Friday, February 02, 2007

Hurray for Profits!

Excellent commentary from Chris Edwards over at Cato @ Liberty:


Good news from the oil industry: ExxonMobil announced a record after-tax profit of $39.5 billion for 2006.

That is great news because it means the company will have more funds to reinvest in exploration, refinery expansion, drilling platforms, chemical plants, and all those other brilliant machines that American families benefit from every day.

The firm invested $20 billion in exploration, structures, and equipment in 2006 and $18 billion in 2005.


Quite the contrast from Hillary Clinton's position (also available via YouTube):


The other day, the oil companies reported the highest profits in the history of the world.

I want to take those profits, and I want to put them into a strategic energy fund that will begin to fund alternative smart energy, alternatives and technologies that will begin to actually move us toward the direction of independence.


It boggles my mind that there are people who think that the Federal Government would actually do a better job investing in future energy alternatives than a company so amazingly competent they can turn out a record $39.5 billion profit.

Sure, I wish gas cost less at the pump, but I'm still willing to buy about the same amount of gas as I used to because frankly the benefit I receive from the gas I buy outweighs the cost. It's ludicrous to criticise ExxonMobile for making a profit while charging a fair price for a product we find extremely useful. I'm more ludicrous to think it's some how good - or even OK - for the government to rip away a company's profits.

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