The Liberty Papers

Lawrence Kudlow has an excellent column out this morning responding to those, such as Hillary Clinton who denounced the profits earned by companies such as ExxonMobil:

The bottom line is that our economic system is all about free-market capitalism, and at the core of that system is profit. Profit isn’t a dirty word. From profits spring the abundance of this great country. Profits are the mother’s milk of stocks and the economy. Expanding profits provide businesses the resources to enlarge production operations and hire additional workers. This, in turn, is how incomes are created, wages that are then spent by American families. Why can’t liberals grasp this?

When the government meddles in the market and taxes companies more — when it sticks its nose where it doesn’t belong — it ends up hurting not just businesses, but all individuals. Taxing profits more means taxing families more. Taxing profits more leads to smaller wage gains for middle-income workers. When you tax American companies more, the American work force is paid less. And when you tax American energy companies more, they produce less energy. That means higher prices for gas at the pump and heating fuel at home. This may enrich Uncle Sam, but it comes at the expense of ordinary folks.

(…)

When you tax profits more you undermine the American work ethic and the incentive structure that goes with it. In fact, you demoralize the very system that has made this country great. It’s the people who ultimately pay the corporate profits tax — and that includes shareholders, pensioners, and other retirees. Business taxes should be headed down, not up.

Sounds good to me.