Ahem, I've posted this before and it bears repeating here.
Federal and state taxes on gasoline production and imports have been climbing steadily since the late 1970s and now total roughly $58.4 billion. Due in part to substantial hikes in the federal gasoline excise tax in 1983, 1990, and 1993, annual tax revenues have continued to grow. Since 1977, governments collected more than $1.34 trillion, after adjusting for inflation, in gasoline tax revenues—more than twice the amount of domestic profits earned by major U.S. oil companies during the same period:
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2005/10/gas_taxes_excee.htmlhttp://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/1054.htmlSo just who in the hell do the idiots in Congress think they are??? The govt does NOTHING yet collects an obscene amount of tax on gas and they want to make the CEO's answer??? At least the oil companies are actually producing something for the profit. *banghead*
As of January 9, 2008, the average amount of tax imposed on a gallon of gasoline sold in the United States was 47.0 cents per gallon, up 0.1 cents from the July 2007 report. For diesel fuel, the national average amount of tax was 53.6 cents per gallon, up 0.7 cents from the July 2007 report.
http://www.api.org/policy/tax/stateexcise/index.cfmA Congressman (Dingell, or as I like to call him, Dingleberry) wants to raise it -
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) will propose a new carbon tax that would increase the gasoline tax by 50 cents, the lawmaker said in an interview on C-SPAN's ‘Newsmakers’ airing Sunday.
In the interview, Dingell acknowledged that voters may not be willing to bear the cost of limiting greenhouse gas emissions, and that he would propose the new tax “just to sort of see how people really feel about this.â€
“I sincerely doubt that the American people are willing to pay what this is really going to cost them,†Dingell said in the interview.
And it's worth noting that oil companies operate under a profit margin that is generally slimmer than the rest of corporate America.
Notice refining costs and profits comprise no more than 18% of the cost we pay. It costs about $2 a gallon for U.S. refiners to turn crude oil into gasoline before transportation and distribution costs are added, said John Felmy, an API economist.
That leaves 20.6 cents - $1.106 per gallon for transportation, distribution and profit.
“When you take all those costs out you’re not finding unreasonable profits for everything we have to do to get (gasoline) to consumers,†Felmy said.
But Democrats never fail to seize an opportunity to raise taxes. Now let me ask you this, if Congress implemented a 50% windfall profit tax on the oil companies, who do you think would end up paying that? Do you think the oil company executives would feel so guilty that they’ve been making 8 cents on the dollar and smile when that’s cut in half? Or would they simply build the tax into the supply chain and end up passing it along to shareholders and consumers?
http://www.texasrainmaker.com/2006/04/25/more-pain-in-the-gas/
