Make 'em pay even more for gas. Brilliant!
I'll have a cheeseburger with fires, hold the pickles. Now, why is it that the 'government' doesn't provide me with meals? This is age discrimination!
Deep Water Royalty Relief Act (S.395)
In 1995, both houses of Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed the Deep Water Royalty Relief Act (S.395), which granted a royalty “holiday” to oil and gas companies drilling in government-owned deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico for leases sold between 1996 and 2000. Specifically, under the program, companies would not have to pay the normal royalties except when market prices reached $34 a barrel for oil and $4 per thousand cubic feet for natural gas. At the time, oil and gas prices were fairly low, and supporters of the bill argued it would provide an incentive for petroleum companies to drill for oil and natural gas inside the U.S.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d104:s.00395:
Since Oil and Gas has remained and is expected to long remain above these thresholds, no royalty relief is given.
I loathe Ed Markey.
I have yet to understand the liberal mindset that declares increased taxes is a savings... These leftists are intentionally clueless.