May 13th, 2011 by John Feehery
Two things drive me completely crazy about the debate over higher gas prices.
First, this whole issue of big oil subsidies is complete crap. The oil industry gets the same tax breaks as any other manufacturer. And why shouldn’t they? They manufacture a product here in the U.S.
I am stealing the following four paragraphs from the American Thinker blog (if I say that I am stealing it publicly, then it isn’t plagiarism, right?) because I think the author does a nice job of summing up what these tax credits are:
“Domestic manufacturing tax deduction — $1.7 B. This is a tax deduction given to every manufacturer in the US. Per CNN, it was “designed to keep factories in the United States.” If that deduction were eliminated for oil companies only, it would mean singling out oil companies from all other manufacturers.
Percentage depletion allowance — $1 B. Any industry can write down a portion of the cost of its capital equipment as part of the cost of doing business. Right now, oil in the ground is treated as capital equipment. Again, this “subsidy” amounts to how the cost of doing business is defined. All companies get it, not just oil companies. Read more...
Tags: American Thinker blog, CNN, energy independence, EPA, foriegn oil, gas, gas prices, Government, Iran, Isreal, Obama Administration, oil industry, Saudi Arabia, taxes
Posted in Economy, Financial Crisis, Foreign Relations, GOP, Government, Politics, The Web, Theory, middle-east, national security, spending, taxes, terrorism | No Comments »
July 24th, 2008 by John Feehery
Over the last couple of days, evidence has piled up about the Democrats would govern if they gained control of all the branches of government. They would put themselves first.
We started learning about Charlie Rangel’s living arrangements in Harlem. Rent controlled apartments are hard to find in the Big Apple, but not for the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. He was able to get four of them in a sweetheart deal that saves him about $30,000. The abuse was so egregious, that he was forced to complain about himself to the ethics committee.
He is asking for their guidance on a matter that just on the face of it, looks inappropriate and probably illegal.
We then learned that all public officials who are attended the Democratic National Convention are giving themselves a sweetheart deal when it comes to filling up their gas tanks. All these high-fallutin Democratic Members of Congress, who refuse to pass legislation to lower gas prices, have neatly exempted themselves from paying gas taxes at the convention.
The Rocky Mountain News ran this little item: Read more...
Tags: American flag, BarackObama, Democratic Convention, gas prices, Rangel
Posted in Government, Politics, national security | No Comments »
June 18th, 2008 by John Feehery
The House Democratic Leadership is taking a huge gamble in not locking arms with House Republicans on passing legislation dealing with the rapidly increasing price of oil.
By not proposing a bipartisan solution, they expose their more vulnerable members to nasty charges of “do-nothingism”. Inaction also leads to other vulnerabilities.
First, there is the Al Gore problem. Al Gore has been quoted time and time again saying that a steep increase in gas prices will be good for the environment. Well, the steep increases are here. Do you feel better yet.
Second, there is the voting record problem. Over the last decade, House Democrats have voted against domestic oil production pretty much in lock-step. When prices were low, that was an easy vote because all the passion was on the nimby side. But now that prices have increased so rapidly, those votes have become a true liability.
Third, there is the problem of extreme left of Democratic caucus, who will come to symbolize the true motives of all Democrats in the Congress. They want to nationalize the oil industry, just as Hugo Chavez did in Venezuela. Read more...
Tags: Congress, Democrats, gas prices, Socialism
Posted in Government, Media, Politics | No Comments »
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