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| Norway, again, tops the list for #1 place to be a mom (Photo from NPR website) |
1. The title of this blog refers to:
a. A Brittany Spears song.
b. Mitt Romney talking to himself after making another speech blunder.
c. Teresa, trying not to poke fun at her mother country.
d. Norway topping the list again for the best place to be a mom.
e. All of the above.
Norway continues to outperfom so many other developed countries in the race to be the best place to live, it's beginning to make me wonder if they're doping! And where can we get our hands on some of their dope? You know, the stuff that makes you actually believe that paying for a country that you really want to enjoy is money well spent; that it's good to trust others as well as yourself to obey laws so there can be some order; that a population who is well educated and healthy is better than a population that is overweight and drug-addicted, but "free"; that gun control is actually related to the incidence of gun-related deaths.....Oh well.
I have been thinking lately that it would be nice to get some sort of movement for sanity going here in the U.S.
But the headlines of late just make me shake my head:
Politicians gridlocked over how to pay for a decrease in interest rates on student loans: eliminating large portions of women's health care or increased taxes on oil companies? (Chevron's first-quarter profit rose to $6.47 billion, or $3.27 per share, from $6.21 billion, or $3.09 per share, a year earlier...that's a 4% rise). Guess who wants which? I think a Norwegian would just look at this stalemate in complete bafflement. (What's a quarter of a billion $$? About $250,000,000....that's a LOT of money...in the pockets of whom?)
Department of Interior head, Ken Salazar, gives the go-ahead to Anadarko, a Texas oil company to drill 3,675 natural gas wells in the Southern Utah Uintah County, using the method of fracking. Everyone is excited about this, even the Wilderness Alliance....hmmmm....all the wells are on public lands already leased by Anadarko, and many of them are to be on already established well pads. All this, while the jury is still out on the safety of the method of fracking for removing natural gas on aquafers, etc.
These are just two examples of oil companies given sweetheart deals to lease PUBLIC lands, and I know they are sweetheart deals, because, um....how DOES Chevron make that much profit?
The reason Norway can afford to provide such a sweetheart deal for their inhabitants, is because they feel that people, like um, citizens, are an important part of the country and that the resources that belong to that country belong to the citizens. Therefore, when a company decides to go about extracting these resources, yes, they should be allowed to make a profit after they pay the costs for R&D, but they should always remember that those resources are not THEIRS. They belong to the citizens, and therefore, the citizens should share in that profit. And here is how it is done:
"Norway's income tax on oil and gas profits has two components: A 28 percent tax on profits (the same income tax charged on all businesses in Norway), and a special 50 percent tax on profits from offshore oil and gas production, for a total tax of 78 percent. (All of Norway's oil and gas production comes from offshore federal leases.)
"It's stable, and still they earn money," said an official with the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, explaining that companies continue bidding on Norwegian oil and gas leases, despite the substantial tax bite. The profits tax is assessed on earnings in Norway, unlike Alaska which assesses its corporate income tax on a proportional share of producers' worldwide earnings." (Larry Persely, Federal Coordinator of the Alask Natural Gas Transportation Projects, September 2011).
D'ja see that? 78% tax? Chevron would blow an oil-well gasket if they had to do that. But that, my friend, is how the #1 country for funding their education, health care, and social services does it, while STILL allowing corporations like Statoil to make a decent profit.
Americans, when will you wake up and realize that you do NOT live in a free market capitalist system?
Sing it sister! :) I listened to the NPR interview yesterday with the woman from "Save the Children" about how the countries were chosen and why the US was 25th. Did you hear this by chance? Really interesting. The US was actually 31st last year, so, "yea for us!" ... But the US actually has a very high infant and maternal mortality rate. Why? Because we surely have the highest of tech in hospitals and care. But! Not everyone has access to this care. So in fact more women are dying in childbirth in the US than in Australia or Norway because they cannot afford good care. So half of the US might as well be living in Nigeria. The report also showed a direct connection between the number of women politicians and women's and mother's rights ... go figure! (Remember that all white male committee discussing birth control last month?)
ReplyDeleteGRRRRRR .... Okay, Teresa. Now my blood pressure's up. Gotta calm down. It's only 9 am here. I'm glad you are continuing to blog your views.
The REAL question Americans want to know is, "How can I cash in on exploiting public lands and resources for personal gain?" Where I live, in Superior National Forest, we have loggers cutting trees, mining companies digging holes and outfitters and resorts making money off of recreational activities. Profits go into individual pockets and losses are often covered to a point. The larger the company, the bigger the government/taxpayer "support" (subsidies, tax breaks, etc.). The rich get richer and the rest of us get it up the arse. Just my opinion. Obviously there is more to it, but there is no thought of what is the greatest good for the greatest number of citizens.
ReplyDeleteNot to quibble...but thats NOT how Norway funds education, health care and social services. All of Norways oil income is saved for a rainy day in a sovereign wealth fund. (Profit from the fund is spent, but thats capped at 4 % of GDP. A nice bonus, but US healthcare costs is 18 % of GDP).
ReplyDeleteAll the social stuff is financed from taxes, running from 9 -32 %, average 25 %.