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With Only $93 Billion in Profits, the Big Five Oil Companies Demand to Keep Tax Breaks

With Only $93 Billion in Profits, the Big Five Oil Companies Demand to Keep Tax Breaks
http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2.10.14-Big-Oil-column.jpg

SOURCE: AP/Mel Evans

Lifting the crude oil export ban, as some Big Oil companies are lobbying to do, could raise gasoline prices at filling stations such as this BP in Lakewood, New Jersey.

By Daniel J. Weiss and Miranda Peterson | February 10, 2014

This article contains a correction.

The 2013 profit totals are in for the big five oil companies—BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, and Shell. Their financial reports indicate that they earned a combined total of $ 93 billion last year, or $ 177,000 per minute. (see Table 1) After years of oil production declines, the big five oil companies actually increased their total production* in 2013, predominately due to BP and ConocoPhillips almost doubling their total production. The companies’ higher oil production yet lower profits indicate that it is becoming more expensive to produce oil as the number of newer, easier, and cheaper fields shrink. This is why, despite their outsized earnings, the oil companies are not only fighting to keep their tax breaks but also lobbying to lift the crude oil export ban. But doing so could hurt working families, our economy, and our energy security. Instead, we need to invest in cleaner transportation alternatives.

As mindboggling as it sounds, Big Oil’s $ 93 billion in profits in 2013—impressive by any standard—were nonetheless a 27 percent reduction in profits compared to 2012, primarily because gasoline averaged 16 cents per gallon—or 4 percent—less. Despite the decreases, Exxon Mobil, Shell, and Chevron still had the first, seventh, and eighth, respectively, highest profits of any global public company on the 2013 Fortune 500 list. BP finished 30th, while ConocoPhillips ranked 50th, mostly because it spun off its refining business partway through 2012.

It would not be surprising if the big five oil companies use their 2013 decline in profits as another excuse to pressure Congress to retain their $ 2.4 billion-per-year tax breaks. The largest of these special provisions allows these companies to qualify for the “limitation on section 199 deduction attributable to oil, natural gas, or primary products,” which will cost taxpayers $ 14.4 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. This tax break was enacted in 2004 and was designed to encourage manufacturing to remain in the United States rather than move overseas. It ought not apply to oil and natural gas production since the oil and gas fields cannot be moved to another nation.

The Joint Committee on Taxation found that the second-largest deduction was for “modifications of foreign tax credit rules applicable to major integrated oil companies which are dual capacity taxpayers.” This provision is worth $ 7.5 billion over 10 years. Seth Hanlon, former Director of Fiscal Reform at the Center for American Progress, best describes why this tax break is unwarranted:

Our tax system allows companies that do business abroad to reduce from their tax bill any income taxes paid to other governments. The rules are supposed to prevent oil companies from claiming credit for royalty payments to foreign governments. Royalties are not taxes; they are fees for the privilege of extracting natural resources.

… oil companies have been permitted to claim credits for certain payments to foreign governments, even in countries that generally impose low or no business tax (suggesting that these payments, or levies, are in fact a form of royalty). Dual capacity taxpayer rules, therefore, are a subsidy for foreign production by U.S. oil companies.

The decline in profits is also why the American Petroleum Institute, Exxon Mobil, and other oil companies are lobbying to lift the crude oil export ban, which would enable them to sell their domestic oil at the world, or Brent, price that fetched nearly $ 10 per barrel more than the domestic, or West Texas Intermediate, price on February 7. Lifting the ban would force the United States to import more expensive foreign oil to replace the exported domestic oil, which could raise gasoline prices. Banking giant Barclays Plc predicts that lifting the current ban could add $ 10 billion annually to gasoline prices paid at the pump.

If there is any good news here for American families and businesses, it is that gasoline prices, which hit a record high in 2012, were lower in 2013. This cut at the pump reduced the average household’s annual gasoline expenditures.

The fact that profits decreased in 2013 despite production increasing calls into question the big five companies’ reliance on finding and developing more difficult, dangerous oil fields—such as those in the Arctic Ocean. It is fairly clear that such a business model is not economically sustainable. Instead, they—and we—could benefit from greater investment in cleaner, alternative transportation technologies.

Of course, when it comes to spending their money, the priorities of oil companies are fairly obvious. All of the companies, except for ConocoPhillips, spent a combined total of $ 32 billion, or nearly 40 percent of their total profits, to repurchase their own stock. (see Table 1) This increases the value of the remaining shares, providing a bounty to senior executives, boards of directors, and other large shareholders. The CEOs of these five companies had a combined compensation of $ 96 million in 2012, the last year for which data are available, or nearly $ 20 million per CEO. This is nearly 400 times greater than the $ 51,107 median income for a family of four during that same year. These five major oil corporations also spent $ 45 million on lobbying in 2013; every $ 1 spent on lobbying helped the companies protect $ 53 of their tax breaks—an outstanding rate of return.

In addition to receiving unjustified tax breaks, the big five oil companies also benefit from the lack of federal limits on carbon pollution generated by oil and gas production, transportation, and refining. The Environmental Protection Agency reported that “petroleum and natural gas systems” and refiners were the second- and third-largest sources of carbon and other climate pollution among the major industrial sectors that must report their emissions. Since there are no federal limits on this pollution, American families and businesses must bear the costs of more climate pollution, such as damages from extreme weather events, heightened smog, and tropical diseases. These—and other—oil companies can dump their carbon and other climate pollution in the sky for free. And at our expense.

Despite the decline in profits in 2013, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, and Shell are some of the richest, most profitable companies in the world. They produce a valuable commodity that is essential to our economy. However, their proposal to eliminate the crude oil export ban, their battle to keep some unnecessary federal tax breaks, and their uncontrolled climate pollution all could or do impose real costs on American families. It’s up to President Barack Obama and Congress to retain and adopt policies that benefit all Americans, not just Big Oil’s bottom line.

Daniel J. Weiss is a Senior Fellow and Director of Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress. Miranda Peterson is a Special Assistant for the Energy Opportunity team at the Center.

*Correction, February 10, 2014: This article incorrectly stated the percentage increase in big five oil companies’ total production for 2013. The incorrect percentage has been removed.

 

Center for American Progress

Read more about With Only $93 Billion in Profits, the Big Five Oil Companies Demand to Keep Tax Breaks and other interesting subjects concerning U.S. News Report at TheDailyNewsReport.com

[303] Cold War 2.0: $1T to be Spent on Nukes, Explaining UFOology, Remo Conscious Breaks the Stage

[303] Cold War 2.0: $1T to be Spent on Nukes, Explaining UFOology, Remo Conscious Breaks the Stage

[303] Cold War 2.0: $1T to be Spent on Nukes, Explaining UFOology, Remo Conscious Breaks the Stage

[303] Cold War 2.0: $1T to be Spent on Nukes, Explaining UFOology, Remo Conscious Breaks the Stage

Baucus Tax Reform Cuts Billions of Dollars in Oil Breaks

January 2, 2014

On November 21, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, unveiled adiscussion draft of tax reform legislation that focuses on cost recovery and accounting rules as part of a comprehensive overhaul of the U.S. tax code. This draft package includes the elimination of some longstanding tax breaks for Big Oil companies. The discussion draft proposes to eliminate as much as an estimated $ 46 billion in unnecessary tax breaks for hugely profitable Big Oil companies over the next decade.

The White House just announced that Sen. Baucus will be nominated to become the next U.S. ambassador to China. If he is confirmed, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) is expected to replace Sen. Baucus as chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Wyden introduced legislation in previous Congresses that would have eliminated several big oil tax breaks. As chair, Sen. Wyden would have an opportunity to build on Sen. Baucus’s proposal to make the tax code fairer by proposing to repeal additional special oil tax breaks, as proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN).

For more on this topic, please see:

• Baucus Tax Reform Cuts $ 46 Billion in Oil Breaks by Daniel J. Weiss and Miranda Peterson

 

Center for American Progress

Baucus Tax Reform Cuts Billions of Dollars in Oil Breaks

Congress letting 55 tax breaks expire at year end

FILE – In this Oct. 29, 2013 file photo, House Ways and Means Committee member Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. In an almost annual ritual, Congress is letting a package of 55 popular tax breaks expire at the end of the year, creating uncertainty _ once again _ for millions of individuals and businesses. The annual practice of letting these tax breaks expire is a symptom a divided, dysfunctional Congress that struggles to pass routine legislation, said Lewis, a senior Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. “It’s not fair, it’s very hard, it’s very difficult for a business person, a company, to plan, not just for the short term but to do long-term planning,” Lewis said. “It’s shameful.”(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE – In this Oct. 29, 2013 file photo, House Ways and Means Committee member Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. In an almost annual ritual, Congress is letting a package of 55 popular tax breaks expire at the end of the year, creating uncertainty _ once again _ for millions of individuals and businesses. The annual practice of letting these tax breaks expire is a symptom a divided, dysfunctional Congress that struggles to pass routine legislation, said Lewis, a senior Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. “It’s not fair, it’s very hard, it’s very difficult for a business person, a company, to plan, not just for the short term but to do long-term planning,” Lewis said. “It’s shameful.”(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — In an almost annual ritual, Congress is letting a package of 55 popular tax breaks expire at the end of the year, creating uncertainty — once again — for millions of individuals and businesses.

Lawmakers let these tax breaks lapse almost every year, even though they save businesses and individuals billions of dollars. And almost every year, Congress eventually renews them, retroactively, so taxpayers can claim them by the time they file their tax returns.

No harm, no foul, right? After all, taxpayers filing returns in the spring won’t be hurt because the tax breaks were in effect for 2013. Taxpayers won’t be hit until 2015, when they file tax returns for next year.

Not so far. Trade groups and tax experts complain that Congress is making it impossible for businesses and individuals to plan for the future. What if lawmakers don’t renew the tax break you depend on? Or what if they change it and you’re no longer eligible?

“It’s a totally ridiculous way to run our tax system,” said Rachelle Bernstein, vice president and tax counsel for the National Retail Federation. “It’s impossible to plan when every year this happens, but yet business has gotten used to that.”

Some of the tax breaks are big, including billions in credits for companies that invest in research and development, generous exemptions for financial institutions doing business overseas, and several breaks that let businesses write off capital investments faster.

Others are more obscure, the benefits targeted to film producers, race track owners, makers of electric motorcycles and teachers who buy classroom supplies with their own money.

There are tax rebates to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands from a tax on rum imported into the United States, and a credit for expenses related to railroad track maintenance.

A deduction for state and local sales taxes benefits people who live in the nine states without state income taxes. Smaller tax breaks benefit college students and commuters who use public transportation.

A series of tax breaks promote renewable energy, including a credit for power companies that produce electricity with windmills.

The annual practice of letting these tax breaks expire is a symptom a divided, dysfunctional Congress that struggles to pass routine legislation, said Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, a senior Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

“It’s not fair, it’s very hard, it’s very difficult for a business person, a company, to plan, not just for the short term but to do long-term planning,” Lewis said. “It’s shameful.”

With Congress on vacation until January, there is no chance the tax breaks will be renewed before they expire. And there is plenty of precedent for Congress to let them expire for months without addressing them. Most recently, they expired at the end of 2011, and Congress didn’t renew them for the entire year, waiting until New Year’s Day 2013 — just in time for taxpayers to claim them on their 2012 returns.

But Congress only renewed the package though the end of 2013.

Why such a short extension? Washington accounting is partly to blame. The two-year extension Congress passed in January cost $ 76 billion in reduced revenue for the government, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation. Making those tax breaks permanent could add $ 400 billion or more to the deficit over the next decade.

With budget deficits already high, many in Congress are reluctant to vote for a bill that would add so much red ink. So, they do it slowly, one or two years at time.

“More cynically, some people say, if you just put it in for a year or two, then that keeps the lobbyists having to come back and wine-and-dine the congressmen to get it extended again, and maybe make some campaign contributions,” said Mark Luscombe, principal tax analyst for CCH, a consulting firm based in Riverwoods, Ill.

This year, the package of tax breaks has been caught up in a debate about overhauling the entire tax code. The two top tax writers in Congress — House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. — have been pushing to simplify the tax code by reducing tax breaks and using the additional revenue to lower overall tax rates.

But their efforts have yet to bear fruit, leaving both tax reform and the package of temporary breaks in limbo. When asked how businesses should prepare, given the uncertainty, Camp said: “They need to get on board with tax reform, that’s what they need to do.”

Further complicating the issue, President Barack Obama has nominated Baucus to become U.S. ambassador to China, meaning he will soon leave the Senate, if he is confirmed by his colleagues.

As the Senate wound down its 2013 session, Democratic leaders made a late push to extend many of the tax breaks by asking Republican colleagues to pass a package on the floor of the Senate without debate or amendments. Republicans objected, saying it wasn’t a serious offer, and the effort failed.

So should taxpayers count on these breaks as they plan their budgets for 2014?

“The best thing I would say is, budget accordingly,” said Jackie Perlman, principle tax research analyst at The Tax Institute at H&R Block. “As the saying goes, hope for the best but plan for the worst. Then if you get it, great, that’s a nice perk. But don’t count on it.”

___

Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

Associated Press

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Congress letting 55 tax breaks expire at year end

Homeless Stories - Wall Street Bonuses For The Homeless (A Special "Alexis Breaks It Down")

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Homeless Stories - Wall Street Bonuses For The Homeless (A Special "Alexis Breaks It Down")

Manning Breaks Brady"s NFL TD Pass Record with 51

Peyton Manning has tied Tom Brady’s NFL record for most touchdown passes in a season with 50.

Denver’s Manning did it on a 20-yard touchdown pass to Eric Decker with 6:57 left in the fourth quarter Sunday against the Houston Texans.

He entered the game with 47 and his first touchdown came on a 36-yard pass to Demaryius Thomas in the second quarter, and the second one was a 10-yard throw to Decker earlier in the fourth.

Brady set the record, which previously belonged to Manning, in 2007. Manning had established the record by throwing 49 touchdown passes in 2004.

The four-time MVP is in his second season in Denver after missing all of 2011 following neck injuries and surgeries. The first overall pick in the 1998 draft, Manning spent his first 14 seasons in Indianapolis, with whom he won a Super Bowl in 2006.

___

AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Stapleton contributed to this story.

___

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org

© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Manning Breaks Brady"s NFL TD Pass Record with 51

Indiana lures "Illinoyed" biz with tax breaks

Mike Pence is among many GOP governors using hardball tactics to lure businesses. | AP Photo

MUNSTER, Ind. — Illinois is hobbled with a billion dollar budget shortfall, looming pension crisis and politicians flirting with tax hikes.

Neighboring Indiana calls that an opportunity.

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The state is making an aggressive bid to lure disgruntled businesses across the border, with a campaign unabashedly asking on billboards and online: “Illinoyed by higher taxes?” They even took out an ad to pitch the message in the 2013-2014 Chicago Bears yearbook.

(Also on POLITICO: Why Wall Street is fed up)

“It isn’t poaching,” Indiana Commerce Secretary Victor Smith told POLITICO. “People are making informed business decisions.”

States have dueled over business investment for years, but the kind of rate-cutting and other hardball tactics pursued by Gov. Mike Pence is part of a groundswell of efforts from Republican governors.

In the boldest example, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been crisscrossing the country touting the benefits of his zero income tax state. The potential 2016 presidential candidate went directly to Missouri’s Chamber of Commerce earlier this year, and governors in Louisiana and Kansas cite Texas as a primary reason to cut taxes in their states.

(Also on POLITICO: GOP Senate push targets blue states)

Indiana joins North Carolina, Nebraska, Michigan and others in what critics call a risky fiscal gamble for states with limited resources. Indiana localities, meanwhile, worry the business boon will not spread across the entire state.

Anecdotally, the pitch seems to be working, at least in the short term.

One of the new migrants is Tec Air, a nearly half century old Illinois manufacturer enticed by Indiana’s low taxes, central location and a package of incentives that helped close the deal.

“Indiana has a balanced budget and they’re solvent,” said Tec Air president Bob McMurtry in an interview with POLITICO. “We are getting three times the spacial footprint and we’re going to be paying less than half of what we pay now in real estate taxes.”

(WATCH: Scott Walker: Next GOP presidential nominee must be a governor)

Since January, Indiana has passed a major tax cut that will trim corporate taxes from 7.5 percent to 6.5 percent by the end of 2015 and cut individual taxes from 3.4 to 3.23 percent by 2017.

Pence, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, inherited the job creation drive when he took office in January of this year. But he is now pushing deeper tax cuts and an effort to scrap business property taxes, with the hope of sparking an Indiana boom.

At the same time, Pence announced $ 57 million in spending cuts this month to offset lower-than-expected tax collections.

Critics say the strategy has a spotty history of success.

The left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analyzed economic growth data from states that cut taxes in 1990s and the 2000s and found that, on average, those states grew less than the other states.

(Also on POLITICO: Tea partiers take on GOP senators)

“It isn’t clear that they did worse because of the income tax reduction, but they certainly didn’t do any better,” said Michael Leachman, the group’s director of state fiscal research. “That’s consistent with the academic literature on this topic which finds in general that income tax levels don’t matter for economic growth.”

It is always tricky to isolate the impact of tax policy and the evidence in Indiana may be equally tough to judge. The economy was already starting to grow in the two years that preceded the tax cuts. In 2012, 256 companies committed to create over 27,600 jobs and the state created about 19,080 jobs in 2011.

A 2012 Pew Charitable Trusts study found that most states do not properly evaluate whether they are getting a good deal for the tax breaks they dole out.

Still, the deep cuts are attractive for business in neighboring states like Illinois, where income tax rates are 9.5 percent for corporations and 5 percent for individuals.

Indiana’s commerce secretary said the math works.

“We’re sitting with $ 2 billion in cash reserves and we’re adding another quarter billion,” Smith said. “We have an honestly balanced budget. We don’t create false growth expectations to get gimmicky.”

When Smith, a former manufacturing executive, was appointed in January he was given one goal from Pence—adding 2,609,000 private sector jobs. He said the state has added 22,000 jobs since January, though he acknowledged he has a long way to go.

POLITICO – TOP Stories

Indiana lures "Illinoyed" biz with tax breaks

Modest deal breaks deadlock at UN climate talks

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Avoiding a last-minute breakdown, annual U.N. climate talks have limped forward with a modest set of decisions meant to pave the way for a new pact to fight global warming.
Science Headlines

Modest deal breaks deadlock at UN climate talks

Washington state Senate passes tax breaks, aiming to win Boeing work

Washington state Senate passes tax breaks, aiming to win Boeing work
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By Jonathan Kaminsky

OLYMPIA, Washington Sat Nov 9, 2013 5:21pm EST

A visitor takes a picture of miniature Boeing passenger aircraft on display at Aviation Expo China 2013 in Beijing September 25, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) – The Washington state Senate on Saturday passed a measure to extend nearly $ 9 billion in tax breaks for Boeing through 2040 in an embattled effort to entice the company to locate production of its newest jet, the 777X, in the Seattle area.

Lawmakers acknowledged, however, that their efforts would likely be undermined if the airplane maker’s key machinists union votes down a proposed labor contract due to go to before the membership on Wednesday.

A contract locking in Boeing’s labor costs, along with the tax incentives, is key to state officials’ plan to keep the 777X production local. Boeing has said that barring a “yes” vote on the contract, it would be looking at other potential locations.

The tax measure passed the Senate by a vote of 42 to 2.

“Our vote isn’t near as important as theirs,” said Democratic state Senator Brian Hatfield of Raymond, Washington, said of the union vote.

“It’s a big deal,” he added. “It is your job and your family and your pension, but it also has lots to do with the future of the state.”

Along with a bill to commit more state funds to aerospace worker training programs, the tax incentives bill headed to the Washington state House, which was expected to act later in the day.

Boeing’s latest jet – the 777X, a successor to its most profitable long-haul aircraft – would secure tens of thousands of jobs in the Seattle area, which is competing with non-unionized workers in the U.S. South, where wages are lower.

Earlier this week, it appeared Boeing had little leverage over the legislature because building the jet next to the current 777 assembly would lead to cost savings and limiting risks associated with locating the work elsewhere.

Leaders of the International Association of Machinists stood alongside Governor Jay Inslee when he announced his tax and labor plans for Boeing.

But at a raucous union meeting Thursday night, IAM President Tom Wroblewski tore up the proposed contract and called it “a piece of crap.”

Hours later Boeing said it was ready to look for another location.

Protest against the proposed contract continued on Friday, as union members rallied in Boeing’s Everett factory.

Analysts reacted cautiously to the union opposition, saying a deal could still be reached, despite the heated rhetoric.

Boeing and IAM union leaders reached a tentative deal after confidential and exclusive talks that were first reported by Reuters.

The deal calls for lower healthcare benefits and a new retirement plan, and a separate draft agreement with state officials would provide for tax and other incentives.

The vote by 31,000 members is scheduled to go ahead on Wednesday, and there are no scheduled talks with Boeing about a different offer, said Jonathan Battaglia, a union spokesman.

Industry experts say Washington faces competition from states including South Carolina, where Boeing assembles some of its 787 Dreamliners, as well as Texas and Utah.

Japan, whose heavy industry builds wings for the Dreamliner, is seen as a contender to build the wings for the 777X, the longest wings designed for a Boeing jetliner.

The new standoff comes as Boeing prepares to launch the 777X with potentially record orders at the Dubai Airshow. But the discord is not expected to derail those plans, industry sources said.

The head of European airline group IAG said on Friday it was interested in the 777X for Iberia and British Airways.

(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Nick Zieminski)

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Russia breaks oil output record

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Russia breaks oil output record

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Jesse Ventura Breaks the Set on JFK Conspiracy, Running with Howard Stern for President

Jesse Ventura Breaks the Set on JFK Conspiracy, Running with Howard Stern for President

Joe Rogan Breaks the Set on DMT, Weed, Transhumanism, and God

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NFL Veteran Recounts The Bruises And Breaks Of Life In The League.

Audio for this story from Weekend Edition Sunday will be available at approximately 12:00 p.m. ET.

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Nate Jackson played as a tight end for six seasons in the NFL. His writing has also appeared in Slate, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Tom Jackson/Courtesy of Harper

Nate Jackson played as a tight end for six seasons in the NFL. His writing has also appeared in Slate, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Tom Jackson/Courtesy of Harper

“ I shattered my pinkie, broke it in half. I broke a rib. I broke my tibia. I tore my left groin. I tore my right hamstring several times. I tore my MCL in my right knee … I’ve had a couple of concussions and bone chips here and there.

- Nate Jackson

Each week, Weekend Edition Sunday host Rachel Martin brings listeners an unexpected side of the news by talking with someone personally affected by the stories making headlines.

Being a professional football player can be a brutal life. Nate Jackson spent six years in the NFL, mostly as a receiver with the Denver Broncos, and while he wasn’t a star — or even a starter — he did carve out life in the rarefied air of professional sports, and he got just as banged up as any big-name player. But he learned to play through the pain.

Jackson recounts his playing days — from the glory of a touchdown pass to the meat grinder existence of life on the scrimmage line — in a new memoir, Slow Getting Up: A Story of NFL Survival from the Bottom of the Pile. “The human mind is really good at pushing pain down and away when you feel that there is a moment of glory up ahead waiting for you,” he tells Weekend Edition Sunday host Rachel Martin. “In football we are always pulled along by that next game, that next play, and so I learned how to get through the next play. No matter how much pain I was in I was able to turn it off … there’s a switch that I can locate and flip that switch and I don’t feel any pain.”

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Should the NFL be doing more to prevent serious injuries to its players? Tell us on Weekend Edition’s Facebook page, or in the comments section below.

Read an excerpt of Slow Getting Up

Arts & Life

NFL Veteran Recounts The Bruises And Breaks Of Life In The League.

Ed Asner Breaks the Set on 9/11 Truth, the Hollywood Left, and Syria Intervention

Ed Asner Breaks the Set on 9/11 Truth, the Hollywood Left, and Syria Intervention

Video: Russell Brand Breaks Down Syria, Destroys Mainstream Media

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by Anthony Gucciardi
August 30th, 2013
Updated 08/30/2013 at 7:44 pm

After his MSNBC appearance challenging the talking heads of mainstream media generated millions of views on YouTube in a display of just how much the public craves real information, Russell Brand is now back on air exposing the situation and Syria and the mainstream media propaganda.

Appearing in an interview with Alex Jones that filmed today, Russell brings further credibility to the power of the alternatives news and the collapse of the mega media. In fact, Russell’s breakdown of just how distorted the media reporting on the events in Syria are coincides exactly with what I have been reporting on for a number of weeks now. Ultimately, this is a display of just how much of a difference we are making in the alternative news, and more importantly how many millions we can reach by continuing to push out the truth amid the volley of disinformation coming from the media.

We are continually making major strides in the informational battle against skewed news, and this fact is now even being admitted by the very high level officials who seek to send us into Syria-style scenarios that could very well initiate World War 3. One such powerful admission I was extremely pleased to hear about and bring to you was the admission by top Obama adviser and Trilateral Commission co-founder Zbigniew Brzezinski that it was actually the ‘global political awakening’ that was putting a wrench in the Syria war machine.

In other words, elite control freaks like Brzezinski know that we aren’t listening to their warmongering propaganda anymore, and instead we are craving the truth on all fronts. And it’s the public craving for the truth that is halting their entire plan to launch the United States and other nations internationally into a hot war with Syria — one that, despite the information being out there, virtually no one realizes is essentially a major combat scenario with Russia through Assad.

Today’s Russell Brand interview truly highlights the effectiveness of not only alternative news juggernauts like Infowars, Drudge Report, and Storyleak, but the overall power of the entire movement as a whole.

Tags: featured, latest, media, russell brand, secondary, syria

Category: Mainstream media, War

Storyleak

Video: Russell Brand Breaks Down Syria, Destroys Mainstream Media

Michael Bloomberg"s advice for success: Don"t take bathroom breaks

N

ew York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a successful man.

He founded an eponymous financial services firm in 1982 that has since become indispensable to traders and market analysts. He later launched his own (also eponymous) news business, as well as other (yes, also eponymous) business ventures. He’s served three terms as the mayor of America’s largest city, after convincing the city council to scrap the old two-term limit.

With an estimated net worth of $ 27 billion, he’s now the 13th richest person in the entire world.

So how has Hizzoner become so successful? By trying really hard not to crap on the job, it turns out.

During Bloomberg’s radio program Friday, a caller asked him to impart some personal tips for success. In addition to some expected platitudes — “take risks”, “don’t stop learning” — Bloomberg also said it’s wise to work as hard as possible, all the time, even if that means skimping on lunch and bathroom breaks.

His full quote, as transcribed by the New York Observer:

I always tried to be the first one in in the morning and the last one to leave at night, take the fewest vacations and the least time away from the desk to go to the bathroom or have lunch. You gotta be there. I mean, everybody says, “Oh, that’s crazy!” But if you want to succeed…you can’t control how lucky you are, you can’t control how smart you are, but you can control how hard you work, so that’s the first thing. [New York Observer]

Bloomberg has given the same advice in the past, as New York’s Dan Amira points out. Back in 2011, he took an even stronger anti-bathroom stance, saying, “Don’t ever take a lunch break or go to the bathroom, you keep working.”

Other prominent, successful New Yorkers aren’t so sure that’s a great long-term strategy.

And Bloomberg himself, despite what he says, is known to enjoy a good vacation here and there.

The outgoing mayor owns 10 homes, according to Forbes, including ones in London, Bermuda, and the Colorado resort town of Vail. He was also notably absent when a mammoth blizzard slammed New York in Christmas 2010. His private jet, it was later revealed, had been seen in Bermuda on the day the storm hit.

The Week: Most Recent Politics Posts

Michael Bloomberg"s advice for success: Don"t take bathroom breaks

[223] Governor Howard Dean Breaks the Set, Wealth Disparity and Soaring Debt: Thanks Reagan!

[223] Governor Howard Dean Breaks the Set, Wealth Disparity and Soaring Debt: Thanks Reagan!