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Democrats promise rude awakening for oil companies

The Big oil companies are awaiting the first 100 hours of assembly of the Congress with tension. This is the time span in which the Democrats have promised to push through their Big Six, and one the list are some drastic cuts in tax breaks and financial incentives for the big US oil companies. Corporations like Chevron, BP and ExxonMobile have enjoyed an enormous $2.8bn in tax breaks rewarded to them by the Bush administration.

Clearly a highly profitable industry like this one does not need additional support by the government, leaving aside the aspect of supporting a homegrown energy provider at a time where more and more energy is dependent on unstable countries which might some day abuse their power for political means. The Democrats have other ideas. They want to stop this practice and are even threatening to push for a windfall profits tax on these companies. Instead, they talk about using the extra money to invest in new energy sources and stabilize the national budget.

The Democrats see this legislation as a clear case of favoritism that has to be corrected in the face of the huge budget deficit looming over America`s economy."We could use this money to balance the budget" suggests Howard Dean. An alternative solution in the air would also be to redirect these billons to fund projects that would make the US less dependent on oil as an energy source. But in the meantime, experts are cautious. Even though the Democrats might have gained control over the Congress, President Bush could still simply veto any such decision for the next two years, and lead the congress into a dangerous legal deadlock concerning energy issues.