Sen. Rand Paul: When Big Oil Screws Americans At The Gas Pump, ‘You Should Want To Encourage Them’

[ProSense]

Sen. Rand Paul: When Big Oil Screws Americans At The Gas Pump, ‘You Should Want To Encourage Them’

By Rebecca Leber

The top five oil companies in the United States have already made $5.8 billion in windfall profits from spiking gasoline prices this year. Yesterday, Senate Republicans agreed to debate a bill that repeals $2 billion in annual tax breaks for these super-wealthy oil giants. The move was purely a political calculation — don’t expect the GOP to end taxpayer welfare for their Big Oil allies. GOP senators like Rand Paul (R-KY) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) have used their time on the Senate floor today to push error-riddled arguments coming straight from their oil industry donors.

Paul argued Big Oil deserves even more favors from government, because they’re doing such a good job extracting wealth from American families:

Instead of punishing them, you should want to encourage them. I would think you would want to say to the oil companies, “What obstacles are there to you making more money?” And hiring more people. Instead they say, “No, we must punish them. We must tax them more to make things fair.” This whole thing about fairness is so misguided and gotten out of hand.

Watch it:

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“We as a society need to glorify those who make a profit,” Paul concluded.

In his floor speech, Kyl claimed that ending the tax breaks would be “discriminatory.”

The five major oil companies are some of the largest and most profitable corporations in the world, increasingly at the expense of the rest of humanity. The big five companies enjoyed record levels of $137 billion profits last year, while paying absurdly low tax rates. Exxon is the most profitable, making $1300 per second in 2011, but it only paid a 13 percent tax rate, according to a Reuters analysis. The oil industry claims it pays a higher tax rate — but it counts foreign taxes and deferred taxes.

- more -

http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/03/27/452825/sen-rand-paul-when-big-oil-screws-americans-at-the-gas-pump-you-should-want-to-encourage-them/

[opihimoimoi]

1. Damn, these guys are BULLIES or WHAT??? They are so brave with their nonsense its annoying

[Initech]

2. I think Rand Paul just got himself laughed out of office.

Yeah let's give an addict the keys to the liquor cabinet - right. Is he a fucking idiot or what?

[libinnyandia]

6. You give voters too much credit.

[Initech]

10. True - I'm fully aware Kentucky has a history of electing psychopaths to office

[liberal N proud]

3. These monsters are sadistic assholes.

[MrSlayer]

4. I've been saying this about republicans for awhile now.

I've often wondered why they were complaining about things that they actually want. Rand is keeping it consistent and telling the truth about how they should feel.

[hifiguy]

5. Rand Paul is a sociopathic asshole

who should be locked behind secure doors and a tall barbed wire fence.

[MindMover]

7. Rand Paul a libertarian........

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[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/41483660@N04/6657578499/]libertarianism-anarchy-for-rich-people[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/41483660@N04/]pbmus[/url], on Flickr

[hifiguy]

8. Eloquently put. And spot on. nt

[Angry Dragon]

9. more idiots heard from

[gratuitous]

11. Yes Rand, let us "glorify those who make a profit"

It doesn't matter how they get it, the only thing that matters is that they've got money, right? I suppose Rand might finally gain a modicum of understanding if he had to fill his tank with the actual blood and bones of Big Oil's victims. But as long as those fat campaign donations kept coming, he'd not only learn to tolerate it, he'd learn to love it.

We used to have a word for people like that.