Targetted Taxes (aka "Government Playing Robin Hood")

U.S. News and World Report has a great, short article on the issue of taxing oil companies for their recent windfall profits (you may want to watch this video for context - I was going to write a post when I first saw this video when it came out, but I thought I might burst a blood vessel). There are all kinds of aspects to this issue that the author does not address, but the main point of the article, i.e., accepting the premise of taxing recent oil profits leads to the logical conclusion of taxing other successful, profitable companies for whatever kind of well-intentioned goal a politician can dream up, is well made.

HT: TaxProf Blog