Why do we subsidize the oil companies when they have record profits?

humm.. lets see.. they are paying over 25 billion in taxes every year.. and their profits are around 8%..

the fast food joints are making 15%

water bottle complanies are making 40%

wheres the outrage on those

how much are they getting ... where the documetation to back this statement of yours up

As annoying as it is to hear that tax breaks are given to companies making record profits, the reason is because this money is used to find new oil reserves.

How expensive is it to find new oil?

How about $1 billion a hole. While profits are high now, (although they where low if not in the red back in the 90's when oil was $15-$20 a barrel) huge amounts of money are going to be spent in search of new oil reserves as known reserves are either untappable, such as in Alaska, off the coast of California and Florida, and in the Dakotas, or the reserves are drying up.

What can a new president do about this?

Likely little. With all the pressureto get rid of the taxes, and even the proposals to make windfall taxes hikes, so much money would be spent to buy off congress people that there would be probably too much behind the scenes pressure to pass an end in tax breaks.

What subsidies are you referring to? Most of them are the standard business tax deductions that every business gets (accelerated depreciation, depletion expense, etc). There are some specific to the industry, but they are fairly modest in my estimation.

Oil companies make record profits because they sell HUGE amounts of their product. They get a lot of tax relief because theirs is a very capital intensive industry with a lot of depreciatable equipment.