If you have to fill your gas tank this weekend – whether or not it takes a second mortgage to pay the tab – you’re a soldier in the hottest political fight over energy and the economy. Or maybe you feel more like “collateral damage” as President Obama, lawmakers, and “Big Oil” battle over who’s at fault for $4-per-gallon gasoline. In his radio and Internet address Saturday, Obama repeated his call to end “unwarranted taxpayer subsidies we’ve been handing out to oil and gas companies – to the tune of $4 billion a year.” “When oil companies are making huge profits and you’re struggling at the pump, and we’re scouring the federal budget for spending we can afford to do without, these tax giveaways aren’t right,” Obama said Saturday. “They aren’t smart. And we need to end them.” RELATED: Gas prices: 10 ways you can save at the pump Them’s fightin’ words to his political opponents, particularly those from oil-producing states. “The president may think he’s punishing CEOs of big companies, but his plan will hurt the everyday consumer of energy and imperil the jobs of millions of hardworking people in American-based companies,” first-term Congressman James Lankford from Oklahoma said in the Republicans’ weekly address. The average national price for regular gasoline right now is $3.91 a gallon. In 22 states it’s higher than that, and the price has jumped past $4 in Alaska, California, and Connecticut. Obama says oil companies are at least partly to blame, and his main ammo are their newly-announced profit statements. ExxonMobil reports first-quarter profits of $10.7 billion – 69 percent above the company’s first quarter of 2010. Royal Dutch Shell marked $6.9 billion in profits, an increase of 40 percent over last year’s first-quarter number. Chevron Corp. saw its first-quarter net income go up 36 percent to $6.2 billion. BP made $5.5 billion. Industry spokesmen say such figures should be put into broader perspective. “We should be proud of the success of an industry that supports 9.2 million American workers and 7.5 percent of our economy while also supplying income to millions of the nation’s retirees,” American Petroleum Institute CEO Jack Gerard said in a statement Thursday. “Oil and natural gas companies are a vital part of our nation’s industrial and manufacturing base. They provide most of America’s energy and are responsible for one in every five dollars invested in renewable energy.” Record industry earnings “reflect the size necessary for companies to be globally competitive with national oil companies, along with a steady rise in crude oil prices driven by rapidly growing world oil demand and instability in the Middle East,” Gerard said. Obama’s political problem regarding high prices at the pump – and the reason for his current finger-pointing tactic – are obvious. Polls show people are more inclined to blame him and the Democrats than they do Republicans for high gasoline prices. At the same time, according to a recent McClatchy-Marist Poll, three times as many respondents say US oil companies are the culprits behind record prices at the pump. This was the second Saturday in the row that Obama has hit on gas prices and oil industry subsidies in his weekly address. He may have some openings on the GOP side. In a TV interview Monday, House Speaker John Boehner said oil companies should “pay their fair share in taxes.” “I don’t think the big oil companies need to have the oil depletion allowances,” he also told ABC News. A Boehner spokesman quickly walked back those assertions, but the White House and congressional were quick to jump on them. At a town hall meeting a few days later House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R) of Wisconsin said federal oil subsidies should be eliminated as part of deficit-reduction. “We’re talking about reforming the safety net, the welfare system; we also want to get rid of corporate welfare,” Ryan said. “And corporate welfare goes to agribusiness companies, energy companies, financial services companies, so we propose to repeal all that.” The Senate could take up the issue as soon as this coming week. Expect more sparks to fly. RELATED: Gas prices: 10 ways you can save at the pump Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter , become a fan on Facebook

Continue reading " Gasoline prices are up to $4 a gallon. Is that ‘Big Oil’s’ fault? (The Christian Science Monitor) "

Los Angeles – Deepening economic pessimism has pushed down President Obama’s approval rating to a near record low, but he holds an early advantage over prospective 2012 rivals in part because of widespread dissatisfaction with Republican candidates, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll . In the survey, 47 percent approve of the job Obama is doing, down seven points since January. Half of all Americans disapprove of his job performance, with 37 percent saying they “strongly disapprove,” nearly matching the worst level of his presidency. Driving the downward movement in Obama’s standing are renewed concerns about the economy and fresh worry about rising prices, particularly for gasoline. Despite signs of economic growth, 44 percent of Americans see the economy as getting worse, the highest percentage to say so in more than two years. The toll on Obama is direct: 57 percent disapprove of the job the president is doing dealing with the economy, tying his highest negative rating when it comes to the issue. And the president is doing a bit worse among politically important independents. If Obama is running into headwinds, however, his potential Republican opponents face serious problems, as well. Less than half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they are satisfied with the field of GOP candidates. That field is still taking shape, but the sentiment is a big falloff from four years ago, when nearly two-thirds of Republicans were satisfied with their options. Lack of enthusiasm for the candidates came in other measures, as well. When Republicans and GOP-leaners were asked who they would vote for in a primary or caucus, only former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney registered in double digits, with 16 percent. More than double that number expressed no opinion and an additional 12 percent volunteered “none” or “no one.” Businessman Donald Trump (8 percent), former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (6 percent) and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin (5 percent) were the only other names volunteered by more than 2 percent of respondents. Possible challengers In hypothetical matchups for the general election, the president runs ahead of all seven potential GOP rivals tested in the new poll. If the election were held now, Romney and Huckabee would mount the stiffest challenges, trailing Obama by four and six percentage points respectively, among all Americans as well as among registered voters. Obama has double-digit leads over the other five tested — a dozen points against Trump and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), 15 against Newt Gingrich and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and 17 points over Palin. Despite his current advantage over the Republican field, Obama remains vulnerable with an approval rating again less than 50 percent. A majority of those younger than 40 give the president positive ratings, but most of those 40 and older disapprove. Obama’s standing shows he has lost his post-midterm election gains. His 54 percent rating in January followed a well-received speech at a memorial service for the victims of the Tucson shootings , and came after a lame-duck congressional session during which he scored a series of legislative achievements. The latest findings come after the compromise agreement between Obama and Republicans to cut spending in the current fiscal year. It also comes less than a week after the president outlined his proposals for dealing with the country’s debt and deficit problems in a speech that included a withering attack on a Republican proposal by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). It is Obama’s standing among independents that is a prime cause for concern inside the White House and Obama reelection campaign. Independents backed Obama and other Democrats in 2008, but those who voted last year went decisively for Republicans. Obama’s political advisers are closely monitoring independents and many of his moves in the past few months have been aimed at shoring up their support. Among independents, 55 percent disapprove of the job he is doing, near record highs. And for the first time, about as many independents have generally unfavorable (49 percent) as mostly favorable (50 percent) impressions of Obama. In the hypothetical 2012 matchups, Romney and Huckabee run a touch higher than Obama among independents. Then-President Ronald Reagan was also below 50 percent at this point in 1983, but April of that year marked the last time before his 1984 landslide that he did not have majority approval in Post-ABC polling. In spring 1995, then-President Bill Clinton was also on the upswing, falling below 50 percent only in June of that year. Gas prices an indicator Economic issues remain the biggest potential obstacle to Obama’s reelection, with rising gas prices a sensitive indicator for the public. Almost eight in 10 say inflation in their area is getting worse, and more than seven in 10 say higher gasoline prices is causing financial hardship at home. Obama trails all seven Republicans among those who see the economy as getting worse — Republicans are more apt than Democrats to perceive weakening — and the president runs about evenly with potential competitors among those who report being the hardest hit by skyrocketing prices at the pump. Economic anxiety also amplifies the president’s challenges among core voter groups: For the first time in available data, more than half of whites without college degrees see the economy as deteriorating. The telephone poll was conducted April 14-17 among a random national sample of 1,001 adults interviewed on conventional or cellular telephone. The margin of sampling error for the full poll is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points; it is five points for the sample of self-identified Republicans and GOP-leaning independents. cohenj@washpost.com balzd@washpost.com Polling manager Peyton M. Craighill contributed to this report. Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter , become a fan on Facebook

Continue reading " Obama’s numbers down, but he’s still a 2012 contender (Washington Post) "

WASHINGTON – As millions of procrastinators scramble to meet Monday’s tax filing deadline, ponder this: The super rich pay a lot less taxes than they did a couple of decades ago, and nearly half of U.S. households pay no income taxes at all. The Internal Revenue Service tracks the tax returns with the 400 highest adjusted gross incomes each year. The average income on those returns in 2007, the latest year for IRS data, was nearly $345 million. Their average federal income tax rate was 17 percent, down from 26 percent in 1992. Over the same period, the average federal income tax rate for all taxpayers declined to 9.3 percent from 9.9 percent. The top income tax rate is 35 percent, so how can people who make so much pay so little in taxes? The nation’s tax laws are packed with breaks for people at every income level. There are breaks for having children, paying a mortgage, going to college, and even for paying other taxes. Plus, the top rate on capital gains is only 15 percent. There are so many breaks that 45 percent of U.S. households will pay no federal income tax for 2010, according to estimates by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank. “It’s the fact that we are using the tax code both to collect revenue, which is its primary purpose, and to deliver these spending benefits that we run into the situation where so many people are paying no taxes,” said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the center, which generated the estimate of people who pay no income taxes. The sheer volume of credits, deductions and exemptions has both Democrats and Republicans calling for tax laws to be overhauled. House Republicans want to eliminate breaks to pay for lower overall rates, reducing the top tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent. Republicans oppose raising taxes, but they argue that a more efficient tax code would increase economic activity, generating additional tax revenue. President Barack Obama said last week he wants to do away with tax breaks to lower the rates and to reduce government borrowing. Obama’s proposal would result in $1 trillion in tax increases over the next 12 years. Neither proposal included many details, putting off hard choices about which tax breaks to eliminate. In all, the tax code is filled with a total of $1.1 trillion in credits, deductions and exemptions, an average of about $8,000 per taxpayer, according to an analysis by the National Taxpayer Advocate, an independent watchdog within the IRS. More than half of the nation’s tax revenue came from the top 10 percent of earners in 2007. More than 44 percent came from the top 5 percent. Still, the wealthy have access to much more lucrative tax breaks than people with lower incomes. Obama wants the wealthy to pay so “the amount of taxes you pay isn’t determined by what kind of accountant you can afford.” Eric Schoenberg says to sign him up for paying higher taxes. Schoenberg, who inherited money and has a healthy portfolio from his days as an investment banker, has joined a group of other wealthy Americans called United for a Fair Economy. Their goal: Raise taxes on rich people like themselves. Shoenberg, who now teaches a business class at Columbia University, said his income is usually “north of half a million a year.” But 2009 was a bad year for investments, so his income dropped to a little over $200,000. His federal income tax bill was a little more than $2,000. “I simply point out to people, `Do you think this is reasonable, that somebody in my circumstances should only be paying 1 percent of their income in tax?’” Schoenberg said. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said he has a solution for rich people who want to pay more in taxes: Write a check to the IRS. There’s nothing stopping you. “There’s still time before the filing deadline for them to give Uncle Sam some more money,” Hatch said. Schoenberg said Hatch’s suggestion misses the point. “This voluntary idea clearly represents a mindset that basically pretends there’s no such things as collective goods that we produce,” Schoenberg said. “Are you going to let people volunteer to build the road system? Are you going to let them volunteer to pay for education?” The law is packed with tax breaks that help narrow special interests. But many of the biggest tax breaks benefit millions of American families at just about every income level, making them difficult for politicians to touch. The vast majority of those who escape federal income taxes have low and medium incomes, and most of them pay other taxes, including Social Security and Medicare taxes, property taxes and retail sales taxes. The share of people paying no federal income tax has dropped slightly the past two years. It was 47 percent for 2009. The main difference for 2010 was the expiration of a tax break that exempted the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits from taxation, Williams said. In 2009, nearly 35 million taxpayers got a tax break for paying interest on their home mortgages, and nearly 36 million taxpayers took the $1,000-per-child tax credit. About 41 million households reduced their federal income taxes by deducting state and local income and sales taxes from their taxable income. About 36 million families cut their taxes by nearly $35 billion by deducting charitable donations, and 28 million taxpayers saved a total of $24 billion because their income from Social Security and railroad pensions was untaxed. “As a matter of policy, there would be a lot of ways to save money and actually make these things work better,” said Leonard Burman, a public affairs professor at Syracuse University. “As a matter of politics, it’s really, really difficult.” ___ Online: Tax Policy Center: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org National Taxpayer Advocate: http://www.irs.gov/advocate United for a Fair Economy: http://www.faireconomy.org Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter , become a fan on Facebook

Continue reading " Super rich see federal taxes drop dramatically (AP) "