President Joe Biden took aim at oil companies on Monday, accusing them of profiting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while threatening to tax excess oil profits if companies do not bolster production in the United States.
In remarks from the White House, Biden said he is a “capitalist” and has “no problem with corporations turning a fair profit or getting the return on their investment” but that oil companies currently posting record profits are doing as a result of the war in Ukraine.
“Oil companies’ record profits today are not because they’re doing something new or innovative,” Biden said. “Their profits are a windfall of war—the windfall from the brutal conflict that’s ravaging Ukraine and hurting tens of millions of people around the globe. You know, at a time of war, any company receiving historic windfall profits like this has a responsibility to act beyond their narrow self-interest of its executives and shareholders.”…