Obama: Lower Gas Prices By Taxing Big Oil More

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Here comes Obama The Blamer. Blame Bush, Blame oil companies:

In his weekly address to the nation Saturday, Obama sought to redirect consumers’ anger with his administration to anger with Congress for allowing companies like Exxon Mobil and Chevron to receive $4 billion from the federal government every year.

“Your member of Congress should be fighting for you. Not for big financial firms. Not for big oil companies,” Obama claimed.

“In the next few weeks, I expect Congress to vote on ending these subsidies,” he continued. “And when they do, we’re going to put every single Member of Congress on record: They can either stand up for oil companies, or they can stand up for the American people.”

Lefties think ending these subsidies wouldn’t force the oil companies to raise gas prices because big oil already makes so much money. Really? Their net profit margin is 7.9%. Out of all the industries they rank 91st in profits out of 216 industries listed.

How about taxes paid?

The federal Energy Information Administration reports that the industry paid some $35.7 billion in corporate income taxes in 2009, the latest year for which data are available…That figure also doesn’t count excise taxes, state taxes and rents, royalties, fees and bonus payments. All told, the government rakes in $86 million from oil and gas every day—far more than from any other business.

Not paying their “fair share”? Here’s a staggering fact: The Tax Foundation estimates that, between 1981 and 2008, oil and gas companies sent more dollars to Washington and the state capitols than they earned in profits for shareholders.

…As for the “subsidies” that Mr. Obama says the oil industry receives, these aren’t direct cash handouts like those that go to the green lobby. They’re deductions from taxes that cover the cost of doing business and earning income to tax in the first place. Most of them are available to other manufacturers.

Hmmmm, how about those green subsidies? Now those are real subsidies with millions of dollars in cash handed over without any due diligence and when those companies go belly up the tax payers are left holding the bag:

…Taxpayers and ratepayers are providing subsidies worth almost as much as the entire $1.6 billion cost of the project. Similar subsidy packages have been given to 15 other solar- and wind-power electric plants since 2009.

The government support — which includes loan guarantees, cash grants and contracts that require electric customers to pay higher rates — largely eliminated the risk to the private investors and almost guaranteed them large profits for years to come. The beneficiaries include financial firms like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, conglomerates like General Electric, utilities like Exelon and NRG — even Google.

Any whining from Obama about giving subsidies to GE? Google?

How about ACORN?

Doug Powers:

If eliminating government subsidies for oil companies might make gas less expensive, why wouldn’t eliminating government subsidies for General Electric make, say, refrigerators cheaper? Wait, the latter subsidies are for “green” projects so they’re okay.

Hell, GE made about $14 billion dollars in profit last year, and paid very little in taxes:

A new analysis issued this week by the nonprofit, liberal advocacy group says that based on GE’s annual report for 2011 — filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last Friday — the industrial conglomerate had an effective tax rate of only 11.3 percent. That undercuts company statements that its U.S. tax rate for last year was a considerably higher 25 percent. Whichever is accurate, the figure is far below the official U.S. corporate-tax rate of 35 percent.

The analysis, which compiled GE’s profits and tax payments from 2002 to 2011, also concluded that the company has paid about $1.8 billion in federal income taxes on $81.2 billion worth of pretax U.S. profits since 2002, an annual average of 2.3 percent.

Any whining about that from Obama?

No, instead he will continue to pound an industry that employs millions of people across this country, an industry that makes very little profit wise when compares to other industries, and an industry that is providing a indispensable service.

While doling out millions to the green industry that continues to go bankrupt.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAaqkqBYR6I[/youtube]

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MATA
I don’t know if one mentionned it,
I just heard that THEOIL COMPANY VALDEZ CLOSE, AND I wonder if the ALASKA CITIZENS WILL GET ALL WHAT WAS AGREED TO BE PAID TO THEM FOR THE DAMMAGES OF THE OIL SPILL
OF YEARS AGO.
BYE

Bees, I don’t know of what you speak. The payouts for that lawsuit were ordered back in 2008. One of the law firms involved in that litigation had a status update site, and there is nothing beyond that.

So unless you can link what you are talking about, I’m in the dark to your comment.

But what has happened in the past few days is that the ship itself, what used to be christened the Exxon Valdez, is being decommissioned and sold for scrap iron. Perhaps you’re confusing that with litigation?

MATA YES IT MUST BE , BUT I heard it in a different wording that was today in FOX NEWS, SO
I UNDERSTOOD THAT IT HAS JUST HAPPENED NOW, AND CAME TO TELL IT HERE, and I added the comment that they where so slow in paying the damages because I had read it before,
and was wondering if the people would get their due afterward,
THANK’S FOR CORRECTING THE STORY,