Obama budget proposal raises $32B by taxing oil companies-companies not happy

[babylonsister]

http://washingtonindependent.com/31854/big-oils-ebbing-influence

Big Oil’s Ebbing Influence
By Jefferson Morley 2/27/09 3:03 PM


The oil industry vows to fight President Obama’s budget proposal unveiled yesterday that would raise $32 billion by taxing oil companies that failed to pay royalties on Gulf of Mexico oil leases issued between 1996 and 2000. Whether they can succeed is another question.

The American Petroleum Institute is objecting, and the major oil companies potentially on the hook are among the biggest of the big lobbying powers in Washington: BP, Chevron, Conoco Phillips, ExxonMobil, and Shell. They will “hide behind the independent oil companies,” predicts Erich Pica, an analyst for Friends of the Earth, “and threw in everything but the kitchen sink.”

These five companies spent a combined $59.4 billion in lobbying in 2008 alone, according to figures from the nonpartisan OpenSecrets.org, these five companies have plenty of money to throw in. Several prominent former Democrat legislators and staff members lobbied on behalf of these companies in 2008 — including former Louisiana Sen. John Breaux (Shell), former Hill staffer Holly Bode (Exxon), who previously worked for Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.); and former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus Paul Brathwaite (BP).

But Big Oil’s ability to prevent the plugging of this loophole could be waning. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) targeted royalty relief in her “first 100 days” agenda when Democrats took control of Congress in 2007. The House approved a rollback, but it narrowly failed to gain Senate approval. Since then, pro-oil Republican Sen.Pete Domenici of New Mexico and Wayne Allard of Colorado have been replaced by green Democrats, Tom and Mark Udall, respectively. Pencil in Minnesota’s DFL Senator-in-waiting Al Franken in place of former GOP Sen. Norm Coleman, and as Daniel Weiss of the Center for American put it, ”Big oil faces an uphill climb.”

[lisa58]

1. boo effing hoo - thank god for fair elections

[Jeep789]

2. Ohh, those poor oil companies

What will they do? Of course, they will trickle the costs down to us. (profits don't trickle down but costs always do.) Can't have them losing any of their windfall profits.

[donco6]

3. Whatever the tax rate is, it's too small.

Fucking greedy bastards.

[Metta]

4. They should be grateful he's not nationalizing their usurious asses.

As he should.

[Booster]

5. If the stupid oil company CEO's hd been smart they would

have offered to bail out the auto industry, thereby earning kudos for their generosity and maybe avoid this kind of thing, but nooooooo; they kept really, really quiet during that whole debate.

[Optical.Catalyst]

6. Tell big oil to pay up, or revoke their leases

And when the leases get revoked, the oil rigs sitting on the lease get nationalized.

The oil companies will pay, and be glad they are allowed to keep the gravy train going.