Green
Windfall Tax on Big Oil Is More US Politics Than Real Threat
- Narrowly divided Senate seen unlikely to approve tax on oil
- Plan seen as a ‘political message ahead of the midterms’
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President Joe Biden’s threat to slap a tax on oil-company profits is more bluster than threat as the clock runs out on the administration’s efforts to tame fuel prices ahead of midterm elections.
Democrats have tried, and failed, for more than a decade to impose a so-called “windfall” tax on oil companies without success. With an evenly divided Senate and an eight-seat majority in the House looking increasingly vulnerable, Biden’s threat to tax what he described as the industry’s “windfall of war” will be nearly impossible to achieve.