Free enterprise my ass!

[SamIam]

I generally dislike long cut and pastes, but this article has made me so angry that I am breaking my own rule. Whatever big oil may be, it is not a bastion of free enterprise.

From the Seattle Times:

When the Deepwater Horizon disaster set off the worst oil spill in U.S. history, the drilling platform was flying the flag of the Marshall Islands. Registering there allowed the rig's owner to significantly reduce its U.S. taxes.

Wouldn’t want to have the integrity to be responsible for paying taxes that might help clean up the mess they caused.

At the same time, BP was reaping sizable tax benefits from leasing the rig. According to a letter sent in June to the Senate Finance Committee, the company used a tax break for the oil industry to write off 70 percent of the rent for Deepwater Horizon, a deduction of more than $225,000 a day since the lease began.

I presume that this means BP was paid $225,000/day to create the worst oil spill the Gulf has ever seen. Where’s George Orwell when we need him?

An examination of the U.S. tax code indicates oil production is among the most heavily subsidized businesses, with tax breaks available at virtually every stage of the exploration and extraction process.

This sounds like welfare for the oil business to me. People scream bloody murder that a single mother and her children may get a little government help, but if your initials are BP or that of any other oil conglomerate, the more money the tax payer shells out the better.

Some government watchdog groups say that only the industry's political muscle is preserving the tax breaks. An economist for the Treasury Department said in 2009 that a study had found that oil prices and potential profits were so high that eliminating the subsidies would decrease U.S. output by less than half of 1 percent.

No fucking comment. Sensitive dwellars, please advert your eyes.

More and more and more:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm..._oiltax04.html