Reply #6: Kucinich has been trying for years... [View All]

[Fireweed247]

From 2005


"What more do we need to know about the rising price of gasoline? Profits are soaring to all time highs while oil companies raise prices with impunity. Oil runs the White House, puts us into war, runs geopolitics, frustrates the development of alternative energy, ruins the environment. What will it take for the Congress to wake up? $5 a gallon?"

"There is a short term, effective solution: The Gas Price Spike Act of 2005. This bill exacts a 100% windfall profits tax on oil companies on excessive profits. The money gained from the windfall profits tax would be put into a fund for tax breaks for the purchase of ultra-efficient vehicles made in the US. Money would also be made available for mass transit assistance."

"Only a 100% windfall profits tax will cause the oil companies to stop their aggressive pricing which is destroying the budgets of millions of American families. I need your help to wake up the Congress and pass this legislation."
On May 4, Congressman Kucinich and 33 cosponsors introduced in the House of Representatives H.R. 2070, the Gas Price Spike Act of 2005. The Bill has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee and to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

This bill, if passed, provides tax benefit for purchasers of high efficiency American-made cars and subsidies for mass transit

This legislation provides for a windfall profit tax on oil and natural gas (and products thereof), allows an income tax credit for purchases of fuel-efficient passenger vehicles made in the United States, and provides grants for operators of mass transit systems to lower fares during gas price spikes.

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Oil companies should not profit excessively from the increasing scarcity of our natural resources

Windfall profits are profits due to outside circumstances - not directly under the control of the energy company - which exceed a reasonable profit level, to be established by an appointed board whose members have no financial interest in any of the affected companies.

The windfall profits tax on oil companies would be:

* Half of the profit between 100% and 102% of what's determined to be reasonable; and
* Three-quarters of the profit between 102% and 105% of the reasonable level; and
* All of the profit which is 105% or more of the reasonable level.
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Cleaner and more efficient cars, American jobs and money in the bank

To qualify for a tax credit, a vehicle would need to be a new car, truck or sport-utility vehicle (SUV) purchased for non-business use and assembled in the United States by workers employed under a collective bargaining agreement which gets at least 45 miles per gallon (MPG) of fuel (35 MPG for trucks and SUVs).

The tax credit allowed per taxpayer per year would be:

* $6,000 for cars getting 65 MPG or more (trucks/SUVs 55 MPG plus), or
* $4,500 for cars getting 55 MPG or more (trucks/SUVs 45 MPG plus), or
* $3,000 for cars getting 45 MPG or more (trucks/SUVs 35 MPG plus).

These would not be deductions, but credits off the bottom line income tax of purchasers.
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Mass transit needs to be easier and cheaper

Fare reductions would need to be applied equally to all passengers using a mass transit system. Grants would be funded by revenue from the windfall profits tax on oil and gas companies, to the extent that revenue remains after funding of tax credits for purchasers of fuel-efficient vehicles.
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We have prepared resources to assist you in doing all you can to help to get this Bill passed:

LINKS AVAILABLE AT KUCINICH WEBSITE:

* Review Bill progress and cosponsors
* Ask your Member of Congress to cosponsor (if not already)
* Talking points, committee members to contact
* Record the responses you get from members of Ways and Means and Transportation / Infrastructure
* Share resources on fuel costs, mass transit systems, and fuel-efficient vehicles.
* Comment or ask questions

link to www.kucinich.us