Many Americans do not understand the background of the subsidies the oil industry receives from American taxpayers. When they began, the price of oil was $17 per barrel. Arab oil was so inexpensive that exploration and development of US fields was too costly to compete, so to encourage it, Congress passed subsidies to make US oil competitive. Today, oil hovers near $100 per barrel and Big Oil needs no further incentive to explore and produce here, so the justification for the subsidies is no more. The greed displayed by these CEOs and their Republican lackeys was extreme.
A U.S. Senate Democrat is using the words of former oil company chiefs in an attempt to invalidate arguments the current group of corporate leaders is using to keep generous tax breaks.
With the heads of the five largest private oil companies watching at a hearing, Sen. Ron Wyden played a video of a 2005 hearing in which oil company executives said they did not need generous tax breaks because oil was selling at $55 a barrel. It is now above $100 a barrel.
Wyden said he could not understand why oil companies need tax breaks now, when oil is selling for nearly twice as much.
Chevron Corp. chairman and chief executive John Watson said the companies do not want special tax benefits — just the benefits that other industries get…
…Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), however, was more sympathetic to the executives in question. Holding up a photo of a dog riding atop a pony, he slammed Democrats for taking cheap shots.
"This hearing should not be used to score cheap political points," he said, holding up the dog-and-pony image. "Let’s send the pony back to the stable. … Let’s send the dog back to the kennel." [emphasis added]
Inserted from <CBS>
To say the GOBP supports Big Oil greed is like saying the Pope supports Catholic prayer.
Rarely do I use clips from the same show in two different articles, but as in today’s top article, Rachel Maddow’s analysis stands head and shoulders over anything else I found. Here she reviews the grilling and calls out Orrin Hatch.
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And here she interviews Senator Bob Menendez, co-sponsor of the bill to repeal oil subsidies.
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To be fair, I found it hypocritical for Jay Rockefeller to be calling them out. Had the panel been Big Coal executives, he would have acted like Hatch.
Kudos to Oregon’s Ron Wyden.
Republicans, as usual, are lying. Ending the subsidies will NOT raise gas prices more than a penny or two and will cost no jobs.
8 Responses to “Democrats Grill Big Oil’s Executive Liars”
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I watched some of this. Seems like a yearly advent. The arrogance of the five Oil executives seemed a bit more unusual. Defined themselves as to powerful to care what others think. Even had the balls to basically say, hey we don’t need you and can go to other countries.
I’ll help them pack. I said it once before here, the only way I can see to get a grip on energy: development, cost, consumption, green, profitability, and security is to nationalize it. It will come to that when people start to think in bigger terms.
Me too Tim. They’re full of crap. They are producing all they can wherever they can because prices are so high. I don’t see how we can nationalize it. The oil companies own all the means of production. Economy of scale forbids duplicating it all. The Constitution forbids taking it away from them. We can, however, tax and regulate.
Ron Wyden is a true American hero and a friend of the American consumer. Orrin Hatch is a lying apologist for big oil who was completely bought out by them long ago. HE is the REAL horse’s ass up on Capitol Hill!
Jack I agree with every word except one: “THE” should Be “A”. There are too many Republicans for there to be just one horses ass,
Although I like the story in principle, the Dems are a day late and about $100B short.
Blue, I agree, but past error is no reason not to correct it now.
Since Big Oil doesn’t need their subsidies with oil at $55/barrel, how about a 50% surtax on each barrel of oil they sell AND get rid of the subidies. That ought to get them back to $55/barrel oil which they apparently are happy with. 😆
LOL, Jerry! Love it! 😀