Posted on 03/22/2024 9:45:40 AM PDT by Red Badger
(The Center Square) – Two dozen Republican U.S. senators are pushing back against the Biden administration's plan to increase taxes on the U.S. oil, natural gas and coal industries to the tune of over $110 billion.
U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., led a coalition of 24 senators expressing “grave concern regarding the administration's continued hostility towards American energy production.” In a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, they wrote, “America's working families and small businesses are facing immense challenges including high energy prices. At the same time, our allies and partners across the globe are asking for reliable American energy resources to escape their dependence on Russian energy and to deal with the energy crisis.”
“Instead of increasing US energy production, the administration is focused on increasing energy taxes,” they argued, “by once again doub[ling] down on weaponizing the tax code against US energy producers.”
The Treasury Department released “General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2025 Revenue Proposals (Green Book),” which explains $5 trillion in new tax increases outlined in the president’s budget.
In the department's “Modify Energy Taxes” section, it states it’s eliminating “fossil fuel tax preferences,” eliminating drawbacks on petroleum taxes that finance the oil spill liability trust fund and Superfund, and imposes a digital asset mining energy excise tax.
It states current law “provides several credits, deductions, and other special provisions that are targeted towards encouraging oil, gas, and coal production.” These provisions “distort markets by encouraging more investment in the fossil fuel sector than would occur under a neutral system. This market distortion is detrimental to long-term energy security and is also inconsistent with the Administration’s policy of supporting a clean energy economy, reducing our reliance on oil, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
The Green Book also says the administration's plan is to increase the corporate income tax rate to 28%, increase the corporate alternative minimum tax rate to 21%, increase the excise tax rate, increase the top marginal income tax rate for high earners, and impose numerous taxes and regulations in several categories.
In addition to broad tax hikes, the administration “has decided to go even further by specifically imposing additional burdens on energy producers by removing virtually every longstanding tax provision in the Internal Revenue Code designed to support traditional energy production,” the senators argue.
The “alarming” proposals, they continued, “are neither policy neutral nor do they consider the fact that conventional energy production is the highest taxed industry in the world, and pays high rates of tax to the federal government – as well as state and local governments.” They also ignore “the detrimental impact the repeals will have.”
While the administration targets the oil, natural gas and coal industries, which provide 80% of the U.S.’s energy source, it ignores “the lavish subsidies and refundable tax credits afforded to the renewable energy industry,” when “no other nation produces, or refines, with the same environmental standards we see with American-made energy,” they argue.
The U.S. leads the world in petroleum and natural gas production, led by Texas, which also leads in emissions reductions. Last year, the Texas oil and natural gas industry broke records with the highest ever totals in production, exports, refining outcomes, and crude oil supply. This is after in 2022, the Texas natural gas industry “provided a lifeline” to Europe after the energy market was destabilized by “green energy” policies and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, The Center Square reported.
Understanding the significance of the industry, even Texas Democratic members of Congress oppose the administration’s recent liquified natural gas export ban.
Instead of “unleashing American energy and innovation,” the administration is “throwing away one of our biggest economic and geopolitical advantages,” the senators argue. Its “crushing tax proposals, paired with the administration's heavy-handed regulations and mandates, would threaten American families' access to affordable and reliable energy, while giving our adversaries the upper-hand in global energy markets.”
As they criticized the administration, Republicans in the House prioritized six energy bills to encourage domestic production and denounce the president’s “anti-American energy policies.”
It is almost like they are all in on it...even the ones on “our side” who are “complaining” about it.
Gee. What is the term we use for that nowadays?
Interesting strategy for Election
I can’t see doing this in an election year.
Even Democrats must realize it’s electoral poison all the way down the ticket.
Unless they are counting on their 2024 Cheat-a-Palooza to get them re-elected...................
Yeah, for losing!...................
Everyone knows that if your hotdog stand is not selling enough hotdogs for you to go on your dream vacation then you raise the price of your hotdogs. If It’s simple bidenomics!
How many will vote yes on the 1.2 trillion omnibus just passed by the House?
Only a matter of time before the gop agrees to it. They will not fight!
They really think if they make it so expensive people will stop buying it and switch to even more expensive EVs ,LOL
The war on the automobile continues.
We all though the "Red Wave" was a lock in the 2022 midterms when the Dems went full retard.
And they took the Senate.
So yes, the election is rigged.
Any swing state with a Dem Governor will stop the count at 10 pm with Biden losing and magically catch up by the morning, and overtake Trump (if he makes it to November, I think their lawfare goal is to induce a heart attack or stroke) the next day or two.
AZ - Biden
MI - Biden
PA - Biden
WI - Biden
.
Game over folks, Trump will win Nevada, but Biden's huge lead in VA will end with Biden's second term.
The stalinist war on America and capitalism continues.
Without energy we have no commerce. No manufacturing, no distribution, no energy for our cars and homes.
Plastics are over with as well.
Fools, all of them.
Some of these companies are doing themselves no favor seemingly bragging about record profits.
Canada’s Trudeau just added a 23% Carbon Tax so are they coordinating to do Klaus Schwab’s bidding
And the SOROS bunch of thieves...................
GOP senators blast Biden’s proposed $110 billion tax hikes on oil, gas and coal
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We can’t get the Republican azzholes to wake up when there’s a discussion on securing the border to reducing the amount and intensity of US intervention in the world, BUT if you threaten to tax their donors they piss their pants and fall all over one another in protest.
They have found the perfect nuclear weapon with CO2 which you can hit whatever you want.
It's a sure bet they aren't relying on voters to get reelected.
If my math is right, this would put him over 270.
We need to keep a close eye on that state.
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