"President Barack Obama said in a campaign speech Thursday thatthe reason you are paying a lot more at the gas pump is due not tosupply or demand issues, or geopolitics, but because of tax breaks.'Oil companies are making more money right now than they've evermade,' the President said. 'On top of the money they're gettingfrom you at the gas station, they want some of your tax dollars aswell. That doesn't make any sense. Does it make sense? It'sinexcusable. It's time for this oil industry giveaway to end.' Butfor an industry getting tax breaks, the companies are sure paying alot of taxes. They paid $1 trillion in sales and excise taxes outof their revenues between 1981 and 2008, a total that exceededtheir after-tax profits by 40%, according to data from theInternational Energy and the Energy Information Administration.That doesn't count federal or state income taxes."