Senate Democrats seek to tax oil companies
"As time goes bye it becomes crystal clear that these crazy liberal congress critters hate America and spend every waking moment trying to screw it up! Liberal/Socialist/Maoist class warfare just to keep Pelosi's West Coast 'Hate America' crowd happy !" WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats on Wednesday called for a windfall profits tax on oil companies and a rollback of $17 billion in oil industry tax breaks as part of an energy package. The proposal also would impose federal penalties on energy price gouging and calls for stopping oil deliveries into the government's emergency reserve. Senate Republicans strongly oppose any additional oil industry taxes, which are widely viewed as having little chance of being enacted. Even then, they would almost certainly prompt a veto by President Bush.
The proposed 25 percent profits tax would apply only to windfall oil company earnings above what would be considered "reasonable" and only if those profits are not reinvested in refinery capacity expansion or renewable energy sources, according to a summary of the proposals.
The Democrats' energy package ignores recent calls by presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for a gasoline tax holiday to ease motorists' fuel costs. A fact sheet released by the Democratic leadership said "that can't be our first answer" and that the aim was to focus on longer-term solutions.
The Democrats called for a halt in deliveries of oil into the government's Strategic Petroleum Reserve until oil prices drop to $75 a barrel.
"What a symbolic crock of sh*t ,even if they emptied the strategic oil reserves it wouldn't amount to one day of Americas energy needs !"http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ap/20080508/twl-democrats-energy-1be00ca.html
