webhead
06-10-2008, 12:34 PM
Repigs in the Senate have prevented DEBATE on energy taxes. Tax the people, not the big oil companies is the Repig credo. Then these Repigs blame the Dems for being the "do-nothing Congress."
Senate blocks debate on energy tax measures
Tue Jun 10, 2008 12:00pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted against taking up a new energy package that would revoke $17 billion in tax breaks extended to big oil companies like Exxon Mobil Corp and slap a 25 percent windfall profits tax on firms that don't invest in new energy sources.
A week after U.S. oil prices hit an all-time peak of $139.12 a barrel and average U.S. pump prices topped $4 a gallon for the first time, Democrats moved to act on soaring gasoline pump prices, which are a growing political liability in the November presidential election.
The Consumer-First Energy Act -- assembled by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other key Democrats -- would tax big energy companies and seek to put checks on oil market speculation.
But the bill's opponents -- mostly Republicans -- blocked a key vote that would have allowed the Senate to formally debate the bill. The White House had threatened to veto it.
(Reporting by Chris Baltimore; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
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Senate blocks debate on energy tax measures
Tue Jun 10, 2008 12:00pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted against taking up a new energy package that would revoke $17 billion in tax breaks extended to big oil companies like Exxon Mobil Corp and slap a 25 percent windfall profits tax on firms that don't invest in new energy sources.
A week after U.S. oil prices hit an all-time peak of $139.12 a barrel and average U.S. pump prices topped $4 a gallon for the first time, Democrats moved to act on soaring gasoline pump prices, which are a growing political liability in the November presidential election.
The Consumer-First Energy Act -- assembled by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other key Democrats -- would tax big energy companies and seek to put checks on oil market speculation.
But the bill's opponents -- mostly Republicans -- blocked a key vote that would have allowed the Senate to formally debate the bill. The White House had threatened to veto it.
(Reporting by Chris Baltimore; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
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