Why did the Republican congress give oil commpanies $15,000,000,000 tax breaks when the made record profits?

Question

Is it because they love to see the super rich get super richer?

It happened in 2005. The Dems are passing a bill along with 36 Repubs repealing the tax cut and investing it in alternative fuel technologies.

Bush and oil. Go figure

Hello, will someone please tell trgman (below) that I am asking about yet another repub tax cut for the oil companies (so nice, they did it twice).

Answer 1

For two reasons: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, the two oilmen who currently run the country - or did until this January when the American People pulled in the reigns on them.

Remember, when the super rich get richer, that includes G. W. Bush and Dick Cheney. No coincidence there...

ADDED: those earlier answers who said the oil companies only made record profits under the Clinton administration, implying that they are hurting now, should read the newspapers or the oil companies profit statements. They have NEVER been as prosperous (nor have their executives) as they have been under the Bush administration, which set national oil policy in secretive, closed door meetings with top oil company executives and refused to share the content or minutes of those meetings with Congress or the American public. Great "public" servants, eh?

Answer 2

what are these people talking about 92? what?

Bush talked about it in depth in his last state of the union address? so it's going on now...

it may have been done in the 90s too, but I think some oil companies were hurting back then and probably needed it...

if you look at the earning reports now, you see that it is clearly no longer the case...

that's a lot of money in taxes lost!

and profit is one thing... making billions in profit... is another

Answer 3

This was done in 1992 when the world market was experiencing a glut in oil. Price was at 9 dollars a barrel and eventually had hit a ultimate price of 5 bucks a barrel. The royalty fees were wavered on large leases of deep sea oil exploration, with hind sight it was a screw up, but then it had made sense. We wanted the oil companies to explore previously risky deposits of oil to encourage more drilling because nobody was willing to increase drilling due to the glut.

To the informed gentlemen below, we contracted those lands and gave them subsidy because we wanted deep oil exploration. The oil companies were in fact hurting because the first Iraq war had caused opec to release price controls pushing energy prices to all time low's. The fact that the oil companies (our domestic one's) started making large profits was a direct result in wise fiscal investment as a result of our government intervention. You also forget we had a republican congress then to, this is not a party did what debate, I am saying this was a result of the times.



-Added From what I was saying, these lands were given royalty free almost 15 years ago. It's the same tax break, just their profits on these lands were increased due to the high price of oil.
Because these lands were royalty/tax free, they were able to pull in a considerable amount of
money in from our bad deal done in the 1990's.
I am in total agreement about the redrawing of
these unfair contracts.

Answer 4

From my understanding, it is because the government is made up of people who have major interest in the oil companies. They are protecting their own pocketbook and maximizing their profits.

Answer 5

Simple answer is - kickbacks. The oil companies contributed in their campaign fund, and gave them other "presents", and in thurn, the congrass gave them billions, yes BILLions of doallrs!

Answer 6

that happened under clinton. stop lying. besides, whats wrong with profit? you have a job because some company made a profit :-)