By Christopher Taylor When President Obama gave a speech on the high price of gas, one of the things he called for was for congress to "take immediate action to eliminate unwarranted tax breaks for the oil and gas industry and use the dollars to invest in clean energy. "Usually these tax breaks are referred to as "subsidies" by the press and Democrats who point the finger of blame for high gas prices at oil companies. The truth is, a tax break is not properly a pure subsidy. [snip] In the case of oil companies, the tax breaks in question are part of IRS Code Section 199, which allows any business to deduct certain expenses from their tax returns. The maximum allowable deduction is 9% of those expenses, and this is part of the tax code passed in 2004 under the American Jobs Creation Act. The idea at the time was to make it possible for businesses to take some risks and if those risks didn't pan out to get a tax break to reduce the pain and cost. This in theory would encourage businesses to expand and hire more. These tax breaks appy to all businesses, not just oil companies, but the tax code specifically states that oil companies can only get a 6% break, not a 9%. Naturally since this is the tax code its a bit more complicated than a straight cut in taxes, but that's the basic gist of the law. Its this that the Obama administration, Demcorats in congress, and many Republicans are calling to end. It isn't some sinister loophole in the tax code that oil companies benefit from, it isn't some clever trick they are using to get rich, its just part of the law that any company can take advantage of. Removing this tax break would not reduce the price of oil. It probably wouldn't even change the profits oil companies make, since it isn't a very big chunk of their tax bill and companies tend to pass on expenses like tax increases to customers anyway. What it would do is give the federal government more money to play with and the entire "oil company subsidies" line is a way to distract from the Obama administration's role in the price of gas. President Obama promised several times while running for the office that he'd raise energy prices, even using the term "skyrocket." He put a man in charge of the energy department who wants gas prices in the US to equal European gas prices (about $7 to $9 a gallon depending where you are at the time of his statement), and President Obama has implemented policies that are causing all this to happen. All his rhetoric about oil companies and taxes is a distraction from the facts. It is a fact oil companies make a lot of money, sure they are making massive profits, and sure they could do without the federal assistance they get in tax breaks. I'm fine with ending the tax write offs for them. Oil companies even get subsidies, because they are some of the world's leading alternative energy researchers or (blend government mandated ethanol) - if someone finds a substitute for oil, they want to own it. But when it comes down to why oil prices are high, tax breaks and oil companies are not the reason. And since the US Constitution does not permit the federal government to ever send any subsidies to any businesses, then they should be stopped no matter where they go, from milk to toys, even "clean energy." Just remember, tax breaks are not a subsidy, and they aren't only for oil companies. http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/opinion-zone/2011/05/about-those-oil-company-subsidies/144608
Come on man, Obama has campaign contributors to pay off and more solyndras is one way to do it. It's funny, when it is oil companies, which actually produce something useful and employ large numbers of people at high paying jobs, it is a subsidy. When it is some green energy, crony capitalism boondoggle, it is an investment. Gas prices go up every spring, when refineries are forced to shut down and switch over to government-mandated summer blends of gasoline. It's worse in California.