More Please

Give Me More

The six largest oil companies netted a profit of about $38 billion for the first quarter of this year. Profits are way up over the past year and prices at the pump are approaching the levels of a couple of years ago even though the price per barrel of oil is about $50 less. The President and the Democratic Party in the Senate have proposed that the United States rescind the tax break that oil companies receive to promote exploration and drilling. Those tax breaks total $21 billion over the next ten years. At the same time the oil companies' profits at the current rate would be $1,520,000,000,000 That is one trillion, five hundred billion dollars. Now, no one would argue that the oil companies would make those kinds of profits each quarter for ten years but they would not change significantly either up or down. So, can you seriously try to tell me that they would miss $21,000,000,000 over that period. Poor things, they would only make $1, 499,000,000,000. That represents 1/10^th of one percent of their projected profits. How would they ever make it?

This is where I get off! First we equate the rights of corporations with the rights of human beings and then we see something like this. I do not know any person who would not be willing to give up such an infinitesimal amount to help someone else but the oil giants won't give it up to help a nation wallowing in debt. I just don't get it. Well, really I do. The corporations are not people and they don't care about anything but profits. They are not good citizens or they would be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

I read where Senator McConnell, yes, our own senator, said that we should not be raising taxes on oil companies when the economy is in the dumpster. I would ask, whose economy? Mine or the oil companies? The oil companies are doing great while millions of the rest of us are losing homes or trying to put food on the table. The spike in gas prices has negated much of the progress that our economy has made over the past couple of years. Senator McConnell made a point of pointing out that gasoline was $1.87 when President Obama took office and is now pushing $4.00 per gallon. He failed to point out that the economy had fallen off a cliff and that demand for gasoline plummeted which created a surplus and lower prices. He didn't point out that it happened under a previous administration and that this one has been slowly improving the job picture. He failed to point out that improvement in the economy increased demand for oil products thereby increasing the price. He failed to mention that the last time gasoline prices were this high oil was selling for $150 to $175 per barrel and now it is less than 2/3 of that price. And he failed to include mention of Wall Street speculation fueling at least 30% of the increase and possibly approaching 50% of the increase. And he failed to mention that just six months before President Obama took office that gas prices were at $4.12. Then he has the temerity to call wanting to rescind the tax credits to those Titans a tax increase. And our other senator, who is opposed to handouts voted the same way.

My grandson, who is twenty years old, made a profound statement. He said it is funny that when we ask the rich to sacrifice to help the debt it is a tax increase and when we ask the poor it is called budget cuts. You just have to give credit for a statement like that.

In the face of statements like this there is little reason for the population of this nation to support cuts in Social Security and Medicare. The example of the Titans is not very indicative of shared sacrifice. These tax credits are built into the tax code and are what are known as tax expenditures. By any definition of sanity you cannot call rescinding a gift a tax increase. The taxes are the same. The gift is gone.

This bill to rescind this tax credit went before the Senate, our elected representatives, and they rejected it. Our own representatives. Well, to be truthful a majority voted to rescind but due to the oft abused rule regarding filibuster the majority failed to reach the 60 votes required to invoke cloture to end filibuster. Predictably, the Democrats who are from oil producing states voted with the Republicans but a couple of the Republicans voted with the Democrats so it sort of balanced out if you can call selling out the American people being balanced.

My take on subsidizing those who do not need to be subsidized.