In fairness, no one else will either (okay, I can look it up, but I don't have time). The Post reports that the bill includes "$21 billion in revenue increases, including a rollback of $13.5 billion in tax breaks for the five largest oil companies." Is this over 1 year, 5 years, 10 years? I don't know and the article doesn't bother to tell us. [Actually, my other source, the Washington Post, tells me that the $21 billion over an unspecified number of years, are tax incentives -- money going out -- not revenue, money coming in. Hey, no one reads newspapers to get information anyhow.] My guess is ten years (these bills tend to cover a long time range). That would come to $2.1 billion a year or about 0.06 percent of projected spending. It comes to about $7 per person per year. This is not big money, although to me it is very nice to see Congress take back the give aways to the oil industry. Why do reporters have such an aversion to writing budget numbers in a way that means anything to readers? Can't they use a calculator?
--Dean Baker
