Senate blocks plan to add oil company tax

Senate blocks plan to add oil company tax

Senate Republicans block proposal to tax oil industry windfall profits

Senate Republicans have blocked a proposal to tax oil industry windfall profits.

With gasoline prices topping $4 a gallon, Senate Democrats wanted the government to grab some of the billions of dollars in profits being taken in by the major oil companies. Senators voted on whether to consider a windfall profits tax against the five largest U.S. oil companies and rescind $17 billion in tax breaks the companies expect to enjoy over the next decade. "The oil companies need to know that there is a limit on how much profit they can take in this economy," said Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, warning that if energy prices are not reined in "we're going to find ourselves in a deep recession." But the Democrats had to try to overcome staunch Republican opposition to any new taxes on the oil industry. The five largest U.S. oil companies earned $36 billion during the first three months of the year. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., needed 60 votes Tuesday to proceed with the oil tax legislation in the face of a threatened GOP filibuster