Fuel for thought!

First and foremost I have to give my Cherokee friend "She Bear" credit for reminding me of that great wisdom used in yesterday's post. Thank you for sharing!

Now on to today's topic. I'm frothing at the mouth ready to rip into the National Health Care issue but that's going to have to take a back seat to today's topic. I lie awake at night awed at the incredible ruse that's been going on for decades in Washington, and giving credit where credit is due, have to thank the current administration for inspiring me to uncover this.
Had candidate Obama not pointed out the massive incomes the giant corporations were receiving on the backs of the American people, I might not have looked deeper into this subject.

One of candidate Obama's campaign pledges was to tax the incredible profits amassed by huge corporations, in particular the oil companies. At face value it sounds like a great way to raise revenue and not have it come out of our pockets. Unsuspecting voters failed to realize that "evil" corporations are just an entity that collect funds and distribute them to creditors, investors, and toward taxes. Taxes levied are passed on to you the consumer so as not to have an effect on the bottom line, the most important number to the shareholders. So any savvy consumer should realize those extra taxes are just another way of getting indirectly into your pocket. This attempt to villianize the corporations was just another way to divert your attention away from the real facts.

Let's focus on the oil companies, they had the finger pointed at them the most. Fuel for our vehicles is one of the largest expenses in the family budget. When prices fluctuate it affects our discretionary income, so it's only natural to carry a chip on our shoulder about oil company profits. Tax foundation data tells us that between the years 1977 to 2004 the oil companies cleared $630 billion dollars of profit after income after paying the federal and state governments $518 billion in taxes. Nice haul for Washington and state tax coffers, they are a 45% partner with no investment. But wait there's more! In the same period, an additional $1.34 TRILLION dollars was collected from you the consumer by these nasty oil companies to turn over to the government in the form of excise taxes. Yes, that was TRILLION! Total that's $1.858 TRILLION in tax revenue out of you pocket or 3/4 of the pump profit paid in taxes. So, who actually profits, and who is the villain here? I'm not even going to bring up you've already paid payroll taxes on that money your spending at the pump. Angry yet?

Government, not the oil industry, is the biggest "profiteer" from oil. It uses the tax revenue to expand it's authority at the expense of the individual. Electric and the coal industry are also in the pass the tax on to the consumer mix.

How about ethanol? Our pump petroleum is now watered down with ethanol. Ethanol has a lower BTU, and a faster burn rate than straight fossil petrol. It lowers MPG and increases our usage, hence we pay more taxes. Was that legislation designed to help the consumer or raise tax revenue? Ethanol also requires 3 gallons of fossil fuel to make 4 gallons of ethanol, all taxable.

General motors claimed it was close to introducing a hydrogen powered vehicle. Non-existent emissions and fueled by the one of the most abundant resources on earth. Washington haulted funding on this project, and for the infrastructure required to make this a reality. Could it be they had no way to tax hydrogen figured out yet? It doesn't pollute, and it doesn't use fossil fuels. Perhaps the agenda in Washington isn't a cleaner environment, but a tax revenue issue? Electric cars are fine, they need to be recharged by electricity, they can tax that!

This tangled web is not yet untangled! Washington has mandated auto manufacturers raise fuel economy. If we double the fuel economy we use half the fuel. Less fuel = less fuel tax revenue. Where do we make up the shortfall? Enter cap and trade legislation, another tax for the unsuspecting consumer.

My guess is this is just a tip of the iceberg. It's all fuel (nontaxable) for thought. We are being fed a line of hooey and misdirected by our elected officials. This giant shell game is dipping into our already overtaxed pockets and limiting our freedoms! Less discretionary income = fewer choices = less freedom!

God Bless
Capt. Bill