Vote for Obama or Hillary if you want your retirement to be taxed!

Exxon Mobil $40.6 Billion
Chevron $18.7 Billion
ConocoPhillips $11.9 Billion

These numbers represent the 2007 profit of America’s top three oil companies. This alarms most Americans who feel cheated by paying $3 for a gallon of gas and live on tight budgets. But don’t worry, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will make it all better by taxing the profits on these big oil firms! They assure us that we’ll all feel a little better paying $3 a gallon as long as know big oil companies and high ranking executives are not making a profit off us!

But here some facts about oil and gas companies:
- The U.S. Oil and Gas Industry contributed $139 billion in GDP in 2002 and accounted for 1.5 million jobs in America, totalling $39.29 billion in income.
- The industry is already taxed at a rate of 38.3%.
- Other industries make higher profits. Banking profits 18 cents per US dollar, consumer services profits 10.1 cents per US dollar, software and services profit 9.9 cents per US dollar. Oil and Gas? 9.2 cents per US dollar.

A recent study by Robert Shapiro, undersecretary of commerce for economic affairs in President Clinton’s administration (yes, a Democrat), found that 55 million Americans with a median income of $68,700, 2,600 pension plans, and 45 million Americans’ IRAs, own shares in the oil and natural gas industry. These are fellow middle class people. So for all of you who cannot put two and two together, taxing big oil companies’ profits essentially taxes 55 million Americans, 2,600 pension plans, and 45 million IRAs who own these shares in their pension and retirement accounts.

Now look at these numbers:
Exxon Mobil $32.01 billion
Chevron $14.63 billion
ConocoPhillips $15.67 billion

This is the amount of dividends paid to their shareholders in 2000-2004 by Exxon Mobil and Chevron, and 2003-2004 by ConocoPhillips. If you increase the tax rate on these companies, dividends for each shareholder will automatically fall.

Big oil and natural gas companies have their shares divided as follows:

41% Pension and Retirement Accounts
29.5% Mutual Funds
23% Individual Investors
5% Institutional Investors
1.5% Corporate Investors

So, if you are one of those people who own stock in the oil industry, you may want to think again about supporting candidates who want to tax this industry. It will affect you! It would be a fallacy to think that your retirement will not see the affects of this. I’m merely presenting the facts, you can decide.

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Sources:
http://64.233.169.104/search?=cache:3_hX95AynosJ:rpc.senate.gov/_files/Feb0706EnergyTaxPJMW.pdf+robert+shapiro+exxon+mobil&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=16&gl=us
http://energytomorrow.org/energy_issues/shapiro.html