April 26, 2011

The Honorable John Boehner
Speaker
U. S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Speaker,

In an interview with ABC News, you stated that oil companies “ought to be paying their fair share.”

We agree.

You also mentioned that you wanted to “see the facts” first. The simple fact is everyone should be paying their fair share and for nearly a hundred years oil and gas companies have been avoiding taxes through various provisions in the tax code including oil depletion allowances you criticized in your comments. And they are not alone. The number of tax expenditures littering the tax code has increased in recent years.

We also agree that this shouldn't just be “a bunch of political rhetoric.” Since our inception sixteen years ago, Taxpayers for Common Sense has fought to roll back wasteful and market-distorting tax expenditures and direct subsidies to the energy sector. Most recently, TCS partnered with dozens of other organizations to call on Congress to not add on more tax breaks and to roll back existing subsidies.

We stand ready to work with you to have a simpler, fairer, and more equitable tax code and think that while oil companies are reaping massive profits, now is the time to tackle these lavish tax subsidies. Some in Congress are trying to go the opposite direction and provide even greater subsidies for the use of natural gas in vehicles. This is the wrong direction.

We applauded your hard work to rein in wasteful earmark spending. Now it is time to turn to tax expenditures – tax earmarks – and the lucrative breaks oil and gas and other industries have been cashing in on to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. Considering the nation's enormous budget deficit and long-term fiscal challenges, the country cannot afford business as usual in Congress. We look forward to working with you on this issue; please contact me or Steve Ellis at 202-546-8500.

Sincerely,

Ms. Ryan Alexander

President
 

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