Bashing the Oil Industry is becoming more and more popular these days. Nearly every liberal campaign commercial I hear on the radio or see on television, accuses their opponent of being friends of Big Oil, clearly insinuating that the oil companies are the enemy. Oil companies have long been one of the media’s favorite targets for criticism, accusations and abuse.
It is primarily a Liberal/Democrat bandwagon, although it seems that others have recently jumped aboard.
A recent McCain/Palin television ad that touts the duo as “The Original Mavericks”, boasts that “She (Palin) took on Big Oil”.
“Took on Big Oil”? Now the Republican Presidential/Vice Presidential candidates are adopting the Democrat’s lingo. “Big Oil” is a term liberals use when they talk about the Oil Industry. Which is comical, because they say it like it’s a bad thing. When you place the word “Big” in front of an entity, that means growth. In the case of Oil, which is a business, growth would mean success. So, “Big Oil” would be synonymous with “Successful Oil”.
It is consistent for liberals to use “Big Oil” as an insult, because they are against success in business. But McCain/Palin using it as such is disappointing…at best. Liberals want Big Government, not Big Business. McCain/Palin should not be adopting the liberal mentality of Anti-Successful Business. For me, the aforementioned ad is not going to make it easier to vote for them in November. I’m not a big fan of McCain, but I like Palin, and I am really disappointed that they would brag about her taking on Big Oil, like that’s a good thing.
But I digress.
Executives of the oil companies are regularly brought up before Congress and lectured, reprimanded, bullied, and even threatened. Their success is used as a truncheon.
In May, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D, CA) scolded top executives of the five largest U.S. oil companies saying, “You rack up record profits…quarter after quarter after quarter.” What a moronic thing to say. The idea of business is to profit. When they don’t profit, “Big Government” has to bail them out.
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D, FL) said, “I can’t say that there is evidence that you are manipulating the price, but I believe that you probably are. So prove to me that you are not.” Sounds like a Witch Hunt to me.
Senator Dick Durbin (D, IL) said, “Is there anybody here that has any concerns about what you’re doing to this country with the prices that you’re charging and the profits that you’re taking?” This guy is stupidity personified. The oil companies are taking a third of the profit that Dick’s organization (Big Government) takes.
Senator Pat Leahy (D, VT) said, “People we represent are hurting, the companies you represent are profiting.” As though people are hurting because of the oil companies’ profits. What about the Federal Government’s profit? I guess their profit doesn’t hurt anyone. Isn’t profit the objective in business?
On average, “Big Oil” makes a 4% profit on gasoline. “Big Government” makes 15%. So, on average, “Big Government’s” profit is MORE THAN 3 TIMES that of “Big Oil’s”. And keep in mind, oil companies do ALL the work, the government does nothing to extract, refine or deliver. They collect MORE THAN TRIPLE the profits, and then demonize the oil companies for their MUCH, MUCH, MUCH SMALLER profits. And let’s not forget that “Big Government” is constantly doing everything they can to make it harder and harder for the oil companies to do their job.
According to Dr. Mark J. Perry, economics professor from the University of Michigan, Exxon Mobile paid almost $3 in taxes, for every $1 in profit, during the first quarter of 2008.
According to Dr. Perry, oil companies paid $138 billion in corporate income taxes in 2006. The bottom 75% of all individual taxpayers, which is about 100 million people, paid about $136 million in 2006.
Exxon Mobile has paid an average of $27 billion in taxes, over the last 3 years. About the same as the bottom 50% of individual taxpayers (65 million people).
According to the U.S. Department of Energy and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, EXCLUDING onshore royalty payments, local property taxes, and state severance and sales taxes, oil companies have paid more than $2.2 trillion in federal and state taxes, over the past 25 years, more than three times their profits during the same period.
Aside from the fact that “Big Oil” largely pays the exorbitant, and ever climbing bills of “Big Government”, it also provides us with what is probably the most versatile substance on the planet. Not only is it extremely versatile, but absolutely necessary to our way of life.
Oil provides us with a plethora of products like plastics (which nearly every product imaginable is made of, to one degree or another), medical equipment and supplies, home improvement products, toiletries, cosmetics, detergents, eye glasses and sunglasses, insect repellants and insecticides, fishing rods, line and lures, electrical wiring insulation, food preservatives and packaging, adhesives, clothing, and lubricants, like motor oil, just to name a few.
Not to mention, it provides us with energy. Not just the gasoline we put in our cars, but much more, like diesel, kerosene, jet fuel, methane, propane and butane.
The entire transportation industry is completely reliant on oil. Without oil, there would be no food in our grocery stores, there would be nothing in any of the stores. No cars at the dealerships, but you couldn’t take the bus, because there would be no public transportation system. This country would come to a screeching, sudden halt.
The facts is, every single industry, every company (regardless of size), every household, every individual, and every government agency (from federal down to the smallest local) are completely dependent on oil.
Democrats in Congress have prevented us from building any new refineries for 31 years.
Foreign oil imports increased 45% (which, at the time was 3,574,000 barrels per day) and U.S. oil production dropped 19% (which was 1,349,000 barrels per day) during the Clinton Administration.
President Clinton vetoed legislation that was passed by the House and Senate, that would have allowed drilling to begin in ANWR. If he had not done so, that area would be producing the amount of oil we import from Saudi Arabia (1 million barrels per day)
Democrats in Congress have defeated all bills that would allow U.S. offshore drilling.
Democrats defeated 51 to 44, a motion on the Senate floor that would have allowed state governors authority to explore the Outer Continental Shelf.
Democrats are constantly attacking and demonizing oil companies and obstructing drilling, despite the fact that U.S oil consumption has increased more than 30%, since 1985, but U.S. production has decreased about 40%.
There are 19 billion barrels of oil under U.S. public lands that is off limits to drilling, thanks to liberals.
Liberals in the media and in government are lying to us about “Big Oil’s” big profits. They are taxing the crap out of the industry and doing everything they can to prevent them from doing their job, despite the fact that we need them.
They do everything they can to convince the American people to hate the oil industry.
Considering how useful oil is, how dependent on it we are, and what a blessing it has been for our country; why would liberals want to demonize, obstruct and punish those who provide us with it?
Representative Maxine Waters (D, CA)(how surprising!) answered that question on May 22nd, during the House’s grilling of oil executives. John Hofmeister, President of Shell Oil testified that there would be ever-increasing prices, “if we are prohibited from finding new reserves, new opportunities to increase supplies.” Representative Waters responded with, “And guess what this liberal would be all about? This liberal would be all about socialize…uh, um, would be all about basically taking over and the government running all of your companies.”
There you have it, straight from the horses as…uh, um, mouth. They want to socialize industry, especially the oil industry. There’s too much money to be made there for these socialist liberals to allow private citizens to make it. They want it for themselves. If they can control the oil, they can control the people, which is what they have wanted all along. For them, Big Government isn’t big enough, they want it to be Big Brother big, controlling every aspect of the citizen’s lives.
So let’s call it like it is. Liberal Democrats in Washington aren’t progressive, they repeatedly stand in the way of progress. They are Socialists. If you don’t like the word Socialist, how’s Marxist grab you?