Obama’s $10 per barrel oil tax ‘dead on arrival in Congress’ – Republicans

The new tax could bring in up to $32 billion in federal revenue each year, which would be used to fund various transportation and infrastructure projects, such as high-speed rail, bridges and highways.

Obama admitted there are still areas where he’d like to see further improvement, such as helping middle-age workers retrain for new jobs in today’s economy and connecting young people who still lack jobs to vocational opportunities. So they’re the ones paying the fee.

In a bold move in the final months of his presidency, US President Barack Obama is believed to be plotting a move against big oil in the form of a $10 per barrel tax that would be paid by oil companies. This new tax, which has the support of some oil industry executives, could create an enormous paradigm shift in the private sector with a dramatic incentive for corporations to use oil more efficiently and limit greenhouse gas emissions.

“To meet our needs in the future, we have to make significant investments across all modes of transportation”, said a White House release.

He pointed to signs of wage and income growth, job growth, lower oil prices and increasing numbers of Americans with health insurance as evidence of that claim.

“The new fee on oil will also encourage American innovation and leadership in clean technologies to help reshape our transportation landscape for the decades ahead”. While the proposal has little chance of passing, the White House is aiming to drive conversations about promoting clean transportation.

The House speaker, Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, attacked the proposal.

The current federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon.

Neal Kirby, a spokesman for the Independent Petroleum Association of America, said, “Make no mistake, this is an energy consumer tax disguised as an oil company fee”.

In remarks to reporters in the White House Briefing Room, Obama declared the US has “the strongest, most durable economy in the world”.

A CNN/ORC survey conducted late a year ago showed 51% of Americans still view economic conditions as poor – down steeply from the depths of the recession, but still more than the number who say the economy’s good.

“There’s no doubt that while we have made significant progress there’s still anxiety and concern about the general direction of the economy”, Obama said.