http://gas2.org/2008/06/10/senate-gop-blocks-windfall-profits-tax-on-big-oil/

As the average gas price surpasses $4 a gallon and oil companies earn record-shattering profits, the Senate Democrats attempted to pass legislation that would tax oil companies' windfall profits and rescind billions of dollars in tax breaks. However, the slim Democratic majority could not muster up enough votes to break a possible filibuster or override a White House veto.

The proposed windfall profits tax would have been somewhere between 10 and 12 billion dollars for this year, and it would have been levied against the country’s five largest oil companies. The legislation would have also rescinded $17 billion in tax breaks the companies expect to enjoy over the next decade.

"The oil companies need to know that there is a limit on how much profit they can take in this economy," said Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, warning that if oil prices are not reined in, "we’re going to find ourselves in a deep recession."

As these oil companies are publicly-traded, would shareholders demand that they raise the prices of their products in order to meet and exceed profit expectations from the previous year?

Gas2; June 10, 2008

Submitted by B.Shapiro