By now, everyone's heard about the giant clusterfuck in the gulf known as the BP spill. You might have even heard about how BP's been manipulating Google results to bury their bad press. However, ladies and gentlemen of the American public who read my blog, hear me now: they're not done fucking us yet.
Congress is getting ready to quadruple — to 32 cents a barrel — a tax on oil used to help finance cleanups. The increase would raise nearly $11 billion over the next decade.
FANTASTIC. Hrm... There really does need to be a sarcasm font.
FANTASTIC!
Better?
You should be shaking your head at this point. Because you know what? Those taxes will be directly passed onto us at the pump, and there's no surer way to piss us off than making us pay more for gas. Alternately, questioning our sexuality. Or our guns.
See, the thing is, I'd be fine with a tax like this that went to decreasing our dependency on oil with some sort of more permanent solution. I understand that the oil companies want to make money; it's their prime directive. Make it profitable to not be an oil company. You know how we subsidize the shit out of beef and corn so that way all our chillens be fat? Do that with alternative energy and public transportation (and fruits and vegetables, but that's another rant).
Listen, I get it BP, you're sad that you made a boo-boo, and Congress is somehow very sympathetic to an oil company. Guess what, though. This is exactly the kind of shit that I point to when people get upset about homeowners defaulting on their mortgages. Own up, fix your mistake, and try not to be such a loser in the future.
"Taxpayers will not pick up the tab," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday.
BP executives told Congress last week they would pay "all legitimate claims" for damages...Money spent from the fund can later be recovered from the company responsible for the spill.
"Oh," you say, "We're gonna take care of this and all the legitimate claims. Don't you worry! You can get your money back later, sure can!"
Right, we've heard that song and dance before. Last I checked, the banks were laughing all the way to the... uh, to themselves?
And in case you're a visual person, check out these photos. They're not, y'know, happy photos. In case you were expecting bunnies. Or boobies*.
*Any boobies or bunnies in these pictures will be dying a slow petroleum death.
Seems like our other oil-suppliers (UAE, etc) would have a problem an additional cost built into their sales in the US. They don't see a single one of those additional 32 pennies, and in all probability, it will somewhat diminish sales, assuming we (Americans) can get as mad as we did when gas hit $4/gallon like it did a couple years ago.
ReplyDeleteAlso, $11 Billion would be a great sum to clean up this mess...too bad we'll have to wait out the decade to generate it.
Here's an idea: Fine BP the $11 Billion RIGHT NOW, and then remunerate THEM (no interest) with that extra 32 cents/barrel over the next decade. This way, the spill gets cleaned up faster, BP hurts more in the short term (and let's be honest, we WANT them to hurt) and a very clear message is sent to other oil suppliers; YOU will pay for your fuck-ups, not US.
I wouldn't necessarily be against that, especially given recent revelations: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/us/27rig.html
ReplyDelete