ExxonMobil's Profits - 53% Jump Over Last Year, STILL Not Paying US Corporate Income Tax

HOUSTON — Exxon Mobil, the largest American oil company, reported a 53 percent increase in its fourth-quarter profit on Monday, helped by an improving world economy that has increased energy demand and crude prices.

It was the strongest quarterly profit in more than two years, reflecting the strong recovery in oil markets. They soared in 2007 and 2008, collapsed in 2009, and returned to loftier heights by the end of 2010.

"It's a home run," said Fadel Gheit, managing director for oil and gas research at Oppenheimer & Company. "It's a big positive earnings surprise on strong operating results across all business segments underpinned by strong production growth, higher oil and gas prices and improved margins."

Exxon's performance was in line with the strong results of most other large energy companies, which have benefited not only from rising oil prices but also from improved margins in their refinery businesses.

Nevertheless, the results do not equal the record profits set a few years ago, when oil and gas prices were far higher than they were at the end of last year or even today.

Oil prices have been steadily creeping up in recent months to over $90 a barrel, settling on Monday at $92.19. The turbulence in Egypt has made traders skittish about the possibility of shortages of supplies if the Suez Canal is somehow blocked or political tensions spread to nearby Saudi Arabia. But natural gas prices, which are increasingly important to big oil companies, which have been increasing their gas investments in recent years, remain depressed.

Oil and gas prices rose again on Monday, with developments in Egypt serving as a reminder that the energy markets were vulnerable to political events in such vital producing countries as Nigeria, Iraq and Iran, which did not suffer major production interruptions in 2010.

Rising political tensions mixed with continued growth in economic demand usually means higher energy prices. But the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries still has the capacity to produce more oil in the event of a slowdown in traffic in the Suez Canal or interruptions in production in one or two producing countries.

Exxon Mobil's profit in the quarter was $9.25 billion, or $1.85 a share, compared with $6.05 billion, or $1.27 a share in the period a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected $1.63 a share. Total revenue in the quarter was $105.2 billion, up from $89.8 billion in the quarter a year earlier.

For the year, Exxon Mobil made $30.46 billion, or $6.22 a share, compared with $19.28 billion, or $3.98 a share, for 2009. Revenue for 2010 rose to $383 billion from $310 billion the previous year.

Exxon Mobil said its production increased 19 percent in the quarter. Gas production in the United States has tripled as a result of the company's acquisition of XTO Energy and other purchases of companies with shale field operations around the country. Gas now accounts for almost half of the company's production, up from 43 percent a year ago.

Earnings from the company's upstream business, which includes oil and gas production, rose to $7.48 billion in the quarter from $5.78 billion in the period a year earlier.

rest at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/business/01oil.html?_r=2

O'Keefe copycat who targeted Planned Parenthood faceplants out of the gate @andrewbreitbart #p2

So another weirdo wingnut James O'Keefe wannabe has released a hoax video targeting "the left." This one was created by an anti-choice activist named Lila Rose and it targets Planned Parenthood. Rose, who collaborated with O'Keefe in the past, aimed to produce a carbon copy of his ACORN/pimp hoax videos, this time substituting ACORN with Planned Parenthood and O'Keefe's pimp outfit with actors and actresses claiming to be part of an underage prostitution ring.

Rose is just now releasing the videos in which she claims that Planned Parenthood conspired to cover up the prostitution ring. She only leaves out one detail: Planned Parenthood officials, who instantly realized they were probably being punked, nonetheless went to federal authorities on the off-chance that Rose's actors weren't part of another O'Keefe style hoax.

rest at http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2011/2/1/940459/-OKeefe-copycat-who-targeted-Planned-Parenthood-faceplants-out-of-the-gate?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29

in 2008 top fox news editor engaged in campaign to link Obama to Marxists" and "socialism," internal Fox documents show #p2

BILL SAMMON'S 'SOCIALIST' INSTRUCTIONS TO THE FOX NEWS TEAM.... Bill Sammon sure does write a lot of memos.

During the final days of the 2008 presidential race, Bill Sammon used his position as a top Fox News editor to engage in a campaign to link then-Sen. Barack Obama to "Marxists" and "socialism," internal Fox documents and a review of his televised appearances show.

On October 27, 2008, Sammon sent an email to colleagues highlighting what he described as "Obama's references to socialism, liberalism, Marxism and Marxists" in his 1995 autobiography Dreams From My Father. Shortly after sending the email, Sammon -- then the network's Washington deputy managing editor -- appeared on two Fox News programs to discuss his research and also wrote a FoxNews.com piece about Obama's "affinity to Marxists" that was disseminated throughout the conservative blogosphere.

What a remarkable coincidence. Just days before the 2008 presidential election, a top editor suggested the Republican network's on-air talent connect the Democratic candidate not only to socialism, but to his "racial obsessions" while in college. I'm sure there's a reasonable, journalistic explanation for this, though I can't imagine what it is.

If I didn't know better, I might think Sammon has some kind of partisan political agenda or something. (Sammon's marching orders were sent to the network's news division, not its opinion shows, though the line between the two doesn't really exist.)

rest at http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2011_02/027796.php

In Light of Egypt’s Internet Block, U.S. “Kill Switch Bill” Raises Eyebrows

http://mashable.com/2011/02/01/us-kill-switch/

Conservatives Trot Out the Fake Pimp Routine Against Planned Parenthood #p2 @andrewbreitbart

http://gawker.com/5749001/conservatives-trot-out-the-fake-pimp-routine-against-planned-parenthood

Pres Obama appointing GE CEO Jeff Immelt to top White House position is about Profits, corporate control and insider info #p2

As I've long maintained, the business press is often the best place to get the real story about what's going on in American politics. That's because it's focused almost exclusively on telling its investor-readers how to make money, rather than on the political media's manufactured red-versus-blue story lines - story lines that distract us from our transpartisan oligarchy. A particularly good example of the value of the business press in telling the real political story comes from the latest issue of Businessweek.

After a week of the political press corps in Washington telling us how "pro-business" President Obama is for appointing General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt to a top White House position, Businessweek lets us know what those in the know think this is really all about: Profits, corporate control and insider information. Check out this excerpt:

To some investors, [Immelt] taking the role is practically a fiduciary duty. Stephen Hoedt, a Cleveland-based analyst for Key Private Bank, whose parent company owns 17 million GE shares, says Immelt may be "able to affect policy at the highest level." Brian James, co-head of research at fund manager Loomis Sayles, says he hopes Immelt, a Republican, gets "some insights into what's going to impact GE coming out from Washington," adding "this appointment simply can't be bad for GE."...

Given the uncertainty in GE's home market, not to mention opportunities to participate in earmarked projects and policy debates, Sterne Agee analyst Nick Heymann argues, Washington is a good place for Immelt to be. "This is where the opportunities to influence are," he says.

rest at http://www.openleft.com/diary/21566/businessweek-investors-tout-immelt-as-vehicle-for-corporations-to-sculpt-obamas-economic-policy

Gov. Kasich ‘Announces’ Appointment Of Existing African-American Staffer In Wake Of Diversity Scandal #p2

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) has been embroiled in controversy recently for appointing his state's first cabinet in nearly 50 years without any racial diversity, and for subsequently telling an African-American lawmaker challenging him on his cabinet picks, "I don't need your people." But today, "[i]n an obvious attempt to quell the criticism of the lack of diversity in his cabinet and staff," Kasich issued a statement proclaiming February Black History Month, and "announced" the appointment of African-American staffer Lynn Stevens to be his Director of Minority Affairs:

rest at http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/01/kasich-reannounces-staffer/

Group calls for IRS probe of American Future Fund #p2

A Washington, D.C.,-based government watchdog is calling for the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether the American Future Fund (AFF) has violated tax law.

In a letter to the IRS asking for an investigation, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) says AFF is registered as a 501c4 nonprofit, which means it doesn't have to disclose its donors so long as engaging in political campaign activity is not its primary purpose. However, the group has spent millions trying to defeat Democratic candidates across the country.

American Future Fund, which is based out of a P.O. Box in Des Moines, spent almost $10 million on political activities in 2010 – $7.3 million on independent expenditures expressly advocating the election or defeat of candidates for federal office, and at least another $2.2 million on electioneering communications – ads that mention a candidate by name close to an election.

"There is nothing wrong with working to elect Republicans, but you can't violate the law to do it," said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan. "Given the amount of money the American Future Fund spent on ads in the 2010 congressional elections, it seems clear the primary – if not only – goal of the group is to elect Republicans to Congress."

In October, AFF was accused of violating campaign finance laws in a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission demanding that it register as a political action committee and disclose its donors.

In December, several groups called on newly elected state Sen. Sandy Greiner (R-Keota) to resign her position as president of AFF, saying it was a conflict of interest for a sitting senator to lead an overtly political group. In a statement to The Iowa Independent, Greiner said she would not resign from AFF, but did step down from the group's PAC.

rest at http://washingtonindependent.com/105267/group-calls-for-irs-probe-of-american-future-fund

Super Bowl a magnet for under-age sex trade

ATLANTA — Pimps will traffic thousands of under-age prostitutes to Texas for Sunday's Super Bowl, hoping to do business with men arriving for the big game with money to burn, child rights advocates said.

As the country's largest sporting event, the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers will make the Dallas-Fort Worth area a magnet for business of all kinds.

That includes the multimillion dollar, under-age sex industry, said activists and law enforcement officials working to combat what they say is an annual spike in trafficking of under-age girls ahead of the Super Bowl.

rest at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41360579/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Meg Whitman Spent $178.5 Million to Lose [Ouch] #p2

from http://gawker.com/5748474/meg-whitman-spent-1785-million-to-lose

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Final election reports released Monday show Jerry Brown spent about $36.5 million in his successful bid to become governor, just a fraction of the $178.5 million spent by his Republican opponent, Meg Whitman, in what was the costliest campaign for statewide office in the nation's history.

Brown was buoyed by millions of dollars in spending by union-backed groups. But Whitman, the former eBay CEO, tapped $144 million from her personal fortune and raised the rest from donors in the 2010 California governor's race, including the primary and general election cycles.

She surpassed the previous record for personal spending in a campaign - the $109 million New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent in his quest for a third term.

While the bulk of Whitman's campaign spending went to buy television ads that dominated the airwaves for most of 2010, the billionaire spent more than $20 million on campaign consultants and staff, many of whom hailed from the campaigns of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger or the Republican presidential campaigns of Sen. John McCain and Mitt Romney.

According to Monday's filing, Whitman's campaign paid $1.3 million to Mike Murphy, her chief strategist, whose Bonaparte Films LLC also received an investment from Whitman before the campaign. Her personal adviser and friend Henry Gomez, who worked for her at eBay Inc., received nearly $1 million, and Jeff Randle, who was a campaign and political adviser to Schwarzenegger, received $550,000.

Whitman paid $1.4 million to finance chairman and former Mitt Romney adviser Spencer Zwick and more than $1 million to the Sacramento accounting firm Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk.

Brown's campaign reported spending $29 million on TV and radio ads placed by a Georgia-based Democratic advertising firm, LUC Media, according to reports filed with the secretary of state's office. Brown's chief campaign consultant, Steven Glazer, was the highest paid of his staffers, making $235,000.

What Brown lacked in campaign consultants, he made up with outside political muscle. The Democrat was aided by at least $26 million in spending by independent groups, mostly funded by labor unions.

Brown also relied on the goodwill of dozens of unpaid advisers and longtime Democratic strategists who were not on his payroll.

He bucked national GOP momentum last fall when he handily defeated Whitman by 13 percentage points. He persuaded voters that the nation's most populous state needed a seasoned public official, not a political novice, to step in and solve its financial troubles.

"The voters embraced his experience and authenticity and rejected her money and simplistic message," Glazer said Monday.

The notoriously frugal Brown raised $40.5 million for his campaign and managed to end the year with money left over; he reported a cash balance of $4 million at the end of the year. Whitman had $16,196 left.

rest at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/31/AR2011013105066.html?wprss=rss_nation/wires&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=main-twitter

IL Gov Quinn Signs Civil Union Law #p2

Gov. Quinn signed the Civil Unions bill into law yesterday before a raucous and packed house at the Chicago Cultural Center, saying "We believe in civil rights, and we believe in civil unions. We believe in liberty and justice for all." The law, which goes into effect June 1, gives gay and lesbian couples (as well as straight, unmarried couples) many of the same rights as a married couple. These wide ranging rights include making health care decisions for partners; disposing of a loved one's remains; gaining accident and health insurance benefits tied to partners; and granting same-sex couples new standing in probate law and laws relating to estate succession, purchase and distribution of property.

rest at http://chicagoist.com/2011/02/01/illinois_pat_quinn_civil_unions_gay.php

CREW ASKS IRS TO INVESTIGATE THE AMERICAN FUTURE FUND #p2

Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to investigate whether the American Future Fund (AFF) has violated tax law.  AFF, organized under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, burst onto the political scene in the 2010 election, spending millions of dollars asking voters to vote against Democratic candidates for federal office.  501(c)(4) organizations like AFF may not have as their "primary purpose" the participation in political campaigns in support of, or in opposition to, candidates for public office.

"There is nothing wrong with working to elect Republicans, but you can't violate the law to do it," said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan. "Given the amount of money the American Future Fund spent on ads in the 2010 congressional elections, it seems clear the primary - if not only - goal of the group is to elect Republicans to Congress."

According to reports AFF filed with the Federal Election Commission, AFF spent almost $10 million on political activities in 2010 - a sum greater than the organization's total expenditures for 2008 and 2009 combined.  AFF spent more than $7.3 million in the 2010 election on independent expenditures expressly advocating the election or defeat of candidates for federal office, and at least another $2.2 million on electioneering communications - ads that mention a candidate by name close to an election.  News reports described the AFF as "one of the more active players in this fall's campaigns, spending millions of dollars on ads attacking Democrats across the country."  In addition, the New York Times reported that as of October 17, 2010, AFF had devoted more than half of its television advertising spending in 2010 to express advocacy advertisements.

The list of AFF's officers reads like a who's who of Iowa Republican politics. Nicole Schlinger, AFF's sole board member when it was organized, is the former finance director for the Republican Party of Iowa.  The current president, Sandra Greiner, served as a Republican in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1992-2008, was elected to the state Senate in 2010.  AFF reportedly got its initial seed money from Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Hawkeye Energy Holdings, who has been described by Iowa newspapers as a "long-time power broker in Iowa politics."

rest at http://www.citizensforethics.org/crew-asks-irs-investigate-american-future-fund

Mubarak's Grip on Power Is Shaken #p2

Cairo - In a test of wills that seemed to be approaching a critical juncture, more than 100,000 people crammed into Cairo's vast Tahrir Square on Tuesday, seeking to muster a million protesters demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

Their mood was jubilant, as though they had achieved their goals, even though Mr. Mubarak remained in power a day after the Egyptian military emboldened the protesters by saying they would not use force against them and the president's most trusted adviser offered to negotiate with his adversaries.

There were reports that the government was seeking to choke off access to the capital to thwart the demonstrators' ambitions for the most decisive show of strength so far. But the scale of the protest was far bigger and more tumultuous than in the previous week, suggesting that the authorities had been unable to prevent the uprising from reaching what had been seen by all sides as a potential turning point. Tens of thousands of people also took to the streets of Alexandria, Egypt's second city north of Cairo on the Mediterranean coast.

Events around the region have taken unpredictable turns in recent weeks. On Tuesday afternoon, King Abdullah II of Jordan, a small and generally stable nation, made the surprise announcement that he had dismissed the government in response to protesters' demands for greater freedoms.

The crowd in Cairo offered a remarkable tapestry of Egypt's society, from the most westernized to the most traditional, from young women with babies to old men with canes. "Look at the faces of the old men — they are young again," said Ahmed Zemhom, 37, a former math teacher who makes a living as a cab driver.

rest at http://www.truth-out.org/mubaraks-grip-power-is-shaken67329

Tea Party Judge Roger Vinson "Borrows Heavily" From Family Research Council To Invalidate Health Law #p2

The most surprising part of Judge Roger Vinson's ruling was his argument that the individual mandate was not severable from the health care law as a whole and must therefor bring down the entire Affordable Care Act. "In sum, notwithstanding the fact that many of the provisions in the Act can stand independently without the individual mandate (as a technical and practical matter), it is reasonably 'evident,' as I have discussed above, that the individual mandate was an essential and indispensable part of the health reform efforts, and that Congress did not believe other parts of the Act could (or it would want them to) survive independently," Vinson writes. 

But a closer read of his analysis reveals something peculiar. In fact, as Vinson himself admits in Footnote 27 (on pg. 65), he arrived at this conclusion by "borrow[ing] heavily from one of the amicus briefs filed in the case for it quite cogently and effectively sets forth the applicable standard and governing analysis of severability (doc. 123)." That brief was filed by the Family Research Council, which has been branded as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

rest at http://www.truth-out.org/tea-party-judge-roger-vinson-borrows-heavily-from-family-research-council-to-invalidate-health-law67

FLASHBACK: Romney Says ‘Massachusetts Is A Model For Getting Everybody Insured’ #p2

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/01/romney-mandate-fl/