The GOP Wants to Give Big Oil a Handout It Doesn’t Need
Lawmakers are proposing giveaways to fossil-fuel producers that would cost the US $17.9 billion over a decade.
Taxpayer money up in flames.
Photographer: Justin Hamel/Bloomberg
The huge tax and spending bill under debate in the Senate is receiving a lot of bad press for what it takes from people to help defray the cost of new tax cuts for the wealthy: Trillions of dollars from federal government finances, health care from millions, the social safety net from millions more, etc. But buried in the bill is an act of charity that’s not receiving nearly enough coverage.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to imagine a less-deserving recipient: Senate Republicans have larded the bill with several proposed new tax breaks for fossil-fuel producers to go along with similar goodies already proposed by the House. These subsidies would cost the US government $17.9 billion over a decade, according to Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation and analysis by United to End Polluter Handouts, a coalition of environmental groups. Worse, they further cushion an industry already luxuriously shielded from the impact its products have on the health, wealth and well-being of Americans and the rest of the world.