8.07.2008

Has O'Reilly gone soft on the right?

While some might think so, I think it's just another wake up call to Americans - even hard core right wing pundits are fed up with the likes of Exxon Mobile.

Read the article and watch the video here on Alternet.

Here is the transcript:

Transcript:

O'REILLY: So here is my proposal. I am asking the five major American oil companies, Chevron, Occidental, Conoco Phillips, ExxonMobil and Hess to donate 2 percent of their profits for the last four quarters to a fund that would help struggling Americans pay their heating bills. In that way, the oil companies could pay back their country, a nation that has allowed them to prosper more than any other concern in the history of civilization. A 2 percent charitable disbursement would alleviate the suffering of tens of millions of Americans and not hurt the oil companies much at all.

Last year, they made a combined $80 billion in profit, a record amount for any industry at any time. Now we contacted the five big oil corporations. And to say the response to my idea was lukewarm is to be kind. Exxon and Chevron pointed out they pay a huge amount of taxes to the government, which is true. But what about directly helping those in need? Not much enthusiasm so far. If just one of the oil companies would establish such a charitable fund, the goodwill that corporation would receive would more than make up for the money spent, as millions of Americans would buy that company's oil over the others. [...]

O'REILLY: All right, with us now, Fox News analyst Karl Rove. All right. I don't know where -- you begin where you want to begin here. I got - I want the oil companies to help out. Is that stupid? Am I naive?

KARL ROVE, FORMER BUSH ADVISOR: Well, look, they pay a lot in taxes. And we actually do have a program, the federal taxpayers pay for, call LIHEAP, for Low Income Housing Assistance, which pays for assistance to people who live in cold parts of the country during the winter, and lower income families who live in hot parts of the country during the summer. And those moneys are probably, you know, have been plussed up the last couple of years and probably adequate to help with most of the problem that we face this fall.

O'REILLY: OK, but there's nothing wrong with the American oil companies kicking in, if they would, this money.

ROVE: Yes.

O'REILLY: -- and saying, look, if you have a problem, we're going to help you because we love America and we want Americans to be warm. I think that would be a good PR thing. I think it's a noble thing to do. Am I wrong?

ROVE: Well, look, the companies have a responsibility to their shareholders.

O'REILLY: Oh, come on. How much money are you going to make? [...]

O'REILLY: In the banking industry, it's competitive. In the oil industry, they operate on the largesse of the government. They and the government are partners, as you know.

ROVE: I disagree with that. I think it's very competitive in the oil business. Who can find it and get it out of the ground at the cheapest price possible?

O'REILLY: All right, well, in my town, the four gas stations on each corner charge the same. [...]

O'REILLY: A couple of pennies for every shareholders. And you're going to be stingy about that so some old lady in Minnesota.

ROVE: Yes, couple of pennies on - they make 8 cents on a dollar. So you're asking them to give up probably about a quarter of that.

O'REILLY: I'm telling you, Teddy Roosevelt would be on my side. Teddy Roosevelt.

ROVE: He wouldn't be in favor of (INAUDIBLE).


Goodness gracious, he's starting to sound like me! Hahaha!

9 comments:

Alex Mcone said...

Blimey, if it wasnt for the intro I'd have thought he was a liberal!

I agree with him, two percent out of their profits is really nothing and it will be the best PR they will have in a while. God knows they need it.

jmsjoin said...

Well I will say it looks good for Oreilly to say that but he accomplished nothing and Rove got away with his BS. You live in the NE you know the hell they expect for low income and they know the middle class are going to be hit hard too. This is not going to be good!
There are no adequate Federal programs and our big companies should do what Chavez is doing. That would at least have the sickening increases affect the wealth the most but of course Cheney can't have that!

jmsjoin said...

Cheney Rove Bush, what's the diff?

Anne Coleman said...

I can tell you from a personal standpoint that LIHEAP is bull. We did it one year - with bills being over $500 a month, the $179.00 ONE-TIME payment made didn't help much.

I love these politicians, who have never had a poor moment in their lives, trying to make themselves feel better about "helping".

Dave Dubya said...

O'Reilly is merely softening the right's image as coddlers of Big Oil. He knows it's all hot air.

There's your fake populism at work.

Remember when O'Reilly said he'd never trust the president again if their were no WMD's in Iraq?

Anonymous said...

Per the BC conversation, I am no leaving a comment with moderation, no captcha, no fuss no muss:

"BABBA BOOEY BABBA BOOEY HOWARD STERN BABBA BOOEY!!!!"

Thank you, you may proceed. ;)

Anok said...

Wow, I swear I left a comment in here earlier. Have all of my comments not made it through? Hmm...

Yeah, the energy assistance programs here were so over saturated this year that they couldn't take anyone else, no matter how badly they needed it.

And the state/federal government refused to allot a larger budget for this sort of thing.

@Tony - LMAO...

@Dave, I don't remember that...hmmm...I may have to do something with that. Although I will say that O'Reilly does do a bit of Bush bashing himself, but not for the same reasons as everyone else.

Anonymous said...

If he can still say "news analyst" Karl Rove with a straight face...

Connecticut Man1 said...

Ratings at FOX have plummeted recently and that has meant less profits. The basic rules of business dictate that they had to change.