Dave Hall asks:

(Charlie Self) wrote in message
LOTS OF SNIPPAGE
But I'm not exactly sure how a windfall profits tax could have done so much
damage: it taxed only excess profits.
SNIP SOME MORE
Charlie Self

What exactly are "excess profits". More than you get? More than you
think someone should get? 1%, 10%, 500%, 5000% ??? If you sell an
article or book, how do we determine how much of your profits are
"excess" so we can take them all?

Dave, c'mon. That's nonsense. The windfall profits tax hit profits that
exceeded those in a normal year by something like 1000%. It did stop the kind
of at-the-pump-gouging we're getting now. Maybe it was unfair to
business--pardon me while I choke at the total unfairness to bidness in this
country over the past couple decades.

Collusion and price fixing are criminal acts and should be prosecuted.
However, like any crime, you should be able to prove it and not punish
someone simply because you are envious or because you covet something
they have and don't want to pay their asking price.

I'm not exactly sure how you get covetessness out of a windfall profits tax,
nor do I much care, but it does seem that you might have some form to your
argument other than an insult. Otherwise, your argument doesn't stand up at all
well.

Charlie Self

"Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and
steady dedication of a lifetime. "
Adlai E. Stevenson