Bill Nelson on Oil Companies
May. 17th, 2011 11:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ericadawn16Senator Bill Nelson on Oil Companies:
I believe that special interests have hijacked congressional tax and spending bills for their own gain, at the expense of the public. That’s why I am an original cosponsor of S. 940, the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act. This bill would eliminate tax breaks for large oil companies that make revenue in excess of $100 million per taxable year. As Congress debates measures to improve our fiscal outlook, we must ensure that seniors and working-class Americans are not left holding the bill for these outdated and unnecessary oil subsidies.
Furthermore, we must not allow oil companies to shift the cost of their mistakes to the average taxpayer. That’s why I recently introduced legislation (S.983) to prevent oil companies, such as BP, from deducting the cost of oil spill recovery efforts. Last year, BP announced that they’d use nearly $12 billion in tax savings to offset clean-up costs associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It is clear the Gulf oil spill was the result of wrongdoing. Even if BP is technically entitled to these tax deductions under current law, it doesn’t make it right.
I believe we should modernize our tax system to encourage innovation and the development of new, alternative technologies in the energy sector. I support efforts to prevent a rise in energy prices and reduce our dependency on foreign oil, and I’m open to new ideas that will further these goals while protecting our precious environment.
I believe that special interests have hijacked congressional tax and spending bills for their own gain, at the expense of the public. That’s why I am an original cosponsor of S. 940, the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act. This bill would eliminate tax breaks for large oil companies that make revenue in excess of $100 million per taxable year. As Congress debates measures to improve our fiscal outlook, we must ensure that seniors and working-class Americans are not left holding the bill for these outdated and unnecessary oil subsidies.
Furthermore, we must not allow oil companies to shift the cost of their mistakes to the average taxpayer. That’s why I recently introduced legislation (S.983) to prevent oil companies, such as BP, from deducting the cost of oil spill recovery efforts. Last year, BP announced that they’d use nearly $12 billion in tax savings to offset clean-up costs associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It is clear the Gulf oil spill was the result of wrongdoing. Even if BP is technically entitled to these tax deductions under current law, it doesn’t make it right.
I believe we should modernize our tax system to encourage innovation and the development of new, alternative technologies in the energy sector. I support efforts to prevent a rise in energy prices and reduce our dependency on foreign oil, and I’m open to new ideas that will further these goals while protecting our precious environment.
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no subject
Date: 2011-05-18 03:24 am (UTC)That's a dangerous line of thinking, and I hope you reconsider what the hell he just said and what that could mean farther on down the road.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-18 05:16 am (UTC)Since a corporation is a person in legal terms, that could cause a precedent. What if people who cause destruction of property or hurt people were able to write off their fines and restitution on their taxes? Or they simply argue they are also entitled to tax refunds and other privileges not afforded to regular criminals but allowed to corporations.
We need to fix that loophole before this starts.