CRS: Dem tax hikes on oil producers will raise prices, increase foreign dependency

(By Ed Morrissey, Hot Air) - Democrats want to use the tax code to punish oil companies, but the Congressional Research Service reported two months ago that tax hikes on oil producers would backfire on consumers instead. Instead of using the revenue to fund “green energy” initiatives, as Barack Obama wants, Democrats are hoping to use the revenue for deficit reduction as a way to pin Republicans against the wall:

It’s official: Democrats will deviate from Max Baucus’s blueprint for the bill that would have used the new tax to fund initiatives intended to reduce oil consumption. Instead, Democrats are proposing to put the approximately $4 billion annually toward balancing the budget and daring their Republican colleagues to vote against deficit reduction.

This has to be a joke, right? Four billion dollars in additional revenue — a questionable claim, as we’ll see in a minute — will reduce this year’s deficit by exactly 0.25%. It’s not even a full month’s interest on one year’s deficit. While any deficit reduction helps, the real problem in deficits is 'spending', not revenue.