More On The High Taxes Paid By Oil Companies

See The Gas Price Freakout: Ready-made energy incoherence as a gallon climbs towards $4. From the WSJ, 4-28-11. Excerpts:

"The liberal drive to tax Big Oil is rooted in an ideological commitment to higher energy prices, not consumer relief. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that the effective U.S. corporate tax rate for the oil majors was 26.3% in 2009, not counting royalties, excise taxes or bonus bids for leases. The effective rate typically tracks production and rises and falls with the price of oil. In 2008, it was 42.3%.

U.S. gas prices last peaked in 2008, largely due to a dollar plunge and global demand, before crashing along with the economy. Now prices are rebounding, with political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa tacking on a premium beyond the market fundamentals of rising demand as the world economy grows. Then there's the Ben Bernanke premium. The most important step the government could take to stabilize if not lower oil prices is to correct the Federal Reserve's weak dollar policy, which has sent commodity prices soaring across the board."