Sorta Good News

It isn't nearly enough. And they won't pay it anyway. To make it meaningful, they need to pay the public back for their invasion of Iraq and their crazy take over attempt of the middle east.
Hey! I just had a really good idea! Their assets need to be claimed by the public, for the public! Nationalize the oil companies now and try the CEOs for crimes against humaitny.


Nov. 15, 2005, 10:37PM
Big Oil may face a $5 billion levy

Senate panel approves addition to tax-cut bill

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
New York Times

WASHINGTON - In a sign of the political impact of soaring energy prices, the Republican-controlled Senate Finance Committee voted on Tuesday to impose a $5 billion tax next year on the nation's biggest oil companies.



The measure amounts to a one-year windfall profits tax, a concept that most Republicans had until recently denounced as a discredited idea from the 1970s. It was added to a larger bill that would cut taxes by about $61 billion over the next five years.

Conservative Senate Republicans who support the oil industry bitterly protested the measure, noting that Congress had just approved billions in new tax breaks to encourage oil and gas exploration. But every Republican on the panel voted for the overall package, which passed the committee by 14-8 and which the full Senate is expected to take up today.

Five of the largest oil companies recently reported that their combined profits for the third quarter surged to $33 billion as a result of skyrocketing oil prices. Last week, top oil executives testified at a congressional hearing, defending their record results in the face of mounting criticism.