The Republican Way: Steal from the Poor, Give To The Rich
So what do the poor in America have that the rich are in need of, and willing to steal? Think about your answer for a short while. This is simply a talking point that democrats and liberals use to frighten voters of lower income.
In the video posted in the above article there is discussion about oil company subsidies. Actually the federal government does not directly pay subsidies to oil companies. What is called a subsidy in this context is actually a tax deduction that "all" manufacturing firms can take for investigating in equipment used in the production process of any company, including P&G, Ford, GE, or any other company in a manufacturing business.
In order to incentivize reinvestment of profits into manufacturing, the government allows any company to deduct a portion of the dollars invested from their taxes. Big oil is not doing anything that any other company is not permitted to do in this regard.
Do you think most voters know and understand this? Of course not. Because most voters do not read and investigate claims made by politicians in the public debate. They hear sound bites which are made to convince them to vote a particular way.
Did you know that the state and federal governments take more money from the sale of a gallon of gasoline than the oil companies that produce it do? Big oil companies make less than $0.07 per gallon of gasoline profits, and the taxes on a gallon are approximately $0.48. Does anyone tell you this? And the amount of tax deductions big oil takes for manufacturing is less than the federal government spends in a few hours each day of the year.
