Taxes and energy are always hot topics, and as with most political issues the conversation often strays far afield.  So let’s take a moment to ground ourselves in fact so that we can work together to build a more competitive corporate tax system through comprehensive tax reform. 

The Tax Policy Center has a good description of how the corporate income tax works:

"Taxable corporate profits are equal to a corporation’s receipts less its current expenses (including wages and interest), deductions for the cost of inventory when goods are sold, and depreciation of capital investments. U.S. resident multinational corporations pay tax on their worldwide profits, but tax on the profits of their controlled foreign subsidiaries is deferred until those profits are repatriated (that is, paid... more »

According to the Pew Research Center the top two public priorities for 2012, by large margins, are the economy and job creation.  So surely the White House has a plan, and they do.  And with a slight modification of the chart posted by TPM the other day, here it is:

More on higher energy taxes here and here, and why that growth line should be higher here.

Update: The author has changed the article, without noting so. Original article here. The new article suffers from many the same problems in that it fails to note that the majority of the money involved is through government efforts to lower prices in developing countries.  As the IEA notes ending this support will shift "the burden of high prices from government budgets to individual consumers…" and that “…low-income households are likely to be disproportionately affected by the removal…”

We see a lot of false arguments about “subsidies” for the oil and natural gas industry, but this tweet caught us by surprise:

First, as we have to explain every time, the oil and gas industries don’t get tax credits (which reduce taxes dollar for dollar) or grants from the government. They get t... more »

With the U.S. Senate getting ready to debate proposals that would raise taxes on American energy companies, the White House blog spins:

"Instead of subsidizing the fossil fuels of the last century by giving away $4 billion of taxpayer money each year to oil companies that are more profitable than ever, we should be investing in a clean energy future—especially when gas prices are high and drivers, whose budgets are already stretched thin, are feeling the pain at the pump."

In reverse order, taking on the White House’s points:

Yesterday’s energy – We thought the administration had shelved this rhetoric, but it’s back – despite government data showing that oil and natural gas not only is today’s energy, it’s tomorrow’s as well. According to the Energy Information Administration m... more »

Yesterday, we discussed the president’s 2013 budget proposal to repeal the Section 199 manufacturer’s deduction for oil and natural gas companies – showing the disconnect between his call for more domestic oil and natural gas production and boosting U.S. manufacturing. Today, let’s look at another proposed energy tax increase in the president’s spending plan: repealing the expensing of intangible drilling costs (IDC).

Repealing IDC would generate $13.9 billion for the U.S. Treasury over 10 years. But it would eliminate a 99-year-old section of the tax code that has fostered innovation and exploration in the oil and natural gas business – playing a major role in the development of our energy resources for nearly a century.

Here’s what the president said in his State of the Union addre... more »