Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from New Jersey very much, and I thank him for his leadership on these issues. We're partners in this effort to try to move toward a new energy direction. So last week we had a debate on the issue of whether or not the $4 billion that the oil industry gets in tax breaks per year from the American consumer should be taken away at this time when ExxonMobil reported $10 billion worth of profits in the first quarter, that is just January, February and March. Shell reported $8.8 billion; BP, $7.1 billion; Chevron, $6.2 billion; ConocoPhillips, $3 billion. That's in the first 3 months of this year. But you know what the argument is, from the Republican side, is that they would be punished if the consumer, if the taxpayer didn't also give them an additional $4 billion in tax breaks. So let's just look at this chart. This is how much they made as people are pulling up to the pump paying $3.80, $4, $4.20 all across America. Now, you know what the oil companies could do? They could say, You know what? I think we made too much. I think what we should do in the first quarter is just lower the price at the pump so we don't make so much. Maybe we don't have to have the consumer paying $4 a gallon. Maybe we, ExxonMobil, maybe we could have made 9.7. Maybe Shell could have made 7.8, maybe BP could have made only $6.1 billion, maybe Chevron could have made only $5.2 billion.…”