Oil Corporations Need Welfare?

I received the following email this morning and I didn't know that the poor oil corporation were in such need. Poor things, I had no idea. They must be hungry or homeless or sick but have no health insurance. We must all do our part to help lift them out of poverty. Come on people we can provide the boot straps they need to lift themselves to better life. The oil corporations must really be angry at the American people for putting them is such dire straights, while they pay taxes millions of people have been stripping them of their future success. So my friends I say buy more gas and oil products to help these poor indigent corporations so they can get off the welfare tit.

Actual E-Mail

To reduce our dependence on oil and protect the environment, we can't
afford to squander billions in taxpayer handouts to Big Oil.

Unfortunately, for years Big Oil has gotten the lion's share of
taxpayer subsidies while clean energy has gotten scraps. In fact, a recent
analysis by Friends of the Earth shows that oil companies like ExxonMobil
are slated to receive more than $31.6 billion on taxpayer handouts over
the next five years.

The good news is that new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has stated
that one of her top agenda items in the first few days after she takes
control in January will be to cut the most outrageous of these taxpayer
giveaways to Big Oil.

Tell your representative that you don't want your tax money lining the
pockets of Big Oil by signing our Stop Handouts to Big Oil petition.
To sign, click on the link below or copy and paste it into your browser:

https://www.uspirg.org/action/new-energy-future/oil-handouts?id4=ES

Then ask your friends and family to help by forwarding this email on to
them.


Oil Company Profits Continue to Skyrocket

Big oil companies are swimming in a sea of record-breaking profits
while American consumers and taxpayers pay the price. In 2005, the world's
biggest oil companies reported a combined $111 billion in profits. In
the first three quarters of 2006 they reported more than $94 billion.

Some of the biggest oil company profits in 2005 were:
* ExxonMobil: $36.1 billion
* Royal Dutch Shell: $25.3 billion
* BP: $22.3 billion
* ConocoPhillips: $13.5 billion
* Chevron Texaco $14.1 billion

Federal Handouts Lavish Billions on Oil and Gas Companies

Despite earning record profits, oil and gas companies continue to
benefit from billions in handouts courtesy of American taxpayers. Between
tax incentives, below-market fees for drilling on public lands, research
and development subsidies and accounting gimmicks, these companies will
receive more than $31.6 billion from the federal government over the
next five years.

Specifically, these handouts break down as follows:
* Tax breaks: $16 billion
* Research and development subsidies: $1.8 billion
* Below-market fees for drilling on public lands: $9.5 billion
* Accounting gimmicks: $4.3 billion
* Total: $31.6 billion

Some of most outrageous handouts to Big Oil include a deduction
allowing oil and gas companies to write off taxes and fees paid to foreign
governments. This giveaway is not only a boon for Big Oil, but also for
the governments of the world's major oil-producing nations, many of
which are openly hostile to American interests. According to estimates
from the Joint Committee on Taxation, modifying the deduction would save
taxpayers $325 million over the next five years.

Another costly and unfair handout allows companies drilling for oil and
natural gas in publicly-owned waters and on publicly-owned lands to pay
below-market fees, or royalties, for the resources they extract. These
royalty payments provide needed resources to the Land and Water
Conservation Fund, Historic Preservation Trust Fund, the oil-producing states
and the federal treasury. Schemes that let oil companies off the hook
for their royalty obligations will cost taxpayers at least $9.5 billion
over the next five years.

And despite the substantial investments made by Big Oil into research
and development, Congress is pumping more than $1.8 billion into federal
research and development, including one provision in the Energy Policy
Act of 2005 to give $1.5 billion to an oil consortium in Representative
Tom DeLay's home district of Sugarland, TX.

The good news is that new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has stated
that one of her top agenda items in the first few days after she takes
control in January will be to cut the most outrageous of these taxpayer
giveaways to Big Oil.

Tell your representative that you don't want your tax money lining the
pockets of Big Oil by signing our Stop Handouts to Big Oil petition.
To sign, click on the link below or copy and paste it into your browser:

https://www.uspirg.org/action/new-energy-future/oil-handouts?id4=ES

Sincerely,

Meshawn Ayala
MoPIRG Citizen Outreach Director
MeshawnA@mopirg.org
http://www.MoPIRG.org