President Barack Obama defended his proposal to levy a new $10-per-barrel tax on oil, arguing that low gasoline prices afford the U.S.an opportunity to finance dramatic improvements in its transportation systems.
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“We’re going to be in a much stronger position when oil starts getting tight again, prices start going up again”, Obama stated about imposing the oil tax.
“We also have to do more to make sure the progress we make is broadly based”, Obama said.
In reality, the Obama $10 per barrel fee on the oil industry would be a tax on those Americans who are having a very hard surviving financially in the current economy.
On Tuesday, when the president’s fiscal 2017 budget is announced, this program is expected to be formally proposed.
Finally, the plan would also improve access to public transit and rail, which would help Americans “get to work, access new jobs, and take their kids to school-reducing the 7 billion hours that American [sic] waste in traffic each year”.
President Barack Obama speaks about the economy, Friday, Feb. 5, 2016, during a news conference at the White House.
House Speaker Paul Ryan called the plan “dead on arrival” and “an election-year distraction”. “It’s going to help renewable power compete with dirty fuels across America in a more effective way”, he said.
A CNN/ORC survey conducted late past year showed 51% of Americans still view economic conditions as poor – down steeply from the depths of the recession, but still more than the number who say the economy’s good.
Sarah Erkmann, external affairs manager for the Alaska Oil and Gas Association trade group, said the tax amounts to “punishing” oil companies.
The effect of a $10 tax on each barrel sold in the US would be to raise the prices on oil, and by extension gasoline.
It was a blow to the White House – not necessarily because they required Clinton’s support for the plan, but because her opposition implicitly suggested Obama’s pursuit of the deal came at the expense of American workers. “The president should be proposing policies to grow our economy instead of sacrificing it to appease progressive climate activists”.
“Some of this is still the hangover from what happened in 2007, 2008, and this is part of the reason why we have to keep our foot to the accelerator”, he said.
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“If we say to them, ‘Alright, oil companies, we know that you’re having to retool, we know that prices are low right now, you’re allowed to export, ‘” Obama said.
