In disgusting, but not surprising news, ExxonMobil once again reported record profits, narrowly beating the previous record held by... ExxonMobil. At a time when high gas prices are hurting consumers at the pump, the grocery store, and everywhere else, ExxonMobil is making record profits. In fact, CNNMoney reports that their profits are $1,485.55 a second.
Is anyone else noticing a pattern here? With gas prices at record highs, gas companies are making record profits. With healthcare costs causing American workers to lose benefits, wages, and even their jobs, companies like UnitedHealth are making a fortune. Am I missing something? If they're making record profits, couldn't they instead lower prices and just make good profits? It's time for a windfall profits tax.
UPDATE: A new website put up by the DSCC, "Bought by Big Oil," shows how profits have gone up since Coleman was elected:
Nobody's saying that oil companies shouldn't be allowed to make a profit. But if high oil prices are the only reason gas prices are so high, then shouldn't ExxonMobil be getting squeezed by them too? The fact that their profits are at record number indicates that they are adding a greater markup to their prices than they have in the past, at a time when the American economy just can't afford it.
George Bush and Norm Coleman have been fighting for years to decrease regulation and decrease taxes on some of the largest corporations that are reaming the American public. It's time to restore regulation and stop giving corporate welfare to companies that don't have our best interests in mind. We should require that oil companies give back a portion of their record-breaking profits by enacting a windfall profits tax today.
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1 comments:
This past quarter, ExxonMobil made what some deem a fat profit [actually not so fat – that's about 8.5 cents per dollar of sales], but the company also had a fat tax bill. On a worldwide basis, ExxonMobil paid over $10 billion in corporate income taxes in the second quarter alone, $9.5 billion in sales taxes, and over $12 billion in other taxes.
In other words, ExxonMobil paid (or at least collected) $32.361 billion in taxes in the second quarter. Or to look at it another way - Exxon paid (or collected) almost $3 in taxes ($32.361 billion) for every $1 in profits ($11.68 billion).
That means that for every dollar in Exxon sales – not profits, SALES -- 23.4 cents is for taxes. And that is averaged over all types of sales – not just gasoline.
For the financially illiterate who wish to verify these figures, here's a URL for the company's quarterly earnings statement (if this board allows URL's -- otherwise Google it):
http://tinyurl.com/5rnmyc
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