amicus
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2003
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Senator Wyden, the Jerk
While slowly packing for an eminent journey, I kept surfing back and forth between news stations and Cspan for what I thought was to be Senate Hearings on oil prices and immigration policy.
Lo and Behold Senator Wyden, from the Left Coast State of Woebegone, oops, Oregon, was about five hours into a Senate Filibuster concerning a bill of his he wanted to penalize oil companies. But the Republicans in the Senate would not vote for the bill.
Five hours of holding up the work of the Senate while Senators Wyden and Durbin from Illinois took turns bashing the oil industry.
Royalties, plus huge license fees, are the prices oil companies must pay for permission to drill on Federal or State owned property. A percentage of the profit from each barrel of oil pumped goes to the government as payment. Of course these fees and royalties are paid for by the customers of the oil companies, you and I, as added cost on each gallon of gasoline.
Well, it seems as if the Clinton administration in 1998 and 1999 granted leases without imposing Royalties percentages. An admitted failure to assess those taxes. Senator Wyden, citing ‘record profits’ for oil companies, wants to reimpose and increase the rate of Royalties paid by oil companies to the Federal Government.
Occasionally, such as when oil prices per barrel were at $16.00 a barrel, Royalty rates were reduced to encourage more exploration and drilling. This is called giving the oil companies an ‘incentive’ to produce more oil.
An ‘incentive’ for doing something is usually regarded as a reward, or an enticement, but imagine the politicians claiming that reducing the rate of royalties, taxes, is a ‘gift’ to the oil companies is ludicrous. “Since you aren’t making a sustainable profit with market prices where they were, we will stop taxing you just a little bit. But when you start making a profit again, we will tax you more!”
The wise, fair and honest thing for these greedy politicians to do would be to eliminate both the license fees and the ‘Royalties’ on oil and let the market function without coercion. Not only would it be fair, it would ensure a better supply of oil and would reduce the price at the pump for the everyday consumer.
But will the greed subside even in a crisis?
I doubt it.
Amicus
Edited to add: The discussion continues on cable news channels:
"Exxon Mobile's tax rate is 47%, the company paid over 7 Billion dollars in taxes last year. The top three oil companies paid over 40 Billion dollars in taxes to the US Government last year."
Interesting? And ya wanna tax em even more? Shameless!
While slowly packing for an eminent journey, I kept surfing back and forth between news stations and Cspan for what I thought was to be Senate Hearings on oil prices and immigration policy.
Lo and Behold Senator Wyden, from the Left Coast State of Woebegone, oops, Oregon, was about five hours into a Senate Filibuster concerning a bill of his he wanted to penalize oil companies. But the Republicans in the Senate would not vote for the bill.
Five hours of holding up the work of the Senate while Senators Wyden and Durbin from Illinois took turns bashing the oil industry.
Royalties, plus huge license fees, are the prices oil companies must pay for permission to drill on Federal or State owned property. A percentage of the profit from each barrel of oil pumped goes to the government as payment. Of course these fees and royalties are paid for by the customers of the oil companies, you and I, as added cost on each gallon of gasoline.
Well, it seems as if the Clinton administration in 1998 and 1999 granted leases without imposing Royalties percentages. An admitted failure to assess those taxes. Senator Wyden, citing ‘record profits’ for oil companies, wants to reimpose and increase the rate of Royalties paid by oil companies to the Federal Government.
Occasionally, such as when oil prices per barrel were at $16.00 a barrel, Royalty rates were reduced to encourage more exploration and drilling. This is called giving the oil companies an ‘incentive’ to produce more oil.
An ‘incentive’ for doing something is usually regarded as a reward, or an enticement, but imagine the politicians claiming that reducing the rate of royalties, taxes, is a ‘gift’ to the oil companies is ludicrous. “Since you aren’t making a sustainable profit with market prices where they were, we will stop taxing you just a little bit. But when you start making a profit again, we will tax you more!”
The wise, fair and honest thing for these greedy politicians to do would be to eliminate both the license fees and the ‘Royalties’ on oil and let the market function without coercion. Not only would it be fair, it would ensure a better supply of oil and would reduce the price at the pump for the everyday consumer.
But will the greed subside even in a crisis?
I doubt it.
Amicus
Edited to add: The discussion continues on cable news channels:
"Exxon Mobile's tax rate is 47%, the company paid over 7 Billion dollars in taxes last year. The top three oil companies paid over 40 Billion dollars in taxes to the US Government last year."
Interesting? And ya wanna tax em even more? Shameless!
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