Roy Blunt: “I rise today in opposition to the energy tax bill that would eliminate so-called tax preferences for some oil companies.…”

“I rise today in opposition to the energy tax bill that would eliminate so-called tax preferences for some oil companies. Actually, I agree with part of the bill--the part that says several companies will not be exempted because we want to continue to encourage them to do what we want to continue to encourage the industry to do. The rationale that the people who are the largest suppliers do not need to be encouraged also does not make good sense to me. My good friend Senator Schumer, who is actually chairman of the Rules Committee on which I serve, said this bill is not intended to lower gas prices. Actually, I suggest we should have a bill on the floor that is intended to lower gas prices. Gas prices are costing jobs. Jobs cost revenue. We generate a lot more tax revenue if we encourage private sector job creation that will solve a problem here by I think he said $4 billion a year. That is how much money we borrowed today; $4 billion is how much money we borrowed today. And we are looking at this as opposed to looking at the real problem we face. This bill is brought up to make it even harder to create American energy jobs. If there are any jobs you almost certainly will create, it is producing more American energy. I looked at the numbers. We use about as much electricity in a bad economy as we do in a good economy. We use about as much gasoline in a bad economy as we do in a good economy. We ought to be producing every bit we can with American jobs.…”