Emphasis all mineFirst the Vice-President's Energy Task Force. Then an energy bill basically written by oil and gas lobbyists. We didn't need more evidence that President Bush and Vice President Cheney are in the pocket of the oil and gas industry. But we got it anyway.
The New York Times broke the story that the Administration will allow big energy companies to pump about $65 billion worth of oil and natural gas from federal territories over the next five years without paying any royalties to the taxpayers. I should say that again: without paying any royalties whatsoever to the taxpayers. The Administration's own figures show that it will give up more than seven billion dollars in payments in the next five years. It's a pretty sweet deal. I am deeply concerned -- and I know you are, too -- that taxpayers are again getting ripped off and that wealthy corporations again are laughing all the way to the bank.
George W. Bush is the President of the United States, not the president of the oil and gas industry. But too many of his policies put the interests of that industry before the interests of the American people. We know he is an oilman; we know Cheney's an oilman, we know that many of their friends are oilmen, too. But this Administration goes too far when it takes care of those friends even when it hurts the American people.
Every day, I meet families who are struggling with high gas prices and soaring home-heating costs. Everyday, prices go up for the things we all need because the price of fuel goes up. Meanwhile, the big energy companies are hitting all-time record high profits. So why do they need another give away? They don't. And they certainly don't need another give away while oil prices climb to $70 per barrel.
This boondoggle is unfolding just as the Administration is pushing for its budget -- an immoral document if I ever saw one. Once again, their budget lavishes tax breaks on millionaires while it slashes programs that help the most vulnerable among us. If the President gets his way, 300,000 people will be pushed off food stamps; 19,000 fewer children will go to Head Start; and low- and moderate- income people will lose $36 billion in Medicare.Everything people need to get ahead, let alone, get by -- is on the chopping block: student loans, vocational training, child care, Social Security benefits for widows, and more. My mind is reeling with all the people who could be helped with the seven billion dollars that Bush and Cheney are handing over to the oil and gas companies.
In the President's State of the Union address, he told us that America is addicted to oil. What he didn't admit was his role in bloating the pushers' profits.
We have the chance to get our country back on track. It's not too late to create a safe, healthy and hopeful future for our children. I am going around the country to help elect Democrats in 2006. I hope every one of you will get involved by working for candidates, organizing in your communities, and standing up for the people who have no one to speak for them. Thank you for taking the time to read this message and for caring about our country every single day.
Your friend,
John
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Why is the media not covering this story? Where is the outrage... these tax breaks are much huger than what was expected. The NYTimes article that Edwards alluded to covers the details:
U.S. Has Royalty Plan to Give Windfall to Oil CompaniesThe federal government is on the verge of one of the biggest giveaways of oil and gas in American history, worth an estimated $7 billion over five years.
New projections, buried in the Interior Department's just-published budget plan, anticipate that the government will let companies pump about $65 billion worth of oil and natural gas from federal territory over the next five years without paying any royalties to the government.
Based on the administration figures, the government will give up more than $7 billion in payments between now and 2011. The companies are expected to get the largess, known as royalty relief, even though the administration assumes that oil prices will remain above $50 a barrel throughout that period.
Administration officials say that the benefits are dictated by laws and regulations that date back to 1996, when energy prices were relatively low and Congress wanted to encourage more exploration and drilling in the high-cost, high-risk deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/business/14oil.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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