Wyden, Senate Democrats Highlight 'Big Oil Billions' from Trump's Tax Scam While Gas Prices Skyrocket for Middle-Class Families

Since Trump signed his tax bill into law, gas prices have risen nearly 20 percent - busting up family budgets and Memorial Day travel plans

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Finance Committee Members Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., today released a Senate Finance Committee report outlining the massive tax breaks Big Oil continues to rake in due to Trump’s tax law.

According to earnings calls and supporting documents, four of the largest oil companies are poised to get nearly $15 billion in benefits from Trump’s corporate tax cuts. Since December, seven of the largest oil companies have announced $13 billion in stock buybacks, which artificially drive up stock prices. 35 percent of all U.S. corporate stocks are owned by foreign investors. Big Oil executives and shareholders are reaping these benefits while gas prices are hitting three year highs.

“While American families pay more at the pump thanks to Trump’s policies, big oil executives are cashing fatter checks because of his tax law,” Schumer said. “President Trump promised that his tax bill would be a middle-class miracle. Instead, it's a giveaway mostly to corporations and the wealthy. To make matters worse, we're seeing higher health care premiums and rising gas prices - both due in part to actions taken by the Trump administration - eat away at any meager tax benefit middle-class families might receive. This is a scam on the American people to benefit the rich, plain and simple.”

“This new report shows the massive tax breaks oil companies are getting from Trump’s tax law and how CEOs are using these breaks to pad their own financial portfolios and enrich shareholders worldwide,” Wyden said. “Back in my home state of Oregon, working Americans who were left with Trump’s failure to deliver $4,000 wage increases are now seeing the cost of gas soar to over three dollars a gallon. Not only are these prices busting up travel plans, they’re going to make it more difficult for moms and dads to afford the cost of getting to and from work.”

“It’s ridiculous that prices at the pump are going up just months after oil and gas companies received billions in tax giveaways,” Stabenow said. “It couldn’t be more clear that we need to end tax breaks for Big Oil immediately and take steps to lower gas prices for Michigan families.”

“The GOP tax scam was billed as a tax cut for the American people, but the biggest winners have been Republican donors and special interests—like Big Oil,” Whitehouse said. “This deficit-exploding scheme added new loopholes to an already-complicated tax code, delivering even more windfalls to the fossil fuel interests that are polluting our atmosphere and oceans.”

A copy of the report can be found here.

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