Political Quotes

“Mr. President, these are news stories, not editorials. One is from Platts Energy; the other is from the Wall Street Journal. Both detail an announcement from the British Government that it is going to reverse its own taxes on the oil companies. Last year, England decided to do essentially what is being proposed with the Menendez bill. They were responding to high oil prices, and so they moved to increase taxes on the industry. Well, the result is not going to come as a surprise. When the government made it less economical to produce oil by hiking their tax rates, companies stopped producing and they were making their investments elsewhere. In the years since Great Britain imposed its tax hikes, its production decline has tripled from 6 percent to 18 percent. Let me repeat that. In the year since Great Britain imposed tax increases on oil producers, production decline accelerated from 6 percent a year to 18 percent a year. Now Britain is in the process of doing an absolute about face. They are likely going to offer $5.5 billion in tax relief to the oil companies to try to bring the production back. I am sure some here would refer to that tax cut as a subsidy and ignore the inconvenient fact that higher tax levels lead to lower production. They don't lead to cheaper fuel; they lead to lower production.…”