BP's stimulous money

[Glenn W]

This ought to piss you off---- or should it?

BP announced today that it will take a $9.9 billion tax credit as a result of its cleanup costs in the Gulf. Because BP hasn't actually paid the IRS this much in estimated taxes yet this year, the Company may seek a refund from prior year payments to the IRS. This means that U.S. taxpayers effectively will be footing the bill for about 1/3 of the Gulf clean up costs that BP pledged it would cover totally.

Ok, that's the media slant.

Remember that corporations are only taxed on profits, the cleanup has resulted in a net loss (or more correctly, is an allowable deduction) so why should BP pay taxes on profits they didn't earn? Moreover, these payments by BP were voluntary, not a result of a fine or penalty ( which generally are not deductible).

Some Republican Polititians are already blaming Obama for not considering this when he struck the deal $20 Billion deal with BP --- how da hell do they know what Obama did and did not consider?

Polititians are also crying fowl using the "decensy", "how dare you, you immoral *******" card.

Now if you were BP what would you do?--- pay taxes on phantom profits? not take advantage of legal deductions available to any corporation (losses)?

[Reel Compromise]

There are just too many sides to look at this from. From the investors standpoint, shareholders, why should they get impacted by taxes on profits they did not get and fines that were the result of actions out of their control. If this was an independently owned company I could see the issue with the tax breaks they are going to get and the cost of the cleanup coming from tax payers in the US.

Now on the otherside of things, the investors chose to buy into the BP stock pool and thus they get the good with the bad. Why should the non-stock holders/US tax payers pick up any part of the bill for the clean up of a mess caused by greed, corruption, neglegence, and flat our unethical and immoral acts by the decision makers at BP. There has to be some accountability on the side of BP and its officials and executives that made the poor decisions to jeopardize safety and the environment for increased profits and lower expenses on the rig. Let alone the loss of lives for the 11 people that parished in the explosion that fateful day.

Another way to look at it is that as a nation we all have an interest in cleaning up our oceans and making sure they continue to produce food and and other resources needed for American consumption etc. So that being said, isn't the reason BP was drilling there in the first place due to our country's lust for oil and oil driven vehicles and toys and machinery needed to continue building and overbuilding our country? So since our desire to burn fossilfuels is the creation of the need fro the well then shouldn't we as a whole pay for the negative effects of our actions and lifestyles? Although the main blame for the trajedy can be put on a few individuals respectively, as a whole the blame falls upon everyone that uses oil based products and fuels so much that we need to drill offshore in the first place.

As for Obama and his actions and lack thereof, I only have one thing to say...Worst President in the history of the US and a real pupet for the corporations that are slowly using our government to strip our civil liberties from us in the name of socialism and making sure we all have a quality lifestyle out of poverty. Well I for one believe that some people need to get off their buts and get a job. Stop leaching off the system because it pays more to sit at home and have more children than it does to work an honest days work at a McDonalds or Target or Walmart. If they want more money than they can get from working a job for another person or company then they should apply themselves and start their own business. Obama is realy proving to be the hypocrite he said he and the country was tired of having in office. Hell he proved to be a liar after only a few days in office when he went ahead and added sign ons to bills and avoided having to get approval from congress which he promissed he would never do and that they would stop with the exit of Bush. Let alone the oath he took with the UN that is directly conflicting with the Oath he took as President of the United States. What a joke and what a shitting wool blanket the entire democratic party has pulled over the publics eyes. This junk in office is what you get when you push to get people to exercise their rights to vote when they have never voted before and have no clue about fiscal policy, national debt, tax laws, and many other important issue that should be considered before voting to make history rather than voting to improve our country and our economy properly. Big governent equals no rights and no money for anyone except the big companies that sit on the money to keep from paying higher taxes and then distribute the money to the upper executives at only 15 percent corporate dividends rather than ordinary income rates. Obama's promisses are smoked mirrors and shit eating grins accompanied by an overused hand gesture with his indexed finger.

But then again this is just my opinion and since we are all entitled to our own opinion, for now, I'm sharing it with you all. Enjoy it or hate it but at least I'm able to share it for now until the government grows to a point where we are forced to think happy thoughts and follow a straight line in the herd of humanity here in the good old US of A.

[BYRD]

If its a legal deduction and BP is following the rules set by the IRS, then why shouldn't they take it?

[clt_capt]

It was only a matter of time - with the massive profits the oil companies have reported the last few years, and the lack of spending on their infrastructure, you knew something like this was bound to happen...

[hubris 1]

This ought to piss you off---- or should it?

BP announced today that it will take a $9.9 billion tax credit as a result of its cleanup costs in the Gulf. Because BP hasn't actually paid the IRS this much in estimated taxes yet this year, the Company may seek a refund from prior year payments to the IRS. This means that U.S. taxpayers effectively will be footing the bill for about 1/3 of the Gulf clean up costs that BP pledged it would cover totally.

Ok, that's the media slant.

Remember that corporations are only taxed on profits, the cleanup has resulted in a net loss (or more correctly, is an allowable deduction) so why should BP pay taxes on profits they didn't earn? Moreover, these payments by BP were voluntary, not a result of a fine or penalty ( which generally are not deductible).

Some Republican Polititians are already blaming Obama for not considering this when he struck the deal $20 Billion deal with BP --- how da hell do they know what Obama did and did not consider?

Polititians are also crying fowl using the "decensy", "how dare you, you immoral *******" card.

Now if you were BP what would you do?--- pay taxes on phantom profits? not take advantage of legal deductions available to any corporation (losses)?

Right now BP needs a "gary condit holiday." They are in the rifle scope and need something else to come along and take the media attention away. Hopefully Lindsay Lohan can escape from jail, naked, Over the fence and is last seen getting into Biggys SUV with Puff Daddy driving. That way we can comment on is Biggy dead, or alive. I say if hes banging that, hes alive!
I say take all legal deductions........Thats what makes this a great country. Now we want to hand pick on an individual basis what is fair.

[Hatterized]

nothin with BP would surprise me....hell Bama may have already struck a deal to run BP US operations once his worthless ass is out of the White House....

still waiting to hear more about the deal between BP and Libya to free the Pan Am Lockerbee bomber .....for oil rights....

let me sum it up......F BP !!!

[CaptRandy]

When are they planning on funding the 20 bil?

[hubris 1]

When are they planning on funding the 20 bil?

Its all bullshit. All the money raised for haiti relief still hasnt been sent in either. The cost of all this will be on the American. Gas will go up, Taxes for administration, and business will go on. BP right now is working on a deal to get Lindsay Lohan out of jail since she only has 4 more days to live until she menstruates. Its all being done for humanitarian reasons. She will be released to authorities at the Playboy mansion.

[Glenn W]

When are they planning on funding the 20 bil?

Maybe they are waiting for their income tax refund check--

[captnemo]

It was only a matter of time - with the massive profits the oil companies have reported the last few years, and the lack of spending on their infrastructure, you knew something like this was bound to happen...

Confused? What infrastructure exactly was neglected? Since the deepwater horizon wasn't owned or maintained by the oil companies? Where is the lack of spending? Also do you have any real idea about the spending that goes into maintenance on a rig like the deepwater horizon?