to create opportunities, not provide handouts. I bet majority in India will agree with that sentiment.