Exxon reaps record profits; McCain reaps two-faced propaganda
Even now that the economy is hitting the skids bigtime and the price of oil is back down below $100 ($66 per barrel on Oct. 30 according to CNNMoney)—prompting OPEC at its Vienna meeting to decide to cut production, after months of high output (WSJ, Oct. 25)—Exxon's profits continue to break records. John McCain seizes on this to take a cheap (if none too logical) shot at Obama...
First, the Chicago Tribune's The Swamp blog points out the bizarre irony of McCain's latest charges:
Obama's a socialist corporate tool?
One day, Sen. John McCain is pushing the notion that Sen. Barack Obama is a socialist intent on spreading the wealth of higher-paid Americans to lower-income Americans. Today, McCain was pitching the idea that Obama was a corporate tool for the oil industry.Here's what McCain said this morning at his Defiance, Ohio rally following Exxon Mobil's announcement of its record corporate profits.
Today — (cheers, applause) — today ExxonMobil reported record profits. Senator Obama voted for billions in corporate giveaways to the oil companies. I voted against it. (Cheers, applause.) When I'm president, we're not going to let that happen.
Conflicting messages, yes. But this is clearly throw-it-all-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks time for the McCain campaign.
Next, the Washington Independent points out that both candidates have actually voted for Big Oil tax-breaks, and both have taken money from the oil companies—but McCain way more!
Which Candidate Does Exxon Have a Bigger Crush On?
Shock, surprise! Exxon Mobil Corp. reported record-breaking quarterly profits today. The oil company earned $14.83 billion in its fiscal third quarter, more than any company in U.S. history.Hearing the news, Sen. John McCain accused Sen. Barack Obama of being in the pockets of Big Oil, a charge Obama has repeatedly leveled at McCain in campaign ads. McCain blasted Obama for supporting tax breaks for oil companies in a 2005 energy bill.
The Arizona senator didn’t mention, however, that he and Obama recently voted for a piece of legislation — the energy package tacked onto the $700-billion bailout bill — that gave even more tax breaks to oil companies. Passage of the energy package — whose primary purpose was to bolster clean energy — was continually delayed because Republicans in Congress refused to support a bill that didn’t help fossil-fuel companies.
Neither presidential candidate has talked about how much money his campaign has received from the big, bad oil companies. Here are the numbers: The McCain campaign has received $1.3 million, while the Obama team has gotten $400,000.
Stick that in your barrel and refine it.
See our last posts on the presidential horse-race, the struggle for global oil, and petro-oligarchical rule.
Obligatory oil-price conspiracy theory
We don't want to get too conspiratorial here... But isn't it interesting that the last time oil prices were falling was in the prelude to the 2006 mid-term elections? We predicted at the time that prices would rise again right after the elections. We wrote that "the White House is playing us like a violin, and hopes to pull the same trick again before the 2008 elections." We really do hate being right about these things...
what price are you looking at?
The current WTI future dipped under 60 in early 2007.
Oil has moved in tandem with US equities of late but the producers are in control now. El-badri said he expects the market to respond to the latest cuts next week so it seems you've got your conspiracy right there in plain view.
They don't control short-term prices though and I doubt anyone is in a position to guess exactly when the prices are going to climb back to a satisfactory level. If consumption keeps dropping, it could take a while as producers would presumably lose control until enough of them go out of business.
Exxon-Mobil pays $2.69 in
Exxon-Mobil pays $2.69 in taxes for every dollar of its record profits. How come they never announce the record breaking tax revenue the government is receiving, almost 3 times Exxon-Mobil profits.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/75132-exxon-s-record-9-32-billion-q1-inc...
in NYC its $9.00 for a pack of smokes, after production cost and billions in law suits, The big Evil Tobacco companies net about .50 to $1.00 per pack. the total gov take is $6.00
the gov sued banks and fored them to make bad loans.
the gov is not the answer to the prolbem it is the reason for most prolbems in the country.
take responsibility for your own life and you will be truly happy.
No they didn't
A tax rate of more than 200%? Even Fox Business News (Oct. 30) didn't say that:
But don't forget the loopholes. An excerpt from the book Take the Rich Off Welfare by Mark Zepezauer and Arthur Naiman (Odonian Press, 1996)
Figures can't lie, but liars can figure.
What they voted for
This hardly got any coverage, and it is very instructive that both McCain and Obama voted for it. From the Los Angeles Times, Oct. 4: