Big oil doesn't need tax breaks
""You all said you didn't need them in 2005," Wyden said. "You seem to be telling a different story today."
Chevron Corp. chairman and CEO John Watson said the companies don't want special tax benefits — just the benefits that other industries get.
But what the oil company chiefs had to say was not the goal for majority Democrats eager to demonstrate before the 2012 election that they stand with consumers against oil companies recording large profits with the help of billions of dollars in tax breaks.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, referred to a large portrait of a dog sitting on a pony to illustrate his thoughts of the proceedings.
"All this hearing is about is providing a justification for tax increases," Hatch said.
"For the president and some of my colleagues," he said, "the answer is always raise taxes. Government spends too much? Raise some taxes. Health care too expensive? Raise some taxes. Gas prices too expensive? I've got it . . . Let's raise some taxes."
Democrats acknowledged that a bill to repeal the tax breaks for the companies testifying Thursday would not bring down the price of oil at the gas pump. And no one suggested that the legislation has a future beyond a talking point. Republicans have enough votes to block it in the Senate and the House is controlled by the GOP."
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