Oil Subsidies Remain: So Much for Deficit Reduction

As expected, a bill to end $2 billion in tax subsidies for oil companies died Tuesday as Democrats in the Senate were unable to muster the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster. The Senate has again failed the American people by its inability to pass no-brain legislation. A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll finds that 74% of Americans favor eliminating tax credits for oil companies. It is obvious where the American people stand; it is time Capitol Hill falls in line.

On the Same (Wrong) Page

The Republicans won sweeping victories in 2010 on the platform of deficit reduction. For the past year, they have continually attacked President Obama and the Democrats as big spenders who can't be trusted with the nation's purse strings. Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin proposed a budget that would seriously alter Medicare; yet, Republicans are unwilling to end tax subsidies for an industry whose top five companies reported earnings of $35 billion in the first quarter alone. Oil Executives and Republicans hope to make the debate over oil subsidies a referendum on punishing success. In his testimony to the Senate Finance Committee Chevron Corp. Chief Executive John Watson said, "don't punish our industry for doing its job well." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that President Obama was engaging in "nothing short of a war on American Energy." These comments illustrate the "spin" machine Washington has become.

Asking the Middle Class to Sacrifice, or Sacrificing the Middle Class

The discussion over ending oil subsidies has nothing to do with punishing success. Americans are being lectured by elected officials about "shared sacrifice." Pay has remained stagnant while inflation has begun to take its toll, partly because of rising fuel prices. Yet, when middle class America is asked to give up prosperity it is called "shared sacrifice," but if companies are asked to pitch in, then it is called Socialism. It's quite simple, we can't afford the subsidies; much the same as we can't afford entitlement programs, which benefit the middle class and will have to be reformed. Companies have chipped away at pensions and benefits for the average worker, while these same companies reap the rewards. Between 1978 and 2009 median worker wages only grew by 10.1%, while worker productivity grew by 80%. These statistics prove the American worker has pulled his weight throughout the years.

The actions this week on Capitol Hill were nothing but political grandstanding. The fight over oil subsidies will be used by both sides to gain concessions when the heavyweight bout over deficit reduction resumes later this year. But when are our elected leaders going to realize that Americans don't care which side of the aisle you sit on; they just want something to get done. With a $1.6 trillion deficit, America can ill afford to give subsidies to oil companies. Big oil will complain that they are already taxed at a higher rate than other industries, but other industries don't make the profits they do, nor do they have the ability to bring the country to its knees. To put it in perspective, GE, who has its hand in a multitude of different sectors of business made $14 billion last year, and that is without paying one cent in taxes. We can't ask middle class Americans to sacrifice, while corporate America does not. Oil can afford to contribute to deficit reduction along with the rest of the nation.