O. Drops Windfall Profits Tax for Oil, Gas

by Dollars and Sense

From our friends at the American Small Business League (of which we are members, believe it or not; it was partly because of having published this article):


Obama Backs Down from Promise to Institute Windfall Profits Tax

Petaluma, Calif. -- President-elect Barack Obama has removed any
reference of his promise to implement a windfall profits tax on the
oil and gas industry from the Obama-Biden Transition Team website,
www.change.gov.

During the course of the 2008 presidential election, the Obama
campaign called for a windfall profits tax on the oil industry as a
means of subsidizing a $1,000 "emergency" rebate for consumers
struggling with surging gas prices. However www.change.gov, which
houses the Obama-Biden transition agenda, was recently cleansed of any
mention of such a tax.

The promise was displayed prominently at the top of the "economy"
section of Obama's campaign website. That same information was
transferred to Obama's transition website, www.change.gov, when it was
launched on Thursday, November 6th. However, the language regarding
the windfall profits tax was removed on Saturday, November 8th in an
unceremonious and abrupt manner. (Pre-change,here; post-change, here.)

While on the campaign trail, Obama made provocative statements
regarding the cost of energy and its respective negative impact on
American families. On May 6, 2008, Obama stated, "It isn't right that
oil companies are making record profits at a time when ordinary
Americans are going into debt trying to pay rising energy costs.
That's why we'll put a windfall profits tax on oil companies and use
it to help Indiana families pay their heating and cooling bills and
reduce energy costs."

With the election behind him, President-elect Obama has failed to
justify the removal of the windfall profits tax from his tax plan.
The subtle and unexplained elimination of this issue from the
Obama-Biden agenda should concern Americans from every background.
The American Small Business League (ASBL) questions whether the sudden
elimination of this issue is a further indication that large
corporations are already demonstrating their ability to influence the
Obama Administration.

"This is not the only campaign promise the Obama-Biden Transition Team
has removed from change.gov; I believe that President-elect Obama owes
the American people an explanation as to why these campaign promises
have been pulled from his agenda." American Small Business League
President Lloyd Chapman said. "With that in mind, someone from the
mainstream media needs to ask President-elect Obama why these policies
have been dropped."

Labels: American Small Business League, Barack Obama, oil, oil and gas industry, windfall profits tax

 

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12/02/2008 11:59:00 AM