It’s the first time I’ve posted a news article. I had my fingers crossed on whether it would post correctly or not.
Sorry about that.
And you are right about the subsidies, but we are ticked off at GE and their annual tax subsidies. I don’t HAVE to buy a GE dishwasher or even fly in a plane with GE engines. I have a choice there. I HAVE to pay $4.15 a gallon when these guys are literally raking in money hand over fist. These guys are and have been for many years, crooked. Unless you are Amish, there’s no way around handing them money.
GE’s subsidies are just that, subsidies for their BS green tech projects that nobody wants or needs.
Big Oil’s subsidies are not that at all. They are standard tax deductions just like any capital intensive business. You’ve bought into too much of the libtard spin as your baseline template.
1) buy an electric car
2) grow your own sugar beets, put in a still and brew your own ethanol or butanol
3) raise peanuts and produce your own diesel from the peanut oil
4) gather used vegi oil from food joints and reformulate into bio-diesel
5) Take public transportation (not a 100% option as the buses still use oil/gas/diesel)
6) convert your vehicle to run on Natural Gas (may not be a 100% option as some of the NG comes from big oil)
7) Buy, feed, maintain and ride a horse
8) ride a bicycle
9) bum rides from your friends (again, not a 100% option as they are paying big oil and will eventually want some money to cover their costs)
10) Walk
There are pros and cons with each of those options. Most people don't like the cons so much that they are willing to trade dollars to avoid those inconveniences.
IT IS A CHOICE
BTW, what is wrong with making a profit? And just exactly when does a profit become obscene? Is it the $100 Millionth dollar? If the company stays below $100 M have they avoided being obscene? Lets put this into personal income perspective. When is a raise obscene for you?
The states and the federal government gas taxes take a bigger junk of the $4.00/gallon price at the pump than do the NET profits on that $4.00 by the oil companies - less than 8 cents on the dollar after the dealer and the distributor take their cut.
January, 2011
Combined State & Fed. Taxes Per/Gallon
State......State Tax....Fed.Tax.Total
California...47.7....18.4....66.1
New.York.....47.2....18.4....65.6
Hawaii..........45.8....18.4....64.2
Connecticut...45.2....18.4....63.6
Illinois...........42.8....18.4....61.2
Michigan.......37.7....18.4....56.1
Washington...37.5....18.4....55.9
Indiana.........37.2....18.4....55.6
Florida.........34.4....18.4....52.8
Nevada..........33.1....18.4....51.5
Rhode.Island....33.0....18.4....51.4
Wisconsin......32.9....18.4....51.3
North.Carolina..32.8....18.4....51.2
Pennsylvania....32.3....18.4....50.7
West.Virginia...32.2....18.4....50.6
Maine...........31.0....18.4....49.4
Oregon..........31.0....18.4....49.4
Ohio............28.0....18.4....46.4
Montana.........27.8....18.4....46.2
Nebraska........27.3....18.4....45.7
Minnesota.......27.2....18.4....45.6
Idaho...........25.0....18.4....43.4
Kansas..........25.0....18.4....43.4
New.Hampshire...25.0....18.4....43.4
Utah............24.5....18.4....42.9
South.Dakota....24.0....18.4....42.4
Maryland........23.5....18.4....41.9
Massachusetts...23.5....18.4....41.9
D.C.............23.5....18.4....41.9
Delaware........23.0....18.4....41.4
North.Dakota....23.0....18.4....41.4
Kentucky........22.5....18.4....40.9
Colorado........22.0....18.4....40.4
Iowa............22.0....18.4....40.4
Arkansas........21.8....18.4....40.2
Tennessee.......21.4....18.4....39.8
Alabama.........20.9....18.4....39.3
Georgia.........20.8....18.4....39.2
Louisiana.......20.0....18.4....38.4
Texas...........20.0....18.4....38.4
Virginia........19.7....18.4....38.1
Vermont.........19.6....18.4....38.0
Arizona.........19.0....18.4....37.4
Mississippi.....18.8....18.4....37.2
New.Mexico......18.8....18.4....37.2
Missouri........17.3....18.4....35.7
Oklahoma........17.0....18.4....35.4
South.Carolina..16.8....18.4....35.2
New.Jersey......14.5....18.4....32.9
Wyoming.........14.0....18.4....32.4
Alaska..........08.0....18.4....26.4
National
Average: .......29.7............48.1
At a theoretical $4.00/gallon, in California, the state of California keeps 47,2 cents, the federal government takes 18.4 cents, for a total tax take of 66.1 cents. And, at a rate of about 8.75 cents on the dollar (of THEIR revenue, not counting the retailer and the distributor), the oil company might NET something under 35 cents on the gallon, or something near half what is taken in taxes.
Notice also that in all but four states the net take in taxes in higher than the net profits of the oil suppliers.
So who is it that is “gouging” on the retail price at the pump?
In how many states does the gasoline tax revenue go 100% exclusively to the state’s roads; exclusively back directly to the consumers paying the tax?
The other problem with the gas taxes is that in an environment when the basic cost of the product is rising, encouraging people to buy less, means they are encouraged to drive less, which means they are encouraged to consumer fewer gallons of gas, which means the higher the tax (like California) the greater a decline in gas tax revenue.
In fact, it was not so long ago that the California legislature acknowledged that: “Oh, gee, people ARE driving less, so we’re getting less from the gas tax”; and concluded: “so, we should raise the gas tax”. Notice who now has the highest gas taxes and the highest gas prices. Stupid is as stupid does.
I am tired of hearing about the crooked oil companies. The government makes much more off of every gallon of gas than the oil companies do. If they were really crooked, couldn’t the oil companies do better than that? The recent dramatic rise of gas prices is attributable to the policies the Obama regime has been pursuing, not because of the oil companies flexing their muscles to screw over the consumer. Between the Obama regime inflating the hell out of our money supply with QE1 and QE2, shutting off all drilling in the gulf and denying oil companies the permits to drill elsewhere the current rise in fuel prices was easy to see coming. For example, Shell recently spent billions of dollars to prepare a lease for drilling in Alaska. The Obama regime had the EPA deny them their permit to actually drill. Do you think that decision made oil cheaper? The Senate hearings were also easy to see coming as that is what the ‘Rats do every time oil prices predictably rise as a result of their idiotic, Sierra Club driven policies. ‘Rats have been calling in the oil company executives to “investigate” them every time oil prices have increased for the last 40 years. In all those “investigations” they have never found anything illegal. The only reason the elected ‘Rats do this is to deflect blame away from themselves, where it belongs, and to convince their stupid, business hating supporters that they are on their side against the big, evil, crooked oil companies. I have noticed that they never investigate the oil companies when the prices go back down. Obama said during his election campaign “under my policies, the price of energy will necessarily sky rocket.” Given what his regime is doing to hinder/destroy the oil, coal, nuclear and natural gas industries in the USA, that is the only unequivocally true statement I have ever heard him make. I do not understand how anybody can pin the blame for high oil prices anywhere but on the ‘Rats and Obama. Why would any sane person expect anything different to happen to oil prices under the policies implemented by Barky’s regime?
A tax break is not a subsidy.