Chuck Grassley: “I wish to speak on taxes, but I would like to comment a little on what I just heard from the Senator from Illinois. And…”

“I wish to speak on taxes, but I would like to comment a little on what I just heard from the Senator from Illinois. And he is absolutely right that I did vote to debate because I think a great deal can be accomplished through debate on this legislation. In regard to the overall bill and the motive behind it, it is good in the areas of antitrust and things of that nature, but taxing oil? The rule of economics 101 is that when you tax something, you get less of it. And the American people understand by now, with $4 gas, another rule of economics 101: If you are going to get prices down, you have to increase supply. I would not be flippant about 13 billion barrels of oil in Alaska that we have not tapped. Yes, by the year 2030 it might be .6 percent of the world's supply, but when you are using 85 million barrels a day worldwide and when there are only about 86 or 87 million barrels of oil being pumped out of the ground worldwide, then you have to understand that a six-tenths of 1 percent increase in a world supply that is not very flexible is going to make a big difference because it is the nervousness that is in the supply of oil, and when it might be cut back because of natural disaster or terrorism activity or some German worker being kidnapped in Nigeria, which sometimes is an excuse for oil going up, more flexibility in the supply of oil is what is going to help us with steady prices and lower prices as we increase supply.”