The Politics of Your Tax Dollars at Work
May 15, 2011 – Wasting time arguing over whether the American public would benefit from ending subsidies for Oil companies is just another symbol of how well our political system operates. Granted, the Feds did promote a delightful dog and pony show by holding a hearing on May 12th designed to explore the rationale behind subsidizing the oil industry. However, the best part of the hearing on was when “[Q]uestioned about whether the tax breaks are essential to promote exploration, each executive admitted they are not, but said the subsidies are similar to those enjoyed by other industries.” http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/11/news/economy/oil_tax_hearing/
So if everyone was jumping off of a bridge, would Big Oil jump in with them and pollute the water? Saying that everyone else gets subsidies so Oil should too is like saying, “all the other kids get FREE lunch at school, I should get it too even though my parents make more money than all their parents combined.” It astonishes me every time I see a billionaire CEO of a company defending his “in-touchness” with the common American. The average worker cannot afford gas prices (that have risen around $4/gal) to fill up their tanks to get to their minimum wage Walmart jobs that they took simply to pay for their gas. All this while Big Oil is complaining they may lose subsidies — (the federal taxes taken out of the Walmart employee’s paycheck) — causing them to fly first class on a commercial airline instead of in their own private jets.
The most worrisome thing is that I don’t believe Congress will put a stop to rising gas prices. Even if some of the governmental leadership recognizes that this is one of the major problems in the US at the moment (unemployment, ‘end of days’ weather patterns and the NHL playoffs being a few others) politicians are powerless to the interests of the money that feeds their campaigns. And although Big Oil dollars do not hold a candle to political donations generated from the general population, the common person can no longer spare a donation to their favorite candidate since their wallet is being sucked dry at the Exxon station (so Exxon leaders can). In sum, the common man remains in a week-to-week existence with no political voice (i.e. campaign giving) by a subsided business which uses its profits to push its own agenda designed to give the commoner no access. Hmmm. Sounds a bit Un-American.
Tags: campaign finance, oil, political donations, politics, subsidy
Shoot, who would have thought that it was that easy?
OK, I read and lern from you. Thank