On the recordJune 18, 2010
I just wish to point out how the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund is a complete shell game. It is an absolute double counting of money, and it adds to the debt, and the debt of the bill in the way it has been scored hides the real impact. The legislation would increase the tax on oil but does not set aside the increased revenue and save it in a fund to clean up the oil spill in the gulf or other such disasters as it is supposed to. Instead, it takes the money and creates a paper trust fund but sends the money directly over to the Treasury in order to pay some of the spending in this package and is used to reduce the amount of debt they say the bill will create. They claim they are creating a trust fund but at the same time using the money to fund the spending in this bill and claiming this money as income to justify that. Well, what is going to happen when the fund needs money to clean up a spill, which is what it was created for? Well, it is not going to be there because it is going to already have been spent. This is absolute fact, and it is just another example of the recklessness and irresponsibility of the spending that is going on here. It is time for the American people to rise up and say to Congress: We need to have honest spending and restraint in spending.
