Big Oil companies spared tax hikes

[formercia]

Source: Yahoo

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070621/ap_on_go_co/congress_energy

WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a $32 billion package of tax breaks for renewable energy that would have been financed mostly by new taxes on major oil companies.

Democrats came three votes short of overcoming a threatened GOP filibuster that was keeping the measure from being attached to a broader energy bill. Republican senators argued that the nearly $29 billion in additional taxes on major oil companies would have led to reduced production and higher gasoline prices.

Because of Republican opposition, Democrats needed 60 votes to allow the package to come up for a vote, but fell short, 57-36. With a number of senators not voting, Democrats could resurrect the measure later, though there was no immediate indication of that.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070621/ap_on_go_co/congress_energy

---

while everyone was watching McNulty.....

[robinlynne]

1. those f...ers are still in total control of our country.

[Double T]

2. Yep. And the MSM isn't reporting what is actually happening........

on these important legislative issues. It is time to take off the gloves and get impeachment rolling; there is nothing to lose.

[Ilsa]

3. Nope, they are reporting on a bank robbery and a missing

pregnant woman (again) Up next: "Will Paris pose for Playboy?"

[unpossibles]

4. "...would have led to reduced production and higher gasoline prices."

which is different from what is currently happening how exactly?

[Captain Hilts]

5. Dems don't have a big enough vote margin for this or impeachment. nt

[Tesha]

19. Maybe, though, once in a while we ought to make them *ACTUALLY*...

Maybe, though, once in a while we ought to make them *ACTUALLY*
filibuster instead of just shitting our pants and running away
when they merely "threaten" to filibuster.

It might do America some good to see Republicans on C-SPAN
blathering on about how unfair it would be to tax the
oil companies.

Tesha

[dubyaD40web]

6. Exxon stock the last 5 years:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15837290?q=xom">Source

[dbackjon]

7. So why are the fucking Republicans able to stop things

When the spineless Democrats couldn't stop a damn thing last few years???

[Tesha]

13. The Republicans have balls and principles.

The Republicans have balls and principles.

Their principles suck, but they stand by them
while Democrats cower in corners, afraid of someone
saying something mean about them.

Tesha

[Rageneau]

15. Damn good question. Will Repubicans let Democrats answer it?

I can think of at least a half-dozen pieces of onerus legislation that Republicans rammed right through Democrat "opposition." And yet Democrats can't even win ONE showdown?

Throw some bums out!

[CRH]

24. Because about half of the spineless democrats are 'new democrats' ,,,

who have no problem at all joining the republican unregulated monopolistic corporatism that drives the political agenda in this country.

The candidate leaders in the democratic party race to the White House are a part and parcel of this cross voting faction, allowing the bipartisan melding into a single corporate party. It is only a few social issues that separate the two parties from their incestuous relations.

[SharonRB]

8. Unbelievable, although I'm surprised we got that many Rep votes

Tim Johnson will be back soon -- then we just need to pick up another couple of votes. I hope they do this sooner rather than later.

[rodeodance]

9. oil companies have RECORD profits and the REPUGS still protect them!!

[Javaman]

10. Who the hell didn't vote? where are those idiots? nt

[Karenina]

11. In Big Oil's pocket.

[acmavm]

16. You just asked the million dollar question. The billion dollar question.

We need to find out.

[Tempest]

12. What the hell is wrong with the Democrats?

Why are they not shouting from the rooftops the Repug's hypocrisy in filibustering bills when the Repugs complained about Democrats threatening to do it when they were in power?

[Tesha]

14. Someone might tell them they're not "being nice".

> Why are they not shouting from the rooftops the Repug's hypocrisy
> in filibustering bills when the Repugs complained about Democrats
> threatening to do it when they were in power?

Someone might tell them they're not "being nice".

The Republicans, on the other hand, aren't afraid
of raw power and aren't ashamed to wield it for
the advantage of their owners.

Tesha

[ryanmuegge]

17. They would have just passed it on to us anyways, but...

Why even bother debating it? If it's on big business' wishlist, they get it. I'm tired of the formality of even having a legislative branch.

The only thing I can remember that big buisness hasn't received on a silver platter is the passage of the immigration reform bill.

[AdHocSolver]

18. It would have been $32 billion down the drain. No one remembers the billions spent on synfuels?

This was in the 1980's and maybe the 1990's, if my memory is correct. The "research" money was given to the oil companies to look for ways to put themselves out of business. That was the logic anyway.

Renewable energy is just another "nonsolution." Why? Because you will still have to buy your "renewable energy" product from an oil company who can charge you whatever it wants, or you have no transportation. If ethanol is that renewable energy source, than you can look forward to paying more for food since corn is the current source of that product, and the demand for corn for food will compete with the demand for corn for ethanol and that means higher prices for both as the supply will never keep up.

So what is the solution? There is one, and only one, true solution: Developing more efficient ways of using energy so as to REDUCE CONSUMPTION, and that technology already exists. There is no big research project needed to find the magic solution. Only the political will to institute current technology.

The current mindset is to spend billions on a space program type project and in ten years we will magically be converted to a cheap-fuel, low-pollution environment. Nonsense. If we do as the "experts" tell us, in ten years we will have five dollar a gallon ethanol, food will be imported from China (laced with melamine) and unaffordable for many, and you will see the oil companies (from whom you buy your ethanol) recording record $30 billion to $40 billion in profits each quarter.

The REAL solution will take about five years to implement to the point where a noticeable improvement is manifest, and in ten years, many of the current problems with cost, pollution, and climate change can be significantly reduced.

The first thing to do is mandate fleet fuel efficiency standards for all automakers. This was done back in the 1970's after the so-called Arab oil embargo, and after the auto companies used the existing technolgy to improve gas mileage, oil imports dropped more than 20 percent within five years. Hybrid electric vehicle technolgy exists today to improve gas mileage fifty percent or more. All-electric vehicles are more efficient and actually cost less to operate and maintain than internal combustion engines. The "market" won't do it. The "market" is such that it is more profitable for the auto companies to sell you a gas-guzzling internal combustion engine car and that is what they will continue to do unless they are forced to do otherwise.

Second, rebuild our mass-transit infrastructure. Hybrid-electric buses and interurban trains allowing people to commute to and from work would save a lot of fuel. Hauling freight with trains uses far less fuel than using trucks and jetliners.

Third, be more aware of saving energy. Turn off lights in unused rooms in homes and offices, power down computers when they are going to be idle for very long, monitor air-conditioner settings, buy energy efficient appliances, and so on.

Finally, get over the delusion that "market forces" will magically bring about improvements. It is "market forces" in the form of corporate monopolies that got us in this mess to begin with and it is "market forces" that will keep us there.

[underpants]

20. This is not going to go over well for the Republicans

we may quibble about parts of this bill (ethanol)and this that isn't in it but for the headline readers this is not going to sit well with them. The Republicans are getting played into showing their true colors.

[laylah]

21. How can I find out

who did NOT vote?

Thanks.

[PurityOfEssence]

22. This may very well be a good thing

If we were to successfully pass big taxes on the oil giants, the inevitable gas price increases would be blamed on the tax-and-spend liberals. It would be ALL our fault (according to them) and they'd whip up the duped conservative poor and everyone else they could and that would REALLY hurt come election time. Gas prices are going up, simply because there's increased demand for decreasing supplies. The worldwide denial of this obvious trend is breathtaking, and there's no denying this fact. Wait 'til gas is $6 a gallon; that's going to really hurt, and it'll be better if we haven't tampered with the pampered at that point because it'll be obviously THEIR fault.

I hate it too that the big oil companies are making gluttonous profits and screwing everybody, but short of putting profit caps in place, I don't see a way to politically rein them in without it all coming crashing down on the Dems. Even profit caps are a problem: it's a sin against the god of capitalism to limit someone's ability to fleece others, and the reactionaries know how to blame us for anything of the sort.

[Quantess]

23. Surprise, surprise.

Not.

[Joanne98]

25. GOP Block Tax Hikes for Oil Companies

Source: AP

Senate Republicans blocked a $32 billion package of tax breaks for renewable energy Thursday that would have been financed mostly by new taxes on major oil companies.

Democrats came three votes short of overcoming a threatened GOP filibuster that was keeping the measure from being attached to a broader energy bill. Republican senators argued that the nearly $29 billion in additional taxes on major oil companies would have lead to reduced production and higher gasoline prices.



Read more: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/06/21/ap3845134.html

[LynnTheDem]

26. OMG I am so SHOCKED!!!

Just SHOCKED, I tell ya!!!

Fucking liberal commie pinkos, giving the rich oil companies tax breaks on the broken backs of our soldiers!!!

[ThomCat]

27. I hope we see this mentioned in every dem campaign commercial.

The republicans sided with big oil to guarantee them more record profits. x(

[VP505]

35. That's what I

just don't get, when the RePukes block legislation like that why don't the Dem's make sure that they scream like a mashed cat, loud enough to get that message out, framed exactly like that. "The republicans sided with big oil to guarantee them more record profits.

[cosmicdot]

38. except for Mary Landrieu

she voted with the Republicans ... hell, even Ben Nelson voted with the Democrats for a change ...
as did Republican Roberts ... what does it take??

3 votes short ... Boxer didn't vote; Johnson is still out recovering; Reid voted no for that maneuver whatever thing to resurrect the measure later ... and, Landrieu ... made 4 votes ... imagine if Boxer had voted; and Landrieu represented the people vs. Big Oil + Reid's voted yes ... that would be the 3 votes needed to get 60 votes for cloture ... what does it take??

I believe this is the correct roll call vote.

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110th Congress - 1st Session

Question: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the
Baucus Amdt. No. 1704 )
Vote Number: 223 Vote Date: June 21, 2007, 12:22 PM
Required For Majority: 3/5 Vote Result: Cloture Motion Rejected
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 1704 to S.Amdt. 1502 to to H.R. 6 (CLEAN
Energy Act of 2007 )

Statement of Purpose: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to
provide for energy advancement and investment, and for other purposes.

Vote Counts: YEAs 57
NAYs 36
Not Voting 6

Grouped By Vote Position

YEAs ---57

Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Brown (D-OH)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Coleman (R-MN) <----
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Crapo (R-ID) <---
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Grassley (R-IA) <---
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN) <---
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Roberts (R-KS) <---- smelling salt please
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Smith (R-OR) <---
Snowe (R-ME) <---
Specter (R-PA) <---
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Thune (R-SD) <---
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---36

Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA) <----
Lott (R-MS)
Martinez (R-FL)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Reid (D-NV)
Shelby (R-AL)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)

Not Voting - 6

Boxer (D-CA)
Brownback (R-KS)
Coburn (R-OK)
Johnson (D-SD)
McCain (R-AZ)
Sessions (R-AL)

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00223

[dkofos]

28. Who knew it was so easy to block legislation in the Senate??

Not Harry "keeping our powder dry" Reid.

Thanks for all shitty legislation, federal judges, and Robertson & Alito.

Here's to dry powder. May it never go off when you need it.

[Supersedeas]

29. Bidness as usual for the Party of Repigs and Fatcats

[superconnected]

30. hmmm, who's their daddy...

[Doctor_J]

31. haven't they heard of dry powder?

:eyes:

We're fucking doomed. When does the revolution start?

[xxqqqzme]

32. Is the powder dry enough?

Just askin'.

[rpannier]

33. You mean the minority party can stop the passage of legislation.

But how??? :sarcasm:

We've been told for the last six years that the Dems couldn't stop the republikkan passage of laws because the Democrats were in the minority.

[gulfcoastliberal]

34. What, the dems can't use the "nuclear option"? LOL

Almost as if the dems are peas in a pod with the "opposition", huh?

[fshrink]

36. Got to take the money where it is, with the poor:

it is true that poor people do not have much money. But they are very numerous.

[wordpix]

37. &&$$!!***$$$$ fucking whore senators, just bend over for your BigOil Masters

and let them have their way, you fucking aholes. :puke: :grr: