THE TELEGRAPH: President-Elect Barack Obama has broken his first campaign promise by quietly dropping a profits windfall tax on oil companies that he promised on the campaign trail.
During the campaign, Mr Obama repeatedly promised to submit oil and gas companies to a profits windfall tax, citing the disparity between their huge profits and the struggles of ordinary Americans.
In the summer he said the tax would "help families pay their heating and cooling bills and reduce energy costs".
But the proposal has been quietly dropped from his agenda listed on transition team website's www.change.gov, setting off a storm of protest among liberal bloggers and small business groups.
An aide explained the change by saying: "President-Elect Obama announced the policy during the campaign because oil prices were above $80 per barrel. They are below that now and expected to stay below that."
But the shelving of the proposal was spotted by the California-based Small Business League, which asked if "the sudden elimination of this issue is a further indication that large corporations are already demonstrating their ability to influence the Obama administration". >>> By Alex Spillius in Washington | December 4, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
