Senator Inhofe: Democrats' Gas Tax Out of Step With American Consumers - and the Facts

What can you say about the lack of research by the Democrats as they demagogue  the oil companies as the bad guys when in fact the oil companies are not being allowed to drill in many places of America as drilling permits are hard to come by from the Obama Administration but we can always buy oil from Chavez and his oil company in Venezuela after we gave them billions to drill offshore.  Our oil companies are having a hard time getting drilling permits while Obama gives money to Chavez to drill.  Something is wrong with that picture.


This makes a great sound bite by the Democrats that they have a bill that eliminates percentage depletion, but then you learn the TRUTH -- the Big Five don't have percentage depletion since they were precluded from obtaining them in 1975.


This Democrat Senate is now eliminating something the Big Five oil companies don't have and taking bows for their foresight.  Are our media as out of touch as the Democrat Senators?  Sure looks like it or they were waiting for Senator Inhofe to do their job which he has done nicely as a matter of fact.

Democrats' Gas Tax Out of Step With American Consumers - and the Facts 

Bill Eliminates Percentage Depletion, Which the Big Five Don't Have 

May 13, 2011

Washington, D.C.-Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, released the following statement concerning a major flaw in the Democrats' legislation to increase gas taxes on American drivers and consumers.

"In the rush to introduce their energy tax increase, the Democrats missed an important fact about the tax code: the Big Five oil companies don't receive percentage depletion," Senator Inhofe said. "So not only are they out of touch with the American people - who want more domestic energy production - they are disconnected from the facts. Their legislation, as Democratic leaders have admitted, will do nothing to address the high cost of gasoline for consumers. In fact, it will only stand to make gas more expensive, destroy good-paying jobs, and weaken America's energy security." 

Since 1975, major integrated oil and gas companies have been precluded from the option of percentage depletion as a means of cost recovery in petroleum production. The one minor exception has been production from a natural gas well which was sold by a major integrated under a contract, in effect on February 1, 1975. But reportedly those contracts have all long since expired.

Source:  Sen Inhofe Site

Was reminded in a phone call that the Democrats in the Senate keep acting like they have a time machine and have traveled back to the 70's where they are stuck.  Sounds like it since they are now trying to pass a bill to do away with something that was stopped in the mid-70's.  Yet they don't have time to work on the budget.  Rumors are that the Democrat Senate has no intention of passing a budget and will do what they did last year and fund the Government a couple of weeks at a time.  They think that all of this is going to endear them to voters -- think again.  Obama and the worthless Democrat Senators may have fooled people in 2008, but not in 2012.