The following letter is from a citizen protesting the non-sense of this stupid legislation. When you read this and the "Media Claims and Facts" developed by Exxon/Mobil, think about how bill HR 5251 going through congress now will change your life and the lives of all your future off-spring. What percentage of your income are you will to pay for energy? How important is energy in your life?
This is no joke - it's text book socialism in it's purest form. The liberals want to take from the productive and give to the unproductive. This will kill instinctive country wide as other individuals and corporations will know they are next so why even try to get ahead.
What will this mean for new and existing jobs? You figure it out - da
Read between the lines people and Keep the faith, the battle is joined!
H.R. 5251, " The Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008" is a wretchedly bad bill! I am really tired of paying extra taxes on some politicians' whim. These proposed taxes are not deductible on my Federal/State Income Taxes, and also reduce my discretionary income.
Penalizing companies that effectively manage their business and pay even more taxes because of their effective management practices is foolish in the extreme when the US needs energy so badly. Even worse, this legislation is an outright attack on the retirement income of many millions of hard working citizens.
For instance, 41% of the stock of Exxon/Mobil is owned by retirement funds for teachers, firefighters, police and other large organizations. 30+ % of Exxon/Mobile stock is owned by mutual funds, representing the retirement savings of many thrifty individuals, and much of the rest is held by individual investors who own stocks outside of a mutual fund. Why take money away from those who save and invest for their retirement?
Why take money from citizens retirement savings, and give it to the most profligate group of big spenders in the USA, The US Congress! Please kill this wretched bill!
*Wind-fall profits tax on oil **
The following facts and figures have been developed by Exxon/Mobil.**2-29-08 *
In the past several months, a number of media commentators and political leaders have been accusing the oil and gas industry of profiting from "special" tax subsidies and incentives, and asserting that the industry is somehow paying less than its 'fair share' of taxes. Few things could be further from the truth.
As you discuss with your family and friends proposals in the Congress to increase the industry's tax burden even further, you may want to be armed with some "fast facts" that take on some of these false claims. In response to the points below that were circulated recently by some Members of Congress, we are providing more complete information that rebuts some of the erroneous claims surrounding the industry's taxes and explains the short-sighted, harmful impacts of increasing industry's taxes at this time.
*Claim 1:* "This week, the House will vote to reinvest taxpayer subsidies to oil companies earning record profits into clean renewable energy—creating jobs and making America less dependent on foreign oil."
*The Facts:* These so-called "subsidies" are tax provisions applicable to *all US manufacturers and producers*. Specifically, the 2004 "American Jobs Creation Act" was enacted to lower the marginal tax rates for U.S. manufacturers and producers, in order to strengthen the American economy and preserve jobs here in the United States. Yet somehow they are described as "subsidies" only for oil companies -- not for other "manufacturers," ranging from farmers, ranchers, and coal and mineral producers, to coffee grinders, movie studios and video game producers.
The pending House energy tax bill would repeal the 2004 legislation in full for only 5 oil and natural gas companies, singling them out for "punishment" and ignoring the fact that on the "record" profits they have made, they have also paid record taxes. In a study published recently in _Tax Notes_, the three highest effective tax rates for 2004-2006 of some 80 companies surveyed were ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Chevron. These tax rates were some 13 percentage points above the 30% effective tax rate average for all 80 companies.
*Claim 2:* "The bill comes shortly after the big five oil companies reported their latest record profits in 2007 and as oil prices hit record highs. This morning, oil prices are near $100 a barrel. Several weeks ago, Exxon Mobil reported earning $40.6 billion in 2007 - the largest corporate profit in American history - equal to $132 for every U.S. resident."
*The Facts:* ExxonMobil also incurred, in 2007, income taxes of $32.4 billion (including ExxonMobil's share of equity company income taxes), also a record, which resulted in a 44% effective income tax rate. And all taxes incurred by ExxonMobil in 2007, including income, sales-based, and other taxes, were a staggering record of $106 billion -- equal to roughly $340 for every U.S. resident!*
Claim 3:* "High energy prices continue to squeeze American families. Since President Bush took office, gas prices are up 109%, and home heating prices are up 222%. Over the same time period, oil company profits are up 313%."*
The Facts:* But from just 2002 to 2005, oil company current income taxes were up over 460%! And looking at ExxonMobil specifically, from 2002 to 2007, profits increased by 254%, while income taxes increased by 360%.
*Claim 4:* "It is a waste of taxpayer dollars for oil companies to receive subsidies while making record profits."
*The Facts:* Oil companies are simply being taxed in the same way as all other US manufacturers and producers, and are paying record taxes on their earnings. Increasing tax rates further just on a handful of US companies is not "taking subsidies" away, but rather is simply *imposing a windfall profits tax on a few companies*, which will only serve to further increase our dependence on foreign energy sources, not reduce it.
*Claim 5:* "Congress... [is] working to lower energy costs, improve national security by making us more energy independent, end taxpayer-financed subsidies to big oil companies earning record profits, and combat global warming."
*The Facts:* Increasing taxes on US producers will do nothing to lower energy costs; if anything it will increase them. The Congressional Research Service, Congress' own research arm, has stated these proposals will reduce investments in domestic oil and gas, and will consequently increase imports. That would not make us more "energy independent."
*Claim 6:* "Renewable energy jobs and investment depend on a sign from Washington that there will be support for the industry to grow."
*The Facts:* Just three years ago, when it enacted the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, Washington sent a sign that it wanted to promote employment in the US oil and gas industry, and all other US manufacturing and production sectors --not by picking "winners and losers," but by treating all equally. Repealing this provision for just one segment of US manufacturers and producers -- the oil and natural gas industry -- so soon after it was put in place, can hardly be a good sign of Washington's long term commitment to anything it "says" it seeks to promote.
What investors need is a stable tax environment that they can count on. In addition, recent federal energy legislation has already imposed massive market mandates -- and provided other subsidies -- for renewable energy sources. The best "signs" for capital investment in a free market should, in fact, come from the market, not Washington.
*Claim 7:* "Next week, the U.S. State Department co-hosts [a renewable energy conference] in Washington, with government ministers from 125 nations, billed as the largest renewable energy conference in history. The President goes into the conference opposing the House’s renewable energy legislation because he wants to protect oil company profits."
*The Facts:* The President does not necessarily oppose renewable energy legislation, and last year enacted into law a dramatic increase in a federal mandate for renewable fuels -- reaching 36 billion gallons by 2022. However, he has opposed increasing taxes on companies already paying record taxes, thereby discouraging domestic oil and gas investment and reducing the competitiveness of US based companies competing for energy resources in global markets.
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