Wednesday, March 14, 2007

More on the Halliburton move to Dubai

I mentioned this a few days ago, but Tony Blankley has a great column on the issue as well. From RCP:
Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman threatened hearings on the Halliburton move (birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, Waxman gotta threaten hearings), while Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy complained that Halliburton was somehow trying to cheat the American taxpayers (even though Halliburton is going to continue to pay its corporate taxes to the IRS -- and anyway, Dubai doesn't tax corporations that site in their city. Hm? No taxes as an inducement to increased business activity -- there's an idea to which Sen. Leahy probably hasn't given sufficient thought.)

Rather than hold hearings, or construct phantom conspiratorial tax evasion theories, Waxman, Leahy and their fellow ilk might consider that since Congress won't permit American oil companies to drill for the more than 140 billion barrels of recoverable oil that exists under American ground and in our coastal waters, it only makes sense for oil drilling companies to go where oil drilling is permitted.

I wouldn't blame Halliburton if it moved all its assets out of a country (that would be the United States) that slanders their good name rather than appreciates their world-class, vitally needed skills. What a pity if Waxman and his fellow anti-capitalists soon won't have Halliburton to kick around anymore.
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But as America is now driving its productive assets and people (such as Halliburton) away, we shouldn't be too smug.

A modern day version of Atlas Shrugged, perhaps?

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