The Club for Growth points us to this editorial in the Union Leader,
Want to know who is making a bigger windfall than oil companies are making from the prices paid by the poor gasoline consumer? Itâ??s good old Uncle Sam and his 51 little brothers.
Refining costs and profits combined make up about 15 percent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline, according to the U.S. Energy Department. State and local taxes make up almost double that, about 27 percent. (New Hampshireâ??s 18 cents per gallon fuel tax accounted for 7.2 percent of last weekâ??s average gas price of $2.49 a gallon.)
â?¦The windfall profits tax would accomplish nothing beneficial, while almost certainly making matters worse. It is yet another economically foolish, opportunistic ploy by Democrats to squeeze money from an industry whose popularity suddenly has plummeted.
This is predictable political pandering and demonizing of big business. This next sentence should be about how predictable this is coming from Democrats, who are always railing against big business, that is, when they are not raising money from them. Sadly, the GOP is on board with this charade. What a shame.
I’ve said it before, and unfortunately, I have to say it again,
It is the liberals who have been against exploration and production in this country for thirty years. They have passed laws and made it virtually impossible for energy companies to invest in E&P. They say no to new refineries (last one built in 1976) to nuclear power (20+years), to more drilling in the lower 48 states, in the Gulf and in Alaska, to onshore liquid natural gas facilities and oceanic wind farms within view of their summer retreats.
Republicans should be making these points, not linking arms with them in an effort to demonize the industry for profiting from their mistakes.
WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) – In the latest sign of Republican worry about high energy prices, the head of the Senate Finance Committee said on Tuesday he wants large oil companies to donate 10 percent of their record profits to help poor Americans pay winter heating bills.
Republicans are growing increasingly concerned about oil profits triggering a consumer backlash when winter heating bills start to arrive in the next few weeks. The government forecasts natural gas costs in the U.S. Midwest will soar by 61 percent while heating oil in the Northeast jumps nearly 30 percent this winter.
Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said he sent a letter to oil companies to “embarrass” them into contributing to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
Is this the company the GOP wants to keep when it comes to energy and fiscal policy?
Kucinich Calls For Windfall Profit Tax on Oil Companies
WASHINGTON – Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday blamed Vice President Dick Cheney for bungling U.S. energy policy – and proposed a $20 billion-per-year tax on oil profits to subsidize clean-fuels development.
“The facts are clear: Oil companies are making massive profits,” she said in a prepared statement. “Our families are hurting. Businesses are hurting. And the economy is in real trouble,” said Barbara Boxer.
I’m almost to the point that I won’t shed many tears if the GOP gets crushed in the mid-term elections.