FYI - attached is an op-ed on oil industry profiteering just published in Costco's nationwide magazine, which goes out to millions of consumers. I argued for a windfall profits tax, while two experts at the Tax Foundation argued against it. This piece comes out the very same week ExxonMobil reported the most profits of any corporation in American history. For links to source material in this article, just go to www.workingforchange.com/blog - David
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http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/200602/
Costco Connection - February, 2006
It's Time for a Windfall Profits Tax on Big Oil
By David Sirota
Most consumers appreciate low prices. But don't get too comfortable: Unless we halt energy profiteering and enact a windfall profits tax on oil companies, we might be kissing those low prices goodbye.
Salary.com reported that skyrocketing gas prices are swallowing many Americans' entire 2005 salary increases. And this winter, consumers face huge heating bills. A windfall profits tax is a first step in stopping this price gouging. It is a simple concept: It taxes oil profits above a certain level deemed excessive by economic experts. Not only would this tax raise $3 billion to $4 billion a year in public revenues, but, more important, it would punish oil companies that are trying to bleed consumers dry.
Just look at ExxonMobil to see what "swimming in cash" means. In just the third quarter of 2005, the company reported roughly $10 billion in profits. According to BBC News, that was more than any company ever reported in American history. Fortune magazine noted that Exxon executives, sitting on a $25 billion treasure chest, were worrying about "the headache of what to do with all that cash" – not about Americans struggling to afford higher energy prices.
A windfall profits tax, of course, would ensure oil companies remained financially healthy because it would kick in only when profits become egregiously excessive, as they are now. And let's be honest – it's time this industry started paying its fair share anyway.
Opensecrets.org reports that since 1990 the oil and gas industry has used almost $200 million in political campaign contributions. That cash makes sure the industry's tax rates are far lower than the average American's. Today, while the middle class's tax burden rises, major oil companies are raking in huge profits but paying just 13 percent in taxes. Meanwhile, Congress recently gave the industry billions in new tax breaks, meaning many oil companies may end up paying no taxes at all.
To be sure, corrupt politicians, oil executives and academic naysayers will oppose a windfall profits tax, telling us scary but unsupported stories about how it will supposedly mean disaster. But you need only visit your local gas station or watch product prices rise to know the real disaster will come if Congress does not enact this commonsense measure and refuses to protect American from the oil profiteers.
http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/200602/
Costco Connection - February, 2006
It's Time for a Windfall Profits Tax on Big Oil
By David Sirota
Most consumers appreciate low prices. But don't get too comfortable: Unless we halt energy profiteering and enact a windfall profits tax on oil companies, we might be kissing those low prices goodbye.
Salary.com reported that skyrocketing gas prices are swallowing many Americans' entire 2005 salary increases. And this winter, consumers face huge heating bills. A windfall profits tax is a first step in stopping this price gouging. It is a simple concept: It taxes oil profits above a certain level deemed excessive by economic experts. Not only would this tax raise $3 billion to $4 billion a year in public revenues, but, more important, it would punish oil companies that are trying to bleed consumers dry.
Just look at ExxonMobil to see what "swimming in cash" means. In just the third quarter of 2005, the company reported roughly $10 billion in profits. According to BBC News, that was more than any company ever reported in American history. Fortune magazine noted that Exxon executives, sitting on a $25 billion treasure chest, were worrying about "the headache of what to do with all that cash" – not about Americans struggling to afford higher energy prices.
A windfall profits tax, of course, would ensure oil companies remained financially healthy because it would kick in only when profits become egregiously excessive, as they are now. And let's be honest – it's time this industry started paying its fair share anyway.
Opensecrets.org reports that since 1990 the oil and gas industry has used almost $200 million in political campaign contributions. That cash makes sure the industry's tax rates are far lower than the average American's. Today, while the middle class's tax burden rises, major oil companies are raking in huge profits but paying just 13 percent in taxes. Meanwhile, Congress recently gave the industry billions in new tax breaks, meaning many oil companies may end up paying no taxes at all.
To be sure, corrupt politicians, oil executives and academic naysayers will oppose a windfall profits tax, telling us scary but unsupported stories about how it will supposedly mean disaster. But you need only visit your local gas station or watch product prices rise to know the real disaster will come if Congress does not enact this commonsense measure and refuses to protect American from the oil profiteers.
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