Interesting

[spence]

Originally Posted by Nebe

I dont think anyone said that 'bug business' profits were a bad thing Jim.

The issue is that there is a disconnect from profits, versus pay out.

how much did the CEO of exxon mobile make last year? dont you think that half of that should have gone to dividend payouts?

Yea, but that's just a drop in the bucket.

The oil companies are not evil, and while certainly very profitable their margins are not that far above average.

A windfall profit tax is perhaps one of the Dem's more stupid ideas as it's only going to drive gas prices even higher.

-spence

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by spence

A windfall profit tax is perhaps one of the Dem's more stupid ideas as it's only going to drive gas prices even higher.

-spence

I agree. If the govt. takes a windfall tax the oil companies will raise prices to make up for it.

The oil companies make approx. 4%/gal and the govt gets 15%/gal, as is.

Let's face it, the higher the price/gal the more $$ the govt. takes in.
The govt. would rather take in 60 cents/gal. at $4.00/gal, than 30 ct. at $2.00/gal.

They got a win /win situation going on us here.

[spence]

Originally Posted by justplugit

Let's face it, the higher the price/gal the more $$ the govt. takes in.

Additionally the more profit the oil companies make the more revenue is generated in the form of corporate taxes.

I believe Exxon pays something like a 46% tax rate.

-spence

[Joe]

You read, 4% profit and you think, "Well in comparison to other industries, that's really not a profitable business." But the math on that is tricky. You have to take into account the scale of the goods purchased and the amount people spend per year on the product, and the fact that people buy continually as prices rise.

[buckman]

Originally Posted by Strike_King

Lots of unaccounted for billions over there:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7444083.stm

No mention that Halliburton is the only company that can handle most of the work that they are bidding on. We had our own "American Union" unaccounted for billions over here too. It was called the Big Dig.

[spence]

Originally Posted by buckman

No mention that Halliburton is the only company that can handle most of the work that they are bidding on.

I guess we wouldn't know as nobody else was invited to bid?

More Administration talking points

You are right though, Halliburton did possess those special skills, you know...delivering tainted water, assembling tents, running a cafeteria, etc...

It's not easy to deliver these services and loose a few billion dollars in the process.

No, they are the only company capable of this. It all makes sense now

Of course the real irony is that #^&#^&#^&#^& Cheney outsources said services under Bush 41, goes on to lead the company he was outsourcing the services to, then becomes VP and outsources even more services.

But there's no conflict of interest here. Nope, move on, nothing to see...

-spence