A question for the Ed Schultz daily listeners

[Bill219]

I caught the tail end of a listener phone call this afternoon and the caller was filling Ed in on a law that Bush repealed back in 2001 concerning the amount of profits of the oil and gas industry could have which the caller claims was the reason for the low gas prices for many years

Does anyone remember what the law was...it sounded like Ferg or something close to it

[corkhead]

1. are you talking about the "windfall profits tax"?

In 1980, United States federal legislation was passed that levied such a tax on oil companies because of the profits they earned as a result of the sharp increase in oil prices brought about by the Arab oil embargo. Since then, the tax has not been reenacted, however with gas prices once again reaching record levels there is renewed pressure on the U.S. government to bring back the tax. Amid low oil prices, the tax was ended in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan <1>.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windfall_profits_tax

[Bill219]

2. I do not know if that is it

I could not make it out because of my XM reception today, but it sounded like FERG

[corkhead]

5. your having that problem too. I was blaming it on my receiver until I saw the hubbub about it

[Rude Horner]

3. It was "FERC" and it wasn't a law, it was a commission

After Ed's staff Googled it, they found that it was a commission, not a law that Bush repealed. At least that's what I heard before I had to shut off the car radio and come back into work.

FERC - Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Bill219]

4. thanks

Now how do we go about getting this commission back?