Oil company earnings skyrocket, taxpayer subsidies continue

[cal04]

by Joan McCarter
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/25/970019/-Oil-company-earnings-skyrocket,-taxpayer-subsidies-continue

Via ThinkPogress, the nation's five biggest oil companies—BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Shell—are feeling no pain, despite the ongoing economic doldrums.

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/04/25/big-oil-2010/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704071704576277523933629728.html

Booming crude-oil prices and improved refining profits are poised to put a firecracker under Big Oil's first-quarter earnings and set the stage for a year that could come close to rivaling the industry's record year in 2008.

First-quarter crude prices averaged about $100 a barrel, or about 20% higher than a year ago, pushed upward by oil-supply concerns due to political unrest in the Arab World and a recovering global economy. That spike is expected to lift earnings by about 50% at Exxon Mobil Corp., and about 33% each at Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips, compared with a year earlier.

Just as a reminder, last month the House GOP voted unanimously to protect taxpayer-funded subsidies to big oil. All of the belt tightening, you see, has to be done by Medicaid and Medicare recipients, not by those poor beleaguered oil company execs.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/01/951571/-House-GOP-votes-unanimously-to-protect-big-oil-subsidies

As further reminder, this:




Remember that as you're shelling out $4/gallon.

[defendandprotect]

1. Takes a lot of $$ to buy elected officials to overturn Tax Codes for wealthy -- !!

[defendandprotect]

2. Subsidies for the oil companies should be ended -- !!

[inna]

3. obscene.

[Moostache]

4. Anyone notice they buy JUST enough Dems to stop legislation?

Funny how the act of buying off a few Democrats (or in a far less percentage than the Republicans) manages to do things like:

- stall cap and trade legislation
- water down any environmental reforms to laughable status
- retain tax breaks and subsidies for companies making MORE than the banksters

DISGUSTING.

Legislate against Citizens United.
Aggressively attack Campaign finance reforms.
And implement a series of laws to prevent lobbying for 10 years after leaving Congress.

Without those things being addressed we have nothing. We do not have a representative republic, we have a corporate plutocracy.