Not content with the damage already wrought by their war on American-made energy, President Biden and congressional Democrats’ “Inflation and Recession Act” would go after oil and natural gas producers and raise the cost of energy. 

• The bill would levy $25 billion in new taxes on the oil and gas industry, according to Bloomberg.  
  • “The legislation, which may get a Senate vote as soon as next week, would reinstate and increase a long-lapsed tax on crude and imported petroleum products to 16.4 cents per gallon, according to a summary of the plan released Sunday by the Senate’s tax-writing committee.”
  • “It places a new first-time fee on methane emissions rising to as much as $1,500 a ton and increases the royalty rate companies pay to the government for oil and gas produced on federal land.

• This tax on crude and imported petroleum products would be passed on to American consumers in the form of utilities, at gas stations, and higher prices for the goods they buy.
• “The legislation would impose a regressive tax on oil and gas development based upon emission levels of methane during production, leading to higher energy bills for consumers and higher costs of everyday products.” (Americans for Tax Reform)
• “These outcomes are inconsistent with President Biden’s commitment to pay for reconciliation without imposing new taxes on lower-income Americans.” (American Gas Association)

READ: Schumer-Manchin Tax Hikes Land on Working Americans

READ: Studies: Schumer-Manchin Deal Hits U.S. Manufacturers and Worsens Inflation

READ: One-Pager: Democrats’ “Inflation and Recession Act” Makes Biden’s Cruel Economy Even Worse

KEY BACKGROUND:

Democrats fueled inflation that’s crushing families and will make it worse.

• According to the San Francisco Federal Reserve, Democrats’ $2 trillion so-called “stimulus” triggered inflation. As a result, the typical family now has to spend nearly $6,000 more this year to buy the same goods and services they did a year ago.
• Now they want to make it worse by proposing $800 billion in new spending in their  “Inflation and Recession Act.”

The non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation shows that the burden of new tax increases falls on lower- and middle-income earners.

• If enacted, taxes next year will increase by $16.7 billion on American taxpayers earning less than $200,000—a nearly $17 billion tax burden on low- and middle-income earners next year, who already suffer the most from higher prices.
• Over the long term, the average tax rate for nearly every single income category would increase, while Democrats Green New Deal tax subsidies will effectively send stimulus checks to high-income earners. Those earning below $400,000 are projected to bear as much as two-thirds of the burden of the additional tax revenue collected that year.

Democrats’ Made-in-America minimum book tax hikes will land on American businesses and workers in slashed wages.

• Democrats claim they’re only targeting “large corporations,” with the minimum book tax, but the burden of these tax increases will be carried by working families in higher prices, fewer jobs, and lower wages.
• About 200 large companies will be caught in this tax, and many of them would actually pay some of this tax each year.
• The JCT also found that 25 percent of the cost of Democrats’ tax hikes would be paid for by workers in slashed wages.
• The Tax Foundation also warns that the biggest burden of the book minimum tax will be carried by American coal industries, facing a 7.2 percent tax hike, followed by automobile and truck manufacturing, facing a 5.1 percent tax hike.
• Congressional Democrats’ CHIPS plus bill provides $76 billion in corporate subsidies and carve outs to politically connected corporations, who will be exempt from tax increases, greater IRS audits, and inflationary spending that will harm families and small businesses.

READ: FACT CHECK: Schumer Manchin Tax Increases Worsen Inflation, Delay Deficit Reduction, Weaken the Economy