For those of you who like to complain about Exxon's profits ...

... a good portion of that money made it back to Uncle Sam.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/63131-exxon-s-2007-tax-bill-30-billion?source=side_bar_editors_picks

Conclusion: In other words, just one corporation (Exxon Mobil) pays as much in taxes ($27 billion) annually as the entire bottom 50% of individual taxpayers, which is 65,000,000 people! Further, the tax rate for the bottom 50% is only 3% of adjusted gross income ($27.4 billion / $922 billion), and the tax rate for Exxon was 41% in 2006 ($67.4 billion in taxable income, $27.9 billion in taxes).

 

Boo-fucking-hoo, that is so sad....

 

What was gas at today? $3 a gallon?

It's all well and good that they're paying their taxes, but they are still riding record profits on the backs of those 65 million people.

I don't see the people in the bottom half of income in the U.S. stating record profits/savings.

 

I have no problem with Exxon making as much profit as it can. Despite the thought process, oil is NOT a necessity. So, like any other "product" they can charge what they want for it as long as people pay for it. I have other transportation options. I CHOOSE not to use them. I may CHOOSE to use them if gas rises to a price I think I can't afford. Or, I may cut back on my driving. Or, I may buy a more fuel efficient car.

Until then, it's free market. It's America. That's the whole damn dream.

 

Oil is just below air and water right now.

Your other-transportation-options post is pure primrose pollyanna.

Maybe I should walk 10 miles to work each way... that would cure everything!

 

Ok, so I can't bus to work every single day. But I could on the days I'm on the desk laying out pages (once a week).

But did I have to drive eight miles round trip to the coffee shop this morning? No.

Did I have to drive six miles round trip to Wal-Mart today to buy three picture frames? No. I could have done that on my way to work later. But I didn't.

My car is 10 years old and much less fuel efficient than something I could buy today. But do I? No.

If every single person didn't do what I did today, there'd be a hell of a lot less gas/oil consumption.

Think of that for a minute. Millions and millions of people driving 14 useless miles every single day.

 

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/52580/

 

I'm not talking about the driving I DON'T have to do.

 

Right, but it's guys like me who drive because, well, I can and I'm lazy, that force prices to rise. And then, people like you who only drive for work suffer the consequences.

I just did the math, if 1,000,000 people drove 14 useless miles a day, like I did today, they would use roughly 35,000 tanks of gas.

Imagine Exxon not selling 35,000 tanks of gas every single day.

 

Image fair trade. Imagine fair competition. Imagine no OPEC.

 

Speaking of that, there was a time when Richard Branson was looking to open a refinery. Whatever happened to that idea?

 

To be perfectly fair, I also complain about ChevronTexaco's profits.