Letter: GOP’s compassionate to billionaires,corporations, he says

TO THE EDITOR: If you want to drive Republicans crazy, just try threatening to remove a $4 billion subsidy to our poor, victimized, multi-national oil companies.

Or threaten their ability to launder profits through subsidiaries in places like the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands—a scam Exxon has been pulling for years, thanks to their friends in Congress. Since Mitt Romney, the ex-hedge fund manipulator, does exactly the same thing, I suppose most Republicans would find it “unfair” not to let Exxon get away with the same thing. You guys are just so compassionate—to billionaires and multi-national corporations.

In 2010, virtually every legitimate news source in the country reported that Exxon had paid no federal USA corporate income tax in 2009, despite reporting tens of billions in its world-wide operations, and despite paying its CEO tens of millions of dollars. “Legitimate news source” is a category which excludes right-wing talk radio and Fox News, which at the time were focused on their “Obama is a Muslim” and “birther” conspiracy claims. And we do know where the majority of Republicans are getting their information, don’t we?

The stink resulted in a public relations blitz by Exxon and Republicans, the party to which it last year devoted over 92 percent of its political contributions. Money talks, to these guys, and especially to this party. In fact, the stink was so great, that the next year Exxon shuffled enough money around, so they actually did pay some U.S. corporate income tax, although at a rate far less than middle class working stiffs. You know, the people that Steve Rosaaen wants to fund subsidies for Exxon.

And your “opinion not facts” line was stolen from the late Democratic Sen. Moynihan, who was also tired of Republican deceit, when he spoke it in 1994.

Tags: opinion, letters, politics