The video here is a mind staggering presentation by Pres. and CEO Jack Gerard, of the American Petroleum Institute, to counter the push to end the $4 billion oil subsidies paid by taxpayers to the most profitable companies in history. Gerard treats the no-brainer reasons to end the wealthfair payments as "myths."I wish I were kidding. Smooth and rehearsed, Gerard's exaggerated explanations qualify as this months Humpty Dumpty-ism award. For example:
Profits are large because the companies are large, they already pay more than their fair share of taxes, Big oil is singled out and punished while other companies receive subsidies, it takes money away from shareholders and mom and pop 401K's, and it again "penalizes success."
The petty nature of this argument is stunning when you consider how much these companies are making. So is Big Oil still in the start-up stages of development? From Thinkprogress:
Exxon Mobil is by far the most profitable company in the new Fortune 500 list, riding “high oil prices to a staggering $30 billion in income” in 2010. Exxon made over $10 billion more than fellow oil giantChevron, the third most profitable company (AT&T edged out Chevron for the number two spot). ConocoPhillips’ $11.4 billion in profits put it in the 16th spot, giving the three oil giants a combined $60.9 billion in profits in 2010.
Today, the Republicans in the House of Representatives celebrated this massive redistribution of wealth from American families to oil executives. With the support of 7 oil-patch Democrats, 234 Republicans voted to block a bill to eliminate a $1.8 billion annual subsidy ... As they did in March, House Republicans voted unanimously to defend these wasteful, unaffordable and unfair oil subsidies, even though several members told their constituents they want to end them.
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