From the Office of U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski:
Senator cosponsors bill, votes to bring it to the floor for debate
U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) today voted to begin debate on the Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act. The bill would repeal tax loopholes to the five largest, most profitable oil companies in the world: BP, Exxon, Shell, Chevron, and Conoco Phillips (“Big 5”) and use those savings to reduce the deficit and extend expiring energy tax provisions for one year. Senator Mikulski is a cosponsor of the bill.
“Balancing the budget on the backs of middle-class families while preserving lavish subsidies for oil and gas companies isn’t fair,” Senator Mikulski said. “Americans are paying $4 a gallon for gas, while the top five oil companies are getting $4 billion a year in tax breaks. Maryland families are already against the ropes. They can’t afford to give billions of tax dollars to pad oil companies’ pockets.”
Over the last decade, the Big 5 have enjoyed nearly $1 trillion in profits and tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies. Last year alone the Big 5 amassed $137 billion in profits on the backs of American drivers.
“It’s time to end lavish tax subsidies that add to the nation’s deficit, drive up costs for families and send jobs overseas,” Senator Mikulski said.
By incorporating the tax-extending provisions of the Stabenow Amendment to the Surface Transportation bill, the Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act will help continue important incentives for alternatives to oil. It extends tax credits for biodiesel, cellulosic ethanol, and alternative fuels such as natural gas and propane. It also extends important tax credits for wind, efficiency, and some fossil fuel incentives as well.
The rest of the savings will be dedicated to deficit reduction. The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates that the cost of extending the energy tax incentives in title I at $11.7 billion over ten years. JCT estimates the revenue saved from repealing the oil and gas subsidies in Title II at $24 billion over ten years.
Do the President and the Senator really think ending subsidies will help Americans? Loss of any money by a business results in what?…. higher prices passed on to the consumer. Let’s be fair about all this end all subsidies for all forms of energy, farms, arts, education – end it all and then let’s see what happens.
How about that? So the senator doesn’t want to balance the budget on the backs of the working people… bravo! So why doesn’t she come back to the state that sent her and hand that message to the idiot governor she lavishes with praise and adoration? Sorry Babs, nice idea (even if unwise as pointed out), way to put action to your words, and this will play will in the press and with your base… but until you come out strongly against your buddy Marty Owe’Tax-me and his extensive and creative ways to balance the state budget on the backs of your constituents – your words and actions are hollow. Try again.
My understanding is that oil co’s get no actual subsidiess. That what they get are the normal writeoffs that all businesses get for equipment purchases or depreciation, etc.
If this is true, then this is just a continuation of the Lefts war on our energy sector. We now have two refineries in Pa closing down, which produce 20% of the fuel for the NE U.S.
We also have approx 100 coal fired electricity plants closing down around the country out of a total of 600, due to impossible to meet EPA regulations put in place after the President couldn’t get Cap and Trade passed through Congress. When all 600 were running they produced approx 49% of ALL electricity used by the entire country.
Don’t throw up solar or wind to me, either. Solar has been heavily subsidized by the govt for 30 years and still can’t generate more than a single percent of the nations energy needs, and the environmentalist use the same tactics to keep windfarms from being built as they use for any other energy producing proposal…toads, fish. owls, etc.
We’d better get people in office who understand that this country needs to run on energy, and that oil, coal and natural gas are IT until alternatives can transition in with no interruption to current needs.
Otherwise our butts are going to be freezing in our homes by candlelight.