Congress Struggles to Act on Gas Prices

[Army_of_One]

This is just plain ridiculous...a $100 dollar REFUND....that is just stupid.

WASHINGTON (AP) - House Republicans on Thursday refused to support billions of dollars in new taxes on oil companies as lawmakers in both parties looked for ways to soothe election-year rage over high gasoline prices.

Senate Republicans proposed a $100 fuel-cost rebate for millions of taxpayers. Democrats talked of a two-month suspension of the 18.4-cent per gallon federal gasoline tax.

Despite the jockeying for political advantage, economists and energy experts generally agreed that the government has few, if any, immediate powers to drive pump prices down for their $3-plus perch.

"Unfortunately there's nothing, really, that can be done that's going to affect energy prices or gasoline prices in the very short run," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told a congressional hearing.

Nonetheless, lawmakers scrambled to put together legislation they hoped would show their sympathy for motorists and their willingness to stand up to big oil companies.

The GOP-run House, in a largely partisan vote, failed 190-232 to instruct its tax bill negotiators to support a Senate proposal that would have required oil companies to pay about $5 billion more in taxes. Only four Republicans voted for the proposal; nine Democrats were against it.

Senators have voted to require oil companies to pay more taxes on their inventories, rescind favorable tax treatment for exploration in difficult areas and remove tax credits for taxes paid overseas.

Despite the House vote, the proposals are "still on the table," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the lead Senate negotiator.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said the tax breaks are "unnecessary and unwarranted" when oil companies are reaping billions of dollars in profits. The industry says the change would amount to a windfall profits tax.

Lawmakers' election-year anxiety deepens each time a major oil companies announces huge first-quarter profits. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) said Thursday it made more than $8 billion during from January through March - the fifth largest quarterly profit ever for a public company.

"While Exxon Mobil executives are popping champagne and celebrating their record profits, American families are popping antacids under the strain of searing gas prices," said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.,

In Dallas, Exxon spokesman Kenneth Cohen said the company was bracing for more trips to Washington to explain its earnings. "I just hope for the opportunity to communicate the fundamentals of our business," he said.

Menendez proposed a 60-day suspension of the 18.4-cent gasoline tax and 24-cent-a-gallon diesel tax. Revenue lost to the government, as much as $6 billion, would be made up by removing some oil company tax breaks, he said.

Senate Republicans release a 10-point response to high fuel costs that included giving millions of taxpayers $100 checks. They also proposed a federal law against price gouging.

The rebate check would go out at the end of August to taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes of no more than $145,950 for single filers and $218,950 for married couples, according to the Senate Finance Committee.

"It's a bold package to help consumers ... to help ease the pain," said Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. He promised a vote on the measures by Tuesday.

"We are going to ease the burden," said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Democrats criticized the GOP proposal because it linked attempts at short-term relief with oil drilling in an Alaskan wildlife refuge; the exploration idea has divided the Senate for decades.

"It's designed to protect Big Oil while mistakenly believing that drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will solve America's energy problems," said Reid's spokesman, Jim Manley.

The GOP plan also would:

_repeal some recent tax breaks for oil companies.

_ease permits for refinery expansion.

_provide tax breaks for development of gas-electric hybrid cars.

_give the Transportation Department the power to increase auto fuel economy.

President Bush, touring the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, stopped at a gas station in Biloxi, Miss., and said he welcomed any steps by Congress to give him the power to change fuel economy requirements. Lawmakers recently did that for small trucks.

Much of Senate's time was taken up by a dispute over whether to vote on a proposal by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to require energy companies to pay a federal royalty on oil pumped from the Gulf of Mexico, if barrel prices topped $55. Some oil now is exempt from royalties, costing the government billions of dollars.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to allow the Justice Department to prosecute member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for price-fixing in violation of U.S. antitrust laws.

Committee members acknowledged that the action was little more than a gesture. "We are venting our frustration," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

[wordsmythe]

I gotta agree with you on that one. It's nothing more than an attempt at an election year bribe.

If it goes through they'll do like they did with that $300 check we got from W and it will be taken out of our taxes next year anyway.

They can keep the hunnert bucks.

[Army_of_One]

Originally Posted by wordsmythe

I gotta agree with you on that one. It's nothing more than an attempt at an election year bribe.

If it goes through they'll do like they did with that $300 check we got from W and it will be taken out of our taxes next year anyway.

They can keep the hunnert bucks.

What sucks is it is only for certain income levels and we probably won't be included in that. I never got the $300.00 check either. Even though it's the republicans...I gotta say this is stupid. It's not a fix or even a patch....Not sure what they are thinking.......Half of the people that would get the refund don't even drive....

[Bubba]

There thinking that with a $100 bill in your pocket you will forget about their stupidity on the immigration issue.

[TexKan]

not a chance.............

[Made in the USA]

Hell, a hunnert bucks won't even buy me enough gas to mow my grass this summer!! DUMB< DUMB<DUMB!!!

[Highwayman]

The continuing saga of “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

Menendez proposed a 60-day suspension of the 18.4-cent gasoline tax and 24-cent-a-gallon diesel tax. Revenue lost to the government, as much as $6 billion, would be made up by removing some oil company tax breaks, he said.

As much as I would support suspending the gas tax to give us a break this summer something just didn’t pass the smell test when it was offered by a Democrat. The Devil is always in the details. Nothing like hiding a permanent tax increase behind an alleged tax cut to sucker us into it. Remember gas taxes hurt the working poor that need to commute to work far more than then the tax hurts the “rich”.


Friday, April 28, 2006 12:25 p.m. EDT
Democrat Gas Tax 'Holiday' Hikes Taxes


Sen. Bob Menendez, D-NJ, has come up with a solution to skyrocketing pump prices: He wants to suspend the federal tax on gasoline, saving motorists 18.4 cents a gallon.

But there's a catch. Democrats want to raise taxes on the big oil companies by an equal amount - a cost they'd inevitably pass along to the consumer.

The Menendez "gas tax holiday" would reduce the cost of regular gas as well as diesel, but it which would last just 60 days. Still, the move could save consumers $100 million dollars per day for as long as it lasts.

But according to the liberal web site Raw Story: "Democrats say the money will be made up by cutting six billion dollars in tax breaks to oil firms."

If the oil companies pass their new costs along without any carrying charges, it would cancel out all the savings to consumers under the Menendez plan.

If "Big Oil" wants to maintain the same profit margin, however, the companies would have to hike pump prices even further - and the Democrats' plan could actually end up costing motorists.

Worse still, where the Menendez "gas tax holiday" would be temporary, the tax hikes on oil companies would apparently be permanent.

The proposed Democrat tax increases include:

• A change in accounting methods that would increase the oil companies tax liability when prices rise.

• Eliminating the tax break on the larger oil companies for accelerated depreciation of expenses associated with "geological and geophysical expenditures."

• The elimination of royalty relief and other direct spending for oil and gas production incentives.

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