Exxon-Mobil announced their largest quarterly profit today at $11.7 billion. According to the CNN article, they were making about $1,300 per second last year with an annual profit of $40.61 billion.

Trust me, I’m not one of these lunatic who thinks that companies should be taxed ten different ways to Sunday or that Republicans bend over backwards to make businesses happy, but I have to be honest and say that given the current world market for petroleum and how it has “effected” the price of gas in America, our government should be stepping in at this point. The first priority of government is to protect the people. This means that when the invisible hand of the market turns in a manner that crushes the individual, the government needs to do something (see: FDR and the New Deal).

In fact, George Bush sees that many people are hurting and thus he has offered the economic stimulus plan that is currently being forced through Congress. But I believe that when companies who provide a needed product are making record setting profits that are grossly outperforming the market, then the government DOES need to step in with some type of windfall tax or an investigation into the pricing strategies of these companies. We are not just a petroleum-based economy, but we’re a petroleum-based civilization right now. Yes, that is slowly changing through renewable resources, but the vast majority of this country needs to fill their gas tank and heat their homes.

For a company that provides a needed resources to be making these types of profits when Americans cannot pay for basic needs is a disgrace. Think of it this way, every 30 seconds in 2007, Exxon-Mobil earned the equivalent of the median national income. Every minute last year they doubled the median national income. That means every minute in 2007, Exxon-Mobil made more than most young families make in an entire year. EVERY MINUTE!

If that’s not something the people need to be protected from, then I don’t know what is…

Thank God for the American federal government! What other organization can bring so many people so many laughs in one fell swoop? You may remember that a few days ago, the government was thinking about sending each taxpayer an $800 check (married couples would obviously receive $1,600). Well, in a move that only our ridiculous government could make, they’ve decided that instead of each taxpayer getting $800, they’ll probably get $300 instead. The reasoning is that the $800 per person economic stimulus package would have only given checks to the 180 million or so Americans who pay income tax. The $300 per person economic stimulus package allows for all Americans to receive a check, including those who don’t make enough to pay income taxes.

In other words…

For those taxpayers who earn higher incomes in the middle class of America, not only are you going to continue to bear the brunt of this country’s weakening economy, but you’re also not going to get the same proportional handout that those in the lower class will receive. For a person who is making so little that he or she doesn’t pay income taxes, $300 is a big deal and really can help in getting a person out of financial rut.

But for the rest of the people who do pay taxes and who are living in the middle class, a $300 check from the government to “stimulate” the economy is bullshit. All $300 does for anyone in middle class America is remind you how screwed you are in the bigger picture. Those who don’t need the $300 will disagree with that statement, but those who needed the $800 will not only agree – they’ll get pissed since $800 isn’t even enough for most people to make one month’s mortgage payment.

We’re all screwed.

The President and the Congress are discussing ways to give America an economic boost. Anyone who is paying the attention to the news and the markets knows that part of this country’s current problems are rooted in the housing bust and part of the problem is due to the fact that banks are becoming more conservative with their lending policies. There’s nothing much you can do about the banks – they’ll do what they want with their money and that’s that. Sucks. And for those of us who have worked in the housing market and studied the housing market, we saw the big downfall coming years ago, but no one listened.

All of that aside, I am glad that the Republican President and the Democratic Congress are working together in a spirit of bipartisanship to give America the boost that it needs. One of the ideas going around is to give all taxpayers an $800 rebate check as early as in the next few weeks. I have to say, this is scary for a variety of reasons.

First, I don’t know what your finances are like, but while I certainly wouldn’t scoff at $800 it really isn’t enough to make a dent in my financial portfolio. And I should preface the previous sentence by saying that I spend between 45 and 60 minutes each day going over my finances and that I’ve made tremendous strides financially in the last 18 months. Still, getting an $800 check would be nice, but it would only remind me how much of a hole that I’m in (thanks student loans!).

Second, I can only think about those bozos down in New Orleans who got free government and charity money to the tune of some $2,500 per person…and then spent that money on alcohol, new shoes, lingerie, and electronics. Folks, while these creature comforts may give you a feel good feeling right now, they’re not going to do a damn thing to help your financial well-being in the long run. I just imagine some 280 million taxpayers getting an $800 check and the only companies that see their profits go up are Nike, Apple, and Sony.

Finally, the cost of living isn’t stabilizing – it’s going up! The cost of a gallon of gas is getting higher each month, the cost of milk (yes…milk) is going up, and the cost of general groceries is going up. If it is used wisely, getting an $800 check today will help put food on the table tomorrow. But will it provide food for our tables this summer? Next fall? Next year? Unlikely.

Unfortunately this is one of those situations where there are no easy answers. Part of me wants to say that we, as a country, made this bed for ourselves and now we have to lie in it. Mortgage borrowers largely knew that their subprime loans were loaded with risky features and they knew that they were buying houses that were too big for their budgets. Yes, there was some chicanery in some housing markets, but of the millions of subprime loans only a fraction fall into that category. So in this respect, part of me believes that we have reaped what we’ve sewn.

Believing that, however, isn’t going to kick the economy in the ass. What should we do to stimulate the economy? Those $800 checks are a good start, but reducing the cost of living for all Americans will be a great second step.