WASHINGTON - The House is going to make another run at imposing more than $17 billion in taxes on major oil companies.Who will then pass the taxes on to consumers.
An aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initially said plans were to take up the bill Wednesday, but after looking at a tight schedule it was decided to postpone action until likely next week.
Gotta have more time for more arm twisting and cajoling.
Final numbers have yet to be worked out, but the legislation will mirror an energy tax package that passed the House last year. That legislation was abandoned as part of negotiations in December on a broader energy bill. "Given this week's limited schedule, we wanted members to have more time to review the proposal," said Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill.
The House Ways and Means Committee was crafting the final legislation, including $17.65 billion in taxes on oil companies over 10 years.
Big, Bad Oil Companies. Tax em' back to the Stone Age!.
When pushed by Democrats last year, the tax measures - one that would rescind tax breaks on foreign oil production and another aimed at making domestic manufacturers competitive with foreign companies - prompted strong opposition from Senate Republicans and the White House. President Bush pledged a veto if the taxes were included.
After passing the House in August, the tax package was finally abandoned to get a major increase in automobile fuel economy and other energy measures approved and signed by Bush in December. But congressional Democrats believe the oil taxes have a better shot this time, given the huge profits recently reported by the major oil companies for last year.
Huge profits don't have anything to do with record sales. Nope, nada. We gotta make em pay!
Exxon Mobil Corp. earned $40.6 billion in 2007, besting its own record for annual profits. Chevron Corp., No. 2 U.S. oil company, also had its best year ever in 2007, reporting a profit of $18.7 billion.
The new tax revenue would be used to pay for a wide range of tax breaks for the wind, solar and biofuels industries as well as to support energy conservation measures.
Make the Consumer subsidize pie-in-the-sky projects that have questionable outcomes all the while claiming the Economy is hurting. And we all know how good the Government is at managing our money. Alternative energy sources are desirable but this is not the way to go about it. I'm working on a synfuel project that has no government strings attached.