Return oil profits to American people(liberal call to seize profits, is this still America?)

Baltimore Sun ^ | February 9, 2006 | GAR ALPEROVITZ

[sickoflibs]

It's nearly impossible for the average citizen to grasp the scale of ExxonMobil Corp.'s huge profits. In the quarter ended Dec. 31, the giant company made $10.7 billion, the equivalent of more than $115 million for every one of its 92 days, nearly $5 million each hour, more than $80,000 every minute, nearly $1,350 each second.

All of us pay for the huge profits, but poor Americans living in colder regions and working people who must commute long distances are the ones whose contribution to ExxonMobil's profits are the most painful.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that home heating oil prices this year will be 23 percent higher than last year; throughout the Northern states, this means not only discomfort but real hardship, even death for some of the elderly.

Unfortunately, we do not live in a world where significant, voluntary "give-backs" to American society are common. The obvious alternative is some form of taxation, something we have done many times in the past when chance and misfortune have combined to produce unwarranted gains.

Last fall, the Republican-controlled Senate approved a one-year tax increase of $5 billion for the nation's largest oil companies. At the moment, however, even these tiny steps are unlikely to pass the House of Representatives. It will take an aroused citizenry to demand what should be given freely. Sen. Byron L. Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, and six other senators have introduced windfall profits tax legislation. This direction would inevitably have to be at the center of a serious agenda for change as the pain continues to increase.

Gar Alperovitz, the Lionel R. Bauman professor of political economy at the University of Maryland, College Park, is author of "America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy." His e-mail is garalper@ncesa.org.

[tx_eggman]

It's nearly impossible for the average citizen to grasp the scale of ExxonMobil Corp.'s huge profits. In the quarter ended Dec. 31, the giant company made $10.7 billion, the equivalent of more than $115 million for every one of its 92 days, nearly $5 million each hour, more than $80,000 every minute, nearly $1,350 each second.

... and $.10 for ever dollar of revenue.

Microsoft made $.30 per dollar of revenue
Merck made $.26 per dollar of revenue.

It's call capitalism

[devolve]

The Baltimore Sun's buildings - like the dozens of Kohnman-Heinz mansions - are heated completely with solar power and cycled deep well water - just like President GW Bush's home at his Crawford Texas ranch...

The Baltimore Sun's vehicles - like the dozens of Kohnman-Heinz SUVs and limos - are fueled natural gas conversions or electric power or are hybrids - just like President GW Bush's vehicles at his Crawford Texas ranch...

The Baltimore Sun's buildings - like the dozens of Kohnman-Heinz mansions - use rain water cistern and recycled "gray water" - just like President GW Bush's home at his Crawford Texas ranch...

--

PS - Recall Kerry (3.2Bn) & Edwards (90Mn) telling us on live TV during the 2004 campaign "We are on the 'waiting list' for new Ford hybrids" [but months before it wuz a Japanese hybrid!]

--

FACTS:

- GW drives a Ford PU with natural gas conversion at the ranch - also has several electric-powered golf carts, off-road vehicles, and multi-fuel vehicles

- The Bush ranch house is built of native Texas stone designed to use the sun to absorb and slowly release solar heat

- The Bush ranch house catches and uses rain water in below grade cisterns and also treats and recycles "gray water" to use in toilets and to irrigate the grass, plants, and trees - it also uses lotsa them thar ol' windy-powered tower things to pump up water fer the horses, cattle, dawgs, and ranch hands

-- SIDE NOTE:

When have y'all last seen ol' Jimmuh Caarter (or his equally dumb son now running for the US Senate out west!) wearing a...... sweater this winter?

[Reeses]

[BenLurkin]

Why don't these creeps just buy stock in Exxon. That is where the profit goes.


It's ticker symbol is XOM. It even pays a dividend!

[Sarastro]

Typical liberal: everything belongs to the government except that which they generously allow you to keep.

If this "economist" thinks the profits should be returned to the American people, I guess he doesn't know where they do go. Here's a helpful guide for him; the profits (i.e., the excess of revenue over costs) go to three, and only three, places:

1. Income tax -- i.e., to the American people
2. Dividends -- since a majority of American families have direct or indirect investments (e.g., pension funds, mutual funds) in oil companies, dividends go to the American people
3. Reinvestment in the business -- to make sure there will be future oil products for -- yes, you guessed it -- the American people.

[Cobra64]

Raw income numbers are meaningless. If these idiots invested 100 dollars and got a 10 dollar return (10%), then that's obscene! Gimme a break. (rolling eyes in disbelief)

[TheForceOfOne]

Unfortunately, we do not live in a world where significant, voluntary "give-backs" to American society are common.

Unfortunately?

The commie rag known as "The Baltimore Scum" needs to die a faster death. Loss of circulation, advertising dollars, closing of foreign news bureaus, forced early retirements, lost lawsuits against the governor of Maryland, and still they march forward oblivious to their own demise.

[.cnI redruM]

Just think how much gas will cost when Marathon, Exxon, BP et al, get sick of this garbage and walk.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"I like this - when can we seize the profits of the abortion industry? Hollywood? Trial Lawyers? Barbra Streisand?"

I agreee. As of today, attorneys fees will only be 5% and the attorney splits the cost with the plaintiff if he loses a lawsuit.

Hollywood needs a 100% luxury tax and every film that grosses more than 10 million is to be taxed at 70%, since people who already pay taxes are paying to see the movie. The money is to be returned to the people seeing the movie.

[tx_eggman]

Do you have the number of the billions in taxes Exxon-Mobile paid to the feds? I understand they pay between 20 and 30%.

Q4 2005 they paid in excess of $7 billion in taxes

[PeteB570]

I love it when people use constant $ rates. Puts the real truth to most things.

My first real job paid $1.76 and hour and I thought I was rolling in money and had it to burn. Working about 35 hours a week part time and pulling in around $55 week after taxes I was a rich man. OK, single high school teenager living at home but I did have money to burn.

[G.Mason]

Excess of $7,000,000,000 for the 4th quarter.

Thank you.

I heard or read that they had paid over 35 BILLION for the year, or were on schedule for that amount.

Bad oil companies ... Bad, bad ... oil companies!

[Koblenz]

You can get the taxes a company paid by going to www.sec.gov and reading their 10Q or 10K report, or you can go to their website and get their latest financial statement. Of course, this works only for publicly-traded companies, of which ExxonMobil is one.

Note however that Exxon is a multinational, and pays taxes all over the place, with various credits for various taxes. So whatever number you see at the bottom won't be what they pay to the IRS. In some countries, they may get credits (if they lost money in one particular country, they may get a NOL carryforward depending on the tax laws of that jurisdiction).

The notes to the financial statement may breakdown where taxes were paid.

[theBuckwheat]

Should ExxonMobil (XOM) share its profit with the American People?

It should share its profit with those who own it. To the extent anyone has ownership, they are due a prorated share of the earnings. Only in liberal-land does the word "share" apply to being able to seize the property of another person.

Some will say that the US government leases land to XOM and should share in the profits. If the US government put profit sharing in the lease terms, then those terms must be honored. In any case the government did not do one whit of work to develop the resource, nor did it "invest" in any common sense meaning of the word. It seized the land from someone or it seized the money to buy the land. And government can only attain an asset by credible threat of the use of deadly force.

Speaking of taxes, anyone can surf over to Yahoo's finance page on XOM and see that for the fiscal year ending Dec 2004, it had $42.655 billion in operating income upon which it paid $15.9 billion in taxes, or 37.3%.

When anyone claims that XOM should "share" its profits, do they include that 37.3% they already "shared" by paying the tax, or do they mean an amount over and above that $15.9 billion. If the latter, where do they think that money will come from to find the next oil field, or to develop that next federal leasehold? Maybe the Saudis will lend it to them.

[Howlin]

About $45 per American

Certainly you don't think they mean to "share" this bounty with EVERY American, do you?

I'm sure it's going to be just for "special" American, if you get my drift.

[potlatch]

Jimmy uses peanut shells for 'insulation', lol!

[Richard Axtell]

... and when the oil companies have low or no profits, like during the oil glut of the 80's, will the government give the "appropriated" money back? Of course not. This isn't about making money, it is about stealing it.

[LibertarianCandidate]

If the Democrats were smart, they would come right out and call for the nationalization of the oil companines. This would get them a lot of votes and likely win them back the control of Congress in 2006. I'm surprised they haven't done this. They are probably more greedy than they are smart because they are getting a lot of campaign contributions from the oil companies.

[defenderSD]

It's really hard to believe the author is an economics professor. I would love to see this clown debate this issue with Dr. Milton Friedman, who would no doubt demolish the argument for "returning profits to the people." Doesn't the author know anything about the subject he teaches? Does he understand why Exxon-Mobil spends billions every year on the exploration and production of oil? They don't make all this effort to give the profits to charity.

It's also crucial to understand that while E&P and depreciation expenses are subtracted out before net income, profits ARE the source of cash for the huge capital spending requirements of today's oil projects.

[G.Mason]

thanks for the url and the info.