RECORD PROFITS MEAN RECORD TAXES

Every time oil companies report strong earnings they seem to tap into a gusher of resentment on the left. One of these days the critics might look at what these businesses are contributing - besides vital energy. For instance:

• From 1977 to 2004, according to Tax Foundation data, U.S. oil companies cleared $630 billion after taxes while paying $518 billion in federal and state corporate taxes at an average rate of 45 percent.
• Over the same period, an additional $1.34 trillion in excise fuel taxes was collected from consumers and turned over to various levels of government.

As for Exxon's profit, in 2006 the company paid federal income taxes of $27.9 billion, leaving it with $39.5 billion in after-tax income. [not a typo] That profit, so loathed by the left, actually plays an important role: it's re invested into research, development, exploration and drilling to keep the oil flowing, and distributed to stockholders who have risked their capital to build an enterprise that provides an essential good -- the lifeblood of our economy.

[personally, I think it's Congress that should be on trial]

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