MXC is probably the funniest thing on TV. If you haven’t seen it… there’s this show in Japan called “Takashi’s Castle” where colorful contestants run through obstacle courses. It’s neat. But most American’s don’t speak Japanese, so Spike TV dubs over the commentary of Takashi’s Castle, inserts some scatalogical humor, and bam.. you have “Most Extreme Elimination Challenge”, or “MXC”. It’s hilarous. It almost made me forget the utter attack on the American system of free enterprise launched by Senate Democrats today.
“People we represent are hurting, the companies you represent are profiting,” say Vermont Senator Patrick Leahey. Well no shit Patty-boy… that’s what business are supposed to do! It kills me how much Democrats - like Clinton - think profits are somehow evil. They seem to forget that corporate and individual profits are what provides the tax dollars they get to redistribute. And… oil companies are hot targets right now. In absolute terms, they are seeing huge profits. In terms of margins, they’re barely breaking even.
Eh? How can you make billions, yet barely break even? It’s simple, and it’s called “profit margin.” Oil companies only do slightly better than grocery stores on average, where profit margins are between 2% and 4% on $2 Billion in volume. Oil companies are seeing “record profits” that put them between 5% and 10% on volume of $200 Billion in volume. The only reason either of these industries survive is because everyone eats, and most people drive. Don’t like it? Drive less, and go on a diet. But instead, people are only consuming 1.4% less gasoline, and aren’t eating any less food - and god knows, we American’s could use a diet.
Sure… Exxon/Mobile saw $405 Billion in revenue, but like you or me they have bills to pay. At the end of the day, they only have $40 Billion left over and there are 5,280,000,000 people with their hands out asking for a piece. (They’re called shareholders.) So before you begrudge a company for actually making money for people smart enough to buy their stock, look very closely at the brand you’re pumping into your tank of your gas guzzling SUV, and think hard about that as you race around town from stoplight to stoplight.
So there’s this concept of profit margin, and what is really obscene? Altria, parent company of Phillip Morris - the fine folks who give us cigarettes - make a tidy 17% profit. Microsoft, who has a virtual monopoly on operating systems, has $175 Billion in revenue and a 27% profit margin. Oil companies move over - that’s really evil. Google, whose unofficial motto is “Don’t Be Evil” made a tidy $25 Billion on 17% profit last year.
By the way… while you’re thinking, consider this: most OPEC countries are members of the WTO. But OPEC is an illegal cartel under OPEC rules.
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