“If the bill were to pass, a board would be created that would look at oil prices to make sure there is actually price-gouging that is going on. And it wouldn’t just apply to oil, it would apply to other things as well,” she said. “If this panel discovers that there’s price-gouging going on, one of the things we could do is to tax them on their excessive profits and take that tax and put it back into the economy to help working families to bring down prices.”
June 07, 2022
Source: CBS 31 Peoria
By: Shabnam Danesh
Sen. Duckworth: Pain at the pump is due to corporate greed
Source: CBS 31 Peoria
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) has a plan to fight those high gas prices.
Duckworth said she proposed a bill in March to combat price-gouging at the pump and the supermarket. The bill would tax price-gouging companies for their excessive profits.
She said oil companies are using the war in Ukraine as an excuse to drive up prices.
“In their own words, they like the high gas prices because it allows them the highest profits that they’ve had in years, and in fact, they’ve been on record saying that they’d rather buy back more stock and send more dividends payments to their wealthy shareholders than they would to lower oil prices,” she said.
Duckworth said oil companies have stopped drilling in an effort to keep prices high.
“They’ve stopped drilling in many of the areas that they have a leased land from their taxpayers and have all the permits they need to drill and produce more oil,” she said.
Duckworth said the nonpartisan bill would apply to other industries as well.
By: Shabnam Danesh
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