Oil Industry Profits and Political Contributions
By: Lowell
Published On: 4/27/2006 8:41:18 AM
The following two graphs pretty much sum up my feelings about the oil and gas industry.
First, courtesy of the U.S. Energy Information Administration, here are fourth quarter profits (2004 and 2005) by line of business. As you can see, the major energy companies are totally raking it in, particularly when it comes to the "upstream" side of the business; that is, oil and natural gas production. In just the 4th Quarter of 2005, the main U.S. energy companies made $25 BILLION in net income producing oil and natural gas. Gee, you think they could afford to give some of that money back to their country in a time of war and huge budget deficits? But perhaps the NEXT graph will help explain why the Congress and Bush Administration won't go for THAT!
Next, courtesy of Open Secrets, is where the oil and gas industry gave its money in 2004 and - so far - in 2006. That's right, Big Oil gives overwhelmingly to Republicans. I know, I know, big surprise! Still, put these two graphs together, and I think it tells a strong story. Or am I just imagining that Big Oil and the GOP are joined at the hip? Am I also imagining that Big Oil is receiving huge subsidies - explicit and implicit - from the U.S. public, even while that same public is paying $3 per gallon at the pump?
What the hell is going on here? Is our political system totally corrupted with oil money or what? Is the movie Syriana, which dramatizes the corrupt intertwining of Big Oil, politics, terrorism, and repressive Middle Eastern countries, real or is it fiction? Do we desperately need someone like Jim Webb, who despises this system, now more than ever? Is another lobbyist or buddy of Big Oil the last thing we need in Congress right now? Exactly, I thought you'd see it that way too! :)
Comments
Unbelievable! (Eric - 4/27/2006 10:02:01 AM)
Except that I do believe it. It's a sorry sordid state of affairs with the Republican led government and the oil industry. I think we should change that "put a tiger in your tank" to "put an elephant in your tank".
But wait, it gets even better. This is truly unbelievable: I see that the Republicans want to give us a break by cutting everyone a $100 check to make up for high gas prices. I could go off in so many ways, but I'll stick to the basics. They want to give back taxpayer dollars so the oil companies don't have to give up any profits! WTF? The government's trillions in debt while big oil making billions per quarter and it's the government who has to pay? I guess they're counting on the American people to be really, really stooopid.
If big oil doesn't get to keep their profits then the terrorists have won! Spread the word and let those poor companies keep their hard earned money.
Here's the kicker... (Tom Joad (Kevin) - 4/27/2006 1:57:53 PM)
Congress wants to close tax credits with the oil companies that total close to 5 billion dollars. If we give every TAXPAYER $100 with let's say as an example 100 million taxpayers, then we are giving away 10 BILLION DOLLARS! Where is that money going to go? Most likely it will go to the pump. So is it me or are we giving more money to the oil companies and what type of conservation message are we preaching?
Oil & the Republicans (Rick O'Dell - 4/27/2006 3:30:18 PM)
Kuddo's to Lowell on the graphs. Even the Koolaide drinkers can understand a picture. Let's see, what about a new name for the Republican Party? They're not really about God, guns and gays. So how about:
GOP - Greedy Oil Party; or my favorite, GOP - Got Oil Profits?