upon reading urqhart's top post concerning cisco's record profits, i raced to call nancy pelosi, to see if she would be recommending a windfall profits tax on cisco.

after all, cisco's profit margin (20%) is more than twice that of exxon (a paltry 9.7%, in comparison)

long story short - "no"

something about cisco being headquartered in san jose california, and she being smart enough to know who butters her bread, and the average voter is an idiot if he can be roused to a seething hatred of exxon so easily anyway.

then the sound of cackling laughter, and the line went dead.

We really have no reasonable alternative to oil and whether its Exxon, Shell or Terrible Herbst, your car works the same. Cisco has competitors and there is a difference so its not really a monopoly or even close to what we all suffer from in regards to gas and oil. Apples and oranges but lets not let that get in the way of a good liberal bashing post..

After all, there's a Planet to be Saved. And she still hasn't gotten around to that Culture of Corruption thing.

windfall profits taxes have always confused me. especially oil companies. Drop all their tax credits and pork barrel subsidies and let them loose. the market will take care of it's self.

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Or force them into building infrastructure with it and donating it to the feds.

amount of money in dollars that US oil companies paid to the US Federal Governent in 2007? How about the first two quarters of 2008?

How much money was paid to US stockholders? How much of that money was paid in taxes to the US Federal Goverment in the same time periods.

You mean these oil companies are free loader like US Congressmen or do they really pay taxes and share the income.

BTW got a number for how much of the oil company 2007 profit was used to explore for new oil and natural gas?

You don't have a number? Oh.

thats the funniest thing i've heard all year.

you're forgetting

• shell
• texaco
• amoco
• chevron
• british petroleum
• citgo
• gulf
• getty
• valero
• lukoil

and then of course there's the fact that exxon is selling/has sold all its gas stations to independent operators <link>, further distancing itself from prices at the pump.

not only does exxon have virtually no "in ground" reserves, it now has no control over the pumps. its purely a refiner.

Exxon is selling off its stations because it knows that particular brand name is not popular.

It is still holding onto its other brands. Ever heard of Mobil, or ESSO?

As for no reserves you might want to extend your gaze a little more globally. They have plenty of reserves out there.