No ‘Shared Sacrifice’ for Big Oil
While the government’s coffers are nearly empty (not unlike the wallets of millions of Americans), Big Oil is still flush with cash — including some of the $4 BILLION in taxpayer-funded handouts they’ll get from Uncle Sam this year. This week, the government-subsidized oil giants once again reported tens of billions of dollars in profits.
As the nation teeters on the brink of default, the GOP wants us to “kiss Medicare goodbye” (along with Medicaid and Social Security), but they still refuse to touch a dime of the $77 BILLION in taxpayer handouts that we’ll give to the most profitable industry the world has ever known over the next 10 years.
Here are the numbers you need to know:
$3.4 BILLION
ConocoPhillips’ second quarter profit.
$5.6 BILLION
BP’s second quarter profit, which investors called “disappointing.”
$7.7 BILLION
Chevron‘s second profit, an increase of 42 percent.
$8 BILLION
Shell’s second quarter profit.
$10.7 BILLION
ExxonMobil’s second quarter profit.
17.6 Percent
ExxonMobil’s effective federal tax rate.
20.4 Percent
The average American’s individual effective tax rate.
$35.4 BILLION
The total second quarter profits of the Big 5 oil companies.
41 Percent
The increase in ExxonMobil’s second quarter profits.
$67.4 BILLION
The total profits of the Big 5 oil companies for the first half of 2011.
$77 BILLION
The cost of taxpayer-funded subsidies for Big Oil from 2011-2021.
In one sentence: Even as ExxonMobil made more than $118 MILLION a day in profits last quarter, it is still paying a lower tax rate than the average American.
Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed
Move over Atkins; Paleo is the newest dietary fad sweeping the country.
Over 100 members of Congress sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking it to investigate whether new voter ID laws passed by various Republican lawmakers are in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
On his radio show yesterday, Rush Limbaugh declared that “almost no temperature records were broken” during the recent heat wave, claiming the media was lying so it could “advance a political agenda of liberalism.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is facing backlash on all fronts of the Republican Party after he called it “foolish” for letting its Tea Party fringe dominate the debt ceiling negotiations.
The story of American prosperity isn’t a story about a poor country that used good policy to become rich.
Using the debt crisis as a distraction, Tea Party Republicans are trying to ban the government from buying fluorescent light bulbs, protecting manatees, fighting skin cancer, or researching climate change.
It doesn’t make any sense for the United States to stay in Iraq because of Iran.
It’s probably a bit much to expect sophisticated understanding of strategic deterrence theory from a guy who “misremembers” his own military record.
Tim Gunn may know style, but he doesn’t know Hillary Clinton, diplomacy, or apparently, much about sexism.
Compare and Contrast
MoveOn and allied progressive groups held a default crisis rally at the Capitol today. Here’s a couple of pictures, via Slate’s Dave Weigel:
Contrast the large, energetic crowd at today’s rally with the turnout at yesterday’s Tea Party “rally” at the Capitol:
News You Can Use: ThinkProgress Boehner Default Bill Whip Count
A vote on the Boehner default plan is imminent. 216 votes are needed for passage due to two absences and if the current count holds, the Boehner default plan is headed for failure. Here is the most up-to-date whip count of GOP defectors, via ThinkProgress:
1. Todd Akin (R-MO) [The Hill]
2. Justin Amash (R-MI) [The Hill]
3. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) [ThinkProgress]
4. Paul Broun (R-GA) [Call to office]
5. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) [The Hill]
6. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) [The State]
7. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) [Twitter]
8. Trent Franks (R-AZ) [National Journal]
9. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) [Twitter]
10. Louis Gohmert (R-TX) [National Review]
11. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) [NYT]
12. Tom Graves (R-GA) [Twitter]
13. Andy Harris (R-MD) [Baltimore Sun]
14. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) [The Hill]
15. Steve King (R-IA) [The Hill]
16. Jim Jordan (R-OH) [The Hill]
17. Jeff Landry (R-LA) [National Review]
18. Connie Mack (R-FL) [Politico]
19. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) [The Hill]
20. Ron Paul (R-TX) [Call to office]
21. Dennis Ross (R-FL) [National Review]
22. Steve Southerland (R-FL) [RCP]
23. Joe Walsh (R-IL) [MSNBC]
24. Joe Wilson (R-SC) [National Journal]
25. Fransisco Canseco (R-TX) [Texas Tribune]
26. Tim Scott (R-SC) [Fox News, 4:20PM]