Big Oil Caucus flip flops on spending cuts

2011-05-5

Big Oil Caucus flip flops on spending cuts
Block vote to cut oil & gas, taxpayer-funded subsidy

Washington, D.C. – Today, House Republicans again protected Big Oil by blocking a bill to cut taxpayer-funded subsidies to the gas and oil industry. In light of some politicians’ refusal to choose American families over oil company CEOs, The Checks and Balances Project released a list of quotes addressing the need to cut federal spending from members of the Big Oil Caucus, the sitting House members of Congress who received the most in oil and gas campaign contributions in 2010 or are leading the charge against common sense standards and protections on behalf of the oil and gas industry. Oil and gas subsidies cost Americans $4 billion per year, while last week the Big 5 oil companies reported $33 billion in profits.

“Politicians continue to call for spending cuts out of one side of their mouth, while defending $4 billion per year in taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil out of the other,” said Matt Garrington, Deputy Director of The Checks and Balances Project. “How can they justify hurting Grandma and Grandpa with Medicare cuts, while handing out billions to Big Oil, which just brought in $33 billion in profits. Today, our elected officials missed an opportunity to make their actions match their rhetoric.”

2010 Oil & Gas Money Name Party Quote
$309,420 Rep. Steve Pearce R-NM “New Mexicans cannot afford to pay the
bills accrued by past expenditure.
I am working hard in Washington to cut spending.”
$250,156 Rep. Mike Pompeo R-KS “We simply can’t continue to spend what we don’t have… “
$225,550 Rep. Dan Boren D-OK “Americans are tired of empty rhetoric
on both sides and want a real plan.”
$212,528 Rep. Bill Flores R-TX “The American people sent a message to
Washington last November, and that
message was heard loud and clear: grow
the economy and cut spending.”
$171,324 Rep. Cory Gardner R-CO Working together, we have introduced a
bipartisan resolution effort to force
Congress to take a closer look at
programs that could be combined or
eliminated entirely.
$161,870 Rep. Joe Barton R-TX “With the state of our economy right
now, and the massive debt we are
incurring, it is imperative that we reign in
spending in order to protect our country’s
financial stability.”
$158,050 Rep. Jeffrey Landry R-LA We have a deficit because Washington
spends too much. The cure is simple:
Washington must stop spending money it
doesn’t have.
$156,950 Rep. Mike Ross D-AR “Cutting federal spending must be a top
priority for this Congress.”
$150,100 Rep. John Fleming R-LA “However, because the budgetary process
and traditional way of doing business is
flawed, even the most robust of budget
cutters may continue to fail. Therefore,
not only must we cut spending, we must
fundamentally change the process of
spending.”
$144,050 Rep. Mike Conaway R-TX “The debate now shifts from cutting
billions of dollars to cutting trillions of
dollars with the FY 2012 Republican
Budget.  I will continue to fight ‘tooth and
nail’ to cut spending…”
$139,150 Rep. John Boehner R-OH “Enough is enough. It is time to get
serious about cutting spending, and
Republicans will continue standing with
the American people to do just that.” 
$131,300 Rep. John Sullivan R-OK “I think most Americans would agree that
cutting government spending is a better
way to pay down our debt than
increasing their tax burden.”
$126,959 Rep. Tim Griffin R-AR Every taxpayer dollar is precious –
whether it’s at DoD or somewhere else –
and we’ve got to make sure it’s being
spent wisely.
$120,300 Rep. Eric Cantor R-VA “At a time when the federal government
borrows nearly 40 cents of each dollar
that it spends and averages trillion dollar
deficits each year, House Republicans are
firmly committed to cutting spending and
tightening the belt just like business
people and families around the country
are doing. Americans deserve nothing
less.”
$119,960 Rep. James Lankford R-OK “What’s more important? To start pulling
down our debt, or continuing to spend at
our current levels?
$114,311 Rep. Rick Berg R-ND “In times of economic uncertainty,
American families tighten their belts and
evaluate their priorities—Washington
needs to do the same.”
$113,900 Rep. Charles W Jr Boustany R-LA “Avoiding a government shutdown was
important for the sake of our troops and
our national security, as well as our
economic recovery. At the same time, it
was important to make fiscally
responsible cuts in spending because of
the massive debt.”
$100,700 Rep. Fred Upton R-MI “We can no longer afford to get by
spending money we don’t have – passing
along an avalanche of debt to future
generations.”
$99,500 Rep. Tim Murphy R-PA “The federal government currently
borrows 42 cents for every dollar it
spends. Or to put it another way, after
July 27th of this year, ALL government
spending will be paid with borrowed
money. If we continue on this current
path, the amount of our debt will be
equal to the value of our entire
economy.”
$99,350 Rep. Pete Olson R-TX “Washington is no longer talking about IF
we should cut spending; we are talking
about HOW MUCH we should cut.”
$96,550 Rep. Cynthia Marie Lummis R-WY “I’ve been listening to Wyoming’s
common-sense minded people from the
feed store to the grocery store. They
want Congress and the President to put
the U.S. economy on a stable path by
halting this country’s spending spree… “
$96,400 Rep. Kevin Brady R-TX “This is a simple principle: when given
the opportunity to cut spending, cut
taxes or protect the life of the unborn I
am voting a strong ‘yes’. Given America’s
dangerous deficits we can’t miss an
opportunity to cut spending.”
$91,671 Rep. Doc Hastings R-WA “More of the same government spending
is not the way to boost our economy… In
order to get serious about our economy
and increase competitiveness, I support
stopping the spending…”
$31,750 Rep. Douglas L Lamborn R-CO “This is a defining moment for our
country. We must choose to begin making
serious spending cuts or face the
prospect of crushing debt and diminished
prosperity for our children and
grandchildren… “

Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) attempted to force a vote today on the following key, oil and gas tax deductions: 199, IDC and LIFO but was blocked by Republicans.

Section 199 (Domestic Manufacturing Tax Deduction) – This subsidy allows companies to deduct up to 9 percent of their net income from domestic manufacturing activities, in the process bringing down their overall corporate tax rate.

Intangible Drilling Costs (IDC) – This lets the industry write off about $780 million a year for things like wages, fuel, repairs and hauling costs. All industries get to write off the costs of doing business, but they must take it over the life of an investment. The oil industry gets to take the drilling credit in the first year.

LIFO – stands for last-in, first-out, meaning that the most recently produced items are recorded as sold first. Since the 1970s, U.S. companies have tended to use LIFO, which reduces their income taxes in times of inflation.

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