Good Guy of the Week - Big Oil

Wait, surely I can't be saying that the Big Oil companies, those earners of "obscene profits" are good guys. Yes, I am. They are easily and too often demonized by the same politicians who receive very handsome perks from "Big Oil" in the way of campaign contributions. Did you know, for instance, that President Barack Obama received $884,000 from the oil and gas industry in the 2008 campaign year. That was more than any other lawmaker with one exception - yep, John McCain. In 2009-2010, Senator Blanche Lincoln (D) from Arkansas led the way. Ever hear the phrase "biting the hand that feeds you?"

Here are some words/stats in defense of the big oil companies:

- The US oil and natural gas industry supports millions of jobs throughout the economy and directly employs over 2 million people. In total it is estimated that this industry supports over 9 million jobs and adds more than $1 trillion to our economy.

- Several industries make more profit than the "obscene profits" earned by "Big Oil." Those include the beverage industry, the shoe industry, the chemical industry, the computer industry and the apparel and leather industry. And just so you know that I have no problem with profits, check out this next stat:

- Here's who owns "Big Oil": 14% in IRAs, 29.5% in Mutual Funds, 23% Individual Investors, 27% in Pension Funds, 5% Other institutional investors and (here's the bad guys, right) 1.5% Corporate Insiders. In other words, you and I own "Big Oil" if we have any kind of investment or retirement portfolio at all. We should all be rooting for the oil industry big time!

- But how about that gouging at the gas pumps? We should at least be mad at them about that, right? Well, we should be mad at someone, that's for sure. How about "Big Government." Here's the breakdown percentage wise at the pump: 58% of the earnings go to buy crude oil, 17% pays for refining, 10% goes to retail costs and 15% goes to taxes. Less than 10 percent could actually be considered profit..... and remember who that goes to? If you take corporate taxation and regulatory fees into consideration, the government gets an even larger slice of the pie. So who should we be mad at? Call the Tea Party!

Last, but not least, the Oil and Natural Gas Industry is a strategic industry that is absolutely vital to our economy, national security and our very way of life. They're not perfect, of course, and there is some corruption, but there are other places where we should be focusing our attention first to clean up corruption.