The Hill - House Democrats Take Aim at Oil and Gas Subsidies

Statement

By Vicki Needham

A group of House Democrats are taking aim at a popular target -- ending oil and gas subsidies.

Reps. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) led 35 House Democrats in a letter to the deficit supercommittee Monday that says ending those tax breaks would save $122 billion over 10 years.

"In the current budgetary environment, the United States can no longer afford to give away billions of dollars every year to corporations earning billions of dollars in profits and costing American taxpayers twice: at the pump and through the tax code," the letter stated.

The White House included the cut to oil subsidies as part of a way to pay for its $447 billion jobs plan and estimated $41 billion in savings over a decade.

The supercommittee is tasked with finding at least $1.2 trillion in savings by its Nov. 23 deadline -- though Doug Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office told lawmakers his group will need a plan around late October in order to provide a score.

Last week, Welch wrote a similar letter to the supercommittee to adopt his Medicare Part D price-negotiation bill, which would require the secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate prescription drug prices on behalf of Medicare Part D beneficiaries.

That change would "significantly lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors and save up to $156 billion in the next decade."

Combined, the proposals amount to $280 billion in savings, about 19 percent of the panel's goal.

Welch and Blumenauer -- members of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition -- were joined in signing the letter by Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Lois Capps (D-Calif.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), John Lewis (D-Ga.), Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), Mike Honda (D-Calif.), Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), John Olver (D-Mass.), Jared Polis (D-Colo.), William Clay (D-Mo.), Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), Jim Moran (D-Va.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Mike Michaud (D-Maine), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Bob Filner (D-Calif.), Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), David Cicilline (D-R.I.), David Price (D-N.C.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Rush Holt (D-N.J.), Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).

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