Media Near-Secret: Exxon's Taxes Almost 3x As Much As Profits

Just heard Mark Levin mention this point on his show tonight.

The item he referred to is from Mark Perry at istockanalyst.com, who commented on CNNMoney.com's coverage of Exxon Mobil's profit report today:

According to CNN, Exxon Mobil once again reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history Thursday, posting net income of $11.68 billion on revenue of $138 billion in the second quarter.

That profit works out to $1,485.55 a second.

Buried in the story we also find that "In addition to making hefty profits, Exxon also had a hefty tax bill. Worldwide, the company paid $10.5 billion in income taxes in the second quarter, $9.5 billion in sales taxes, and over $12 billion in what it called 'other taxes.'"

..... In other words, Exxon Mobil paid $32.361 billion in taxes in the second quarter, which works out to $4,114 in taxes per second.

Go to his site to see the graph Perry put up.

Looking at it from another perspective, Exxon Mobil's profit of about 8.4% of sales, while the taxes paid represented over 23% of sales. (Note: This sentence originally said "32% of sales," and has been corrected. I apologize for the error.)

It's remarkable that CNN even reported the taxes paid, as they were the clear exception:

• This UK Guardian article about the Democrats' objections to Exxon's profits didn't.
• Kristen Hays at the Houston Chronicle didn't.
• Bloomberg didn't.
• The Associated Press ..... you're kidding, right?

The word "tax" does not appear in the Guardian, Chronicle, or AP articles. Bloomberg only used the word in connection with the after-tax effect of the company's Exxon Valdez settlement.

So who are the greedy ones -- Exxon shareholders who want a return on their investment, or the myriad government entities who insist that their grubby fingers be in the pie?

Oh, and would it be impolite to point out that Uncle Sam alone is currently spending $2.9 trillion a year, or $91,958 per second?

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.