Eliminate $40 Billion In Taxpayer-Funded Subsidies, Tax Breaks For Oil Giants

Petitions, Politics — By Ana Boyadzhyan on September 22, 2011 2:19 pm

Target: U.S. Congress

Goal: Eliminate taxpayer-financed oil subsidies and tax breaks and reinvest the $40 billion into social programs, green energy and job creation.

Oil companies are reporting record-breaking profits this year, with Exxon posting a first-quarter 69 percent increase from last year (10.65 billion), Shell climbing to a 33 percent margin ($11.56 billion), and BP rising to 17 percent ($7.1 billion). While wealthy oil companies have substantially increased their bottom line in 2011 and consumers continue to bear the burden through soaring gas prices, Congress remains loyal in funding billions of dollars to oil giants in government subsidies and tax breaks financed by taxpayers.

In fact, the 2012 budget proposal, brought forth by U.S. Representative Paul Ryan, seeks to slash hundreds of billions from social programs that aid disadvantaged Americans while maintaining $40 billion in federal oil-company subsidies into the next 10 years. Medicaid, for instance, which provides health insurance to poverty-stricken Americans, would be cut $735 billion and Medicare, which provides medical care to seniors, would lose $389 billion.

Rather than cutting life-saving programs for our nation’s most vulnerable Americans and fattening already-wealthy oil companies’ profits, Congress should dissolve taxpayer-financed oil subsidies and tax breaks and reinvest the $40 billion into social programs, green energy, and job creation in order to benefit the taxpayers who foot the bill in the first place.

PETITION LETTER

Dear President Obama,

Oil companies are reporting record-breaking profits this year: Exxon’s first-quarter profits have climbed 69 percent from last year ($10.65 billion), Shell has reached 33 percent ($11.56 billion), and BP has rose 17 percent ($7.1 billion). Yet while wealthy oil companies have amassed record profits in 2011, Congress continues to provide billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies and tax breaks to the oil industry, despite our limited federal budget. Consumers must not only bear steep gas prices in a bleak economy, but contribute to the oil industry’s enormous profits through their taxes as well.

Despite these numbers, the 2012 budget proposal, brought forth by U.S. Representative Paul Ryan, seeks to continue funding $40 billion in federal oil-company subsidies and tax breaks over the next 10 years while cutting hundreds of billions from social programs for the country’s most disadvantaged Americans.

Rather than dissolving life-saving programs for our nation’s most vulnerable Americans and continuing to expand oil companies’ enormous profits, I urge you, President Obama, to fight to eliminate the wasteful $40 billion oil subsidies and tax breaks from the national budget. Please consider reinvesting those taxpayer funds into social programs, green energy, and job creation in order to benefit the greater American public and revive our dwindling economy.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Will Go Here]