Obama demands Congress end oil, gas subsidies

[ScienceRocks]

Obama demands Congress end oil, gas subsidies
Newsday ^ | JULIE PACE (Associated Press)

Obama demands Congress end oil, gas subsidies
NASHUA, N.H. - (AP) -- President Barack Obama, turning his political sights on snowy New Hampshire, demanded that Congress eliminate oil and gas company subsidies that he called an outrageous government "giveaway." Though politically a long shot, the White House believes the idea resonates at a time of high gasoline prices.


"Let's put every single member of Congress on record: you can stand with oil companies or you can stand up for the American people," Obama said.


The president also said GOP charges that his policies are driving up gas prices won't pass "a political bull-detector" test and pointed to a chart that showed decreasing U.S. dependence on foreign oil. His remarks came as retail gasoline prices rose Thursday to a national average of $3.74 per gallon.


(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...

 

[Katzndogz]

Today's gas prices will be considered dirt cheap.

 

[starcraftzzz]

Republcians care more about oil and gas companies then they do about people so it isn't happening

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Define Subsidy. Usually this means they want to end depletion, which is normal depreciation as applied to asset that is natural, rather than man made.


In this case it is a way of increasing the cost of domestic production, which means we will be getting more of our oll from overseas.

 

[Lumpy 1]

Just another sign of a failed Presidency...

Alway triangulating for re-election but never accepting responsibility.

 

[Trajan]

Define Subsidy. Usually this means they want to end depletion, which is normal depreciation as applied to asset that is natural, rather than man made.


In this case it is a way of increasing the cost of domestic production, which means we will be getting more of our oll from overseas.

obama would read what you said and scratch his wooden head, he has no idea what hes talking about.

 

[Oddball]

I wish someone would name these subsidies.

In the meantime, neither the Boiking nor his socialist congressional glee club will cease pissing away zillions in ETOH subsidies.

 

[Oddball]

Define Subsidy. Usually this means they want to end depletion, which is normal depreciation as applied to asset that is natural, rather than man made.


In this case it is a way of increasing the cost of domestic production, which means we will be getting more of our oll from overseas.

obama would read what you said and scratch his wooden head, he has no idea what hes talking about.

REPORTED!

 

[Stephanie]

Don't you all LOVE how the Obama................DEMANDS...???

and he also believes he has 5 more years...what a friggen FOOL

Jimma Carter must be smiling thinking he will not be remembered as the biggest MISTAKE to EVER be elected to President as this country

 

[Old Rocks]

The price of gas is rapidly rising, even as we are exporting gasoline by the tanker load. No shortage of either petroleum or refinery capacity.

Fossil Fuel Subsidies | The Price of Oil

What is the U.S. government doing to end fossil fuel subsidies?
For the last several years, President Obama has proposed eliminating $4 billion in oil and gas subsidies from the U.S. budget. While these are not all the subsidies that this mature and very profitable industry enjoys, they are some of the most obvious. But Congress hasn’t yet approved President Obama’s budget cuts.

Fossil fuel subsidies have come up in Congress – and rightly so! – in discussions of ways to cut government expenditures in order to balance the budget. In the spring of 2011, there was a push by some legislators to remove subsidies that target only the major oil companies – in particular, the “Big Five” (BP, Exxon, Chevron, Shell, ConocoPhillips). While this would end some of the oil subsidies, it would unfortunately exclude a number of huge companies such as Valero, Koch Industries, Occidental, Anadarko, Amerada Hess, Marathon, Murphy Oil and a number of more diversified energy companies that also produce large quantities of the nation’s oil and gas.

In the fall of 2011, there was some hope that fossil fuel subsidy reduction could be included in the Super Committee’s proposal to Congress for $1.5 trillion in deficit-reduction measures over the next ten years. There was support in Congress for this: In an October letter to the Super Committee, 36 House Democrats urged the committee to end subsidies to the fossil fuel industry that would save up to $122 billion over the next ten years.

But in the end, it proved to be an uphill battle to get the Super Committee to take a stand on fossil fuel subsidies – and perhaps that’s not so surprising, given the influence of fossil fuel industry money on the Super Committee. Eight Super Committee members received over $300,000 in contributions from the fossil fuel industry since 1999: Senators Baucus (D-MT), Kyl (R-AZ), Portman (R-OH), and Toomey (R-PA), and Representatives Camp (R-MI), Clyburn (D-SC), Hensarling (R-TX), and Upton (R-MI).

Is there any reason to be concerned about removing fossil fuel subsidies?
Calls for subsidy removal tend to be answered by the oil industry and their allies with dire predictions of falling domestic production, loss of jobs, and rising gas prices. But the reality is that removing fossil fuel subsidies (which the industry deceptively calls new taxes) will have little to no impact on domestic production, jobs, or prices at the pump.

According to the Treasury Department, removing the domestic subsidies as proposed in the President’s budget would reduce U.S. oil production less than one half of one percent, and will increase exploration and production costs less than two percent. Considering the price that the domestic industry receives for crude has more than doubled over the past several years, the industry can afford that – without laying anyone off or jacking up the price at the pump.

 

[idb]

Don't you all LOVE how the Obama................DEMANDS...???

and he also believes he has 5 more years...what a friggen FOOL

Jimma Carter must be smiling thinking he will not be remembered as the biggest MISTAKE to EVER be elected to President as this country

I wonder if that confidence of re-election might come from watching the GOP race?

 

[idb]

The price of gas is rapidly rising, even as we are exporting gasoline by the tanker load. No shortage of either petroleum or refinery capacity.

Fossil Fuel Subsidies | The Price of Oil

What is the U.S. government doing to end fossil fuel subsidies?
For the last several years, President Obama has proposed eliminating $4 billion in oil and gas subsidies from the U.S. budget. While these are not all the subsidies that this mature and very profitable industry enjoys, they are some of the most obvious. But Congress hasn’t yet approved President Obama’s budget cuts.

Fossil fuel subsidies have come up in Congress – and rightly so! – in discussions of ways to cut government expenditures in order to balance the budget. In the spring of 2011, there was a push by some legislators to remove subsidies that target only the major oil companies – in particular, the “Big Five” (BP, Exxon, Chevron, Shell, ConocoPhillips). While this would end some of the oil subsidies, it would unfortunately exclude a number of huge companies such as Valero, Koch Industries, Occidental, Anadarko, Amerada Hess, Marathon, Murphy Oil and a number of more diversified energy companies that also produce large quantities of the nation’s oil and gas.

In the fall of 2011, there was some hope that fossil fuel subsidy reduction could be included in the Super Committee’s proposal to Congress for $1.5 trillion in deficit-reduction measures over the next ten years. There was support in Congress for this: In an October letter to the Super Committee, 36 House Democrats urged the committee to end subsidies to the fossil fuel industry that would save up to $122 billion over the next ten years.

But in the end, it proved to be an uphill battle to get the Super Committee to take a stand on fossil fuel subsidies – and perhaps that’s not so surprising, given the influence of fossil fuel industry money on the Super Committee. Eight Super Committee members received over $300,000 in contributions from the fossil fuel industry since 1999: Senators Baucus (D-MT), Kyl (R-AZ), Portman (R-OH), and Toomey (R-PA), and Representatives Camp (R-MI), Clyburn (D-SC), Hensarling (R-TX), and Upton (R-MI).

Is there any reason to be concerned about removing fossil fuel subsidies?
Calls for subsidy removal tend to be answered by the oil industry and their allies with dire predictions of falling domestic production, loss of jobs, and rising gas prices. But the reality is that removing fossil fuel subsidies (which the industry deceptively calls new taxes) will have little to no impact on domestic production, jobs, or prices at the pump.

According to the Treasury Department, removing the domestic subsidies as proposed in the President’s budget would reduce U.S. oil production less than one half of one percent, and will increase exploration and production costs less than two percent. Considering the price that the domestic industry receives for crude has more than doubled over the past several years, the industry can afford that – without laying anyone off or jacking up the price at the pump.

Do these subsidies apply to all oil production or only that destined for domestic use?

 

[Old Rocks]

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politi...o-give-gas-and-oil-companies-41-billion-a-yea

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right, dey makin' bazillions o' dollars -dey don't need subsidaisies...

Obama seeks halt to tax subsidies for oil industry
17 Mar.`12 WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is calling anew on Congress to end tax subsidies for the oil and gas industry, saying the nation needs to develop alternative sources of energy in the face of rising gasoline prices.

Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address that he expected Congress to consider in the next few weeks halting $4 billion in tax subsidies, something he hasn't been able to get through Congress throughout his presidency. He said the vote would put lawmakers on record on whether they "stand up for oil companies" or "stand up for the American people." "They can either place their bets on a fossil fuel from the last century or they can place their bets on America's future," Obama said. Industry officials and many Republicans in Congress have argued that cutting the tax breaks would lead to higher fuel prices, raising costs on oil companies and affecting their investments in exploration and production. The measure is considered a long shot in Congress, given that Obama couldn't end the subsidies when Democrats controlled Congress earlier in his term.

Republican presidential candidates have accused Obama of delaying drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico and in a national wildlife refuge in Alaska and faulted him for not advancing the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas Gulf Coast refineries. They have also criticized policies pursued by the Environmental Protection Agency as inhibiting energy development. Obama said there is no quick fix to high gas prices, which climbed to $3.83 on Friday according to AAA, but he pushed back against critics who say he is opposed to more drilling. He said the U.S. is producing more oil than at any time in the past eight years and has quadrupled the number of operating oil rigs. "If we're truly going to make sure we're not at the mercy of spikes in gas prices every year, the answer isn't just to drill more — because we're already drilling more," Obama said. He said his administration was trying to develop wind and solar power, biofuels and usher in more fuel-efficient vehicles to make the nation less dependent on oil.

In the weekly Republican address, Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., said his constituents have been hard hit by an increase in gasoline prices and were "fed up with the way the president is handling this issue, and rightfully so. The most forceful thing the president has done about high gas prices is try to explain that he's against them." Gardner said the $800 billion stimulus spending sought by Obama promoted energy companies that went bankrupt, wasting taxpayer money. "After spending money we don't have on what won't work — and overregulating what would — is it any wonder gas prices have more than doubled on the president's watch? Make no mistake, high gas prices are a symptom of his failed 'stimulus' policies," Gardner said. Obama is expected to keep up a drumbeat on energy this week, traveling to four states over two days to push his administration's "all of the above" energy strategy. The trip includes stops in Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Ohio.

Obama seeks halt to tax subsidies for oil industry - Yahoo! News

 

[facultyandstaff]

I wonder what the price of gas will be by this summer?

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Depreciation is the new "Giveaway"

Do you see how big of a total fucking moron and economic illiterate you have to be to rack up trillion deficits and get us our first ever credit downgrade?

 

[editec]

No oil company that EXPORTS oil ought to get an oil depleatiation allowance.

Why should the American taxpayer pay oil companies to EXPORT oil products?

Seriously, does that make sense?

Does that sound like FREE MARKET CAPITALISM to anybody here?

 

[TShepstone]

Why doesn't he end other much bigger subsidies for other energy first?