Opher BanarieExxon Mobil reports record $29B in quarterly tax payments
May 29th 2008 17:43
Did you notice that headline earlier this month? Wow! $29 BILLION in taxes paid by Exxon Mobil. Certainly sounds like it deserves a headline...and that's just the corporate entitiy. More taxes were paid by shareholders who received dividends. More taxes were paid by anyone who sold the stock for a gain. More taxes were paid by investors in mutual funds which traded Exxon Mobil stock.
But you didn't see that headine, did you? No, the headline everyone saw was Exxon Mobil reports record $11B in quarterly profits, followed shortly thereafter by members of Congress calling for an investigation into "obscene profits" and how there needs to be a tax on "excessive profits".
Exxon Mobil reported that the effective tax rate during the quarter was 49%. How high would Congress want the tax rate to be?
Does anyone think about the larger picture? Who decides what "excessive profits" are in other parts of the economy? Why have we never heard about trial lawyers earning "excessive profits" when they collect millions from a jury verdict (or settlement) and the injured party gets a fraction?
But we also hear Congress-talk about "unfortunate" farmers who can't make a living due to low crop prices. So the farmers get subsidies.
How is it we fought Communism for 50 years and won, only to establish a Socialist centrally-planned economy in the US during the same period? There is much to think about here.
But you didn't see that headine, did you? No, the headline everyone saw was Exxon Mobil reports record $11B in quarterly profits, followed shortly thereafter by members of Congress calling for an investigation into "obscene profits" and how there needs to be a tax on "excessive profits".
Exxon Mobil reported that the effective tax rate during the quarter was 49%. How high would Congress want the tax rate to be?
Does anyone think about the larger picture? Who decides what "excessive profits" are in other parts of the economy? Why have we never heard about trial lawyers earning "excessive profits" when they collect millions from a jury verdict (or settlement) and the injured party gets a fraction?
But we also hear Congress-talk about "unfortunate" farmers who can't make a living due to low crop prices. So the farmers get subsidies.
How is it we fought Communism for 50 years and won, only to establish a Socialist centrally-planned economy in the US during the same period? There is much to think about here.
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