Not such a good idea after all.

Obama shelves oil company tax after price fall

CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama is not planning to implement a windfall profit tax on oil companies because prices have dropped below $80 a barrel, an aide said on Tuesday.

"President-elect Obama announced the policy during the campaign because oil prices were above $80 per barrel," an aide on Obama's transition team said. "They are currently below that now and expected to stay below that."

Oil prices have fallen from a record $147 a barrel in July to under $50 this week.

If it was such a great idea at $147 a barrel, why is it not at $50? The oil companies make the same 4-6% profit they did when it was at $147. Remember, it is the oil speculators and OPEC that are making the $147. Is he going to tax OPEC?
Here is the problem with a "windfall profit tax", who decides what a windfall profit is and wouldn't any profit be considered a windfall? If it is such a great idea, why not institute it across the board? Gas, milk, computer products, and even clothes should all be "windfall" taxed if they make more than 6% profit. The Constitution says no legislation shall be made that benefits or punishes a single person or entity, so by that, everything should be "windfall" taxed if one thing is taxed.
To help the layman wrap their head around this "tax" lets look at E-bay. If a "windfall" tax is instituted to punish someone for making more than they "should" then E-bay sales should be taxed, and any money you make over the 6% you paid for the item, must be paid to the government so they can help the less fortunate. In other words, if you sell that Hello Kitty toaster cozy that you bought for $10, for more than $10.60, then the rest needs to be paid to the Government because it is a "windfall profit". Doesn't sound so great now, does it?