He told ABC World News that [image-nocss] the government is low on revenues and that oil companies "ought to be paying their fair share."
"We certainly ought to take a look at it," Boehner said. "We're at a time when the federal government's short on revenues. We need to control spending but we need to have revenues to keep the government moving."
The President's letter said, "High oil and gasoline prices are weighing on the minds and pocketbooks of every American family. While our economy has begun to recover, with 1.8 million private sector jobs created over the last 13 months, too many Americans are still struggling to find a job or simply just to pay the bills. The recent steep increase in gas prices, driven by increased global demand and compounded by unrest and supply disruptions in the Middle East, has only added to those struggles. If sustained, these high prices have the potential to slow down the pace of our economy's growth at precisely the moment when we need to be accelerating it.
"While there is no 'silver bullet' to address rising gas prices in the short term, there are steps we can take to ensure the American people don't fall victim to skyrocketing gas prices over the long term. One of those steps is to eliminate unwarranted tax breaks to the oil and gas industry and invest that revenue into clean energy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Our outdated tax laws currently provide the oil and gas industry more than $4 billion per year in these subsidies, even though oil prices are high and the industry is projected to report outsized profits this quarter. In fact, in the past CEO's of the major oil companies made it clear that high oil prices provide more than enough profit motive to invest in domestic exploration and production without special tax breaks. As we work together to reduce our deficits, we simply can't afford these wasteful subsidies, and that is why I proposed to eliminate them in my FY11 and FY12 budgets."
(Click here to read the full text of the President's letter.)According to the Associated Press, Boehner said big oil companies do not need the oil depletion allowance, but that taking it away from smaller producers would mean even less domestically produced oil. The allowance allows producers a tax deduction comparable to the break given manufacturers for depreciation of the value of an investment in plants and equipment.
Republicans have blocked attempts by Democrats to curb oil company subsidies, but Boehner's remarks could signal a significant change of heart, AP speculated. Boehner did not endorse the idea, however, and a spokesperson said the speaker remains resolute in his opposition to tax increases.
"He simply wasn't going to take the bait and fall into the trap of defending 'Big Oil' companies," Boehner spokesperson Michael Steel said.
"I want to see the facts. I don't want to hear a bunch of political rhetoric," Boehner said. "I want to know what impact this is going to have on job creation here in America."
Steel said Monday that while Republicans are open to consideration of any proposal that would lower gasoline prices at the pumps, the Democratic plan to cut subsidies as part of a wider energy policy overhaul was unworkable. "Our goal is to lower gas prices, and we'll look at any reasonable policy to do that," he told Dow Jones. "Unfortunately, what the president has suggested so far would simply raise taxes and increase the price at the pump."(Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage of President Obama on oil and gas.)
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