The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Amanda Bowden, amanda@patrioticmillionaires.org

Patriotic Millionaires Back Biden's Call for a Windfall Profits Tax

"No more free passes to exploit American drivers, it’s time to hold these companies accountable."

WASHINGTON

Yesterday, in response to major energy companies posting record profits as American families struggle to afford their basic needs, President Joe Biden proposed implementing a windfall profits tax on "war profiteering" energy companies if they do not increase production.

In response, Morris Pearl, Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires and former managing director at BlackRock, Inc., released the following statement:

"I'm thrilled the Biden administration is finally taking on greedy energy companies. The real reason gas prices are so high is simple - it's corporate greed. Price-gouging energy companies are making billions in profits while American families can barely afford to fill up their gas tanks.

It is very simple: Millions of people are paying more money for gas. The gas companies are making billions of dollars more money. If you make money selling gas, raising the price of the gas means you make more money. This is not rocket science.

We should tax the billions in excess profits that energy companies have made off the backs of consumers. A windfall profits tax would force these companies to pay more of what they owe the country, and even more importantly, disincentivize them from raising prices any higher. No more free passes to exploit American drivers, it's time to hold these companies accountable."

The Patriotic Millionaires is a group of high-net worth Americans who share a profound concern about the destabilizing level of inequality in America. Our work centers on the two things that matter most in a capitalist democracy: power and money. Our goal is to ensure that the country's political economy is structured to meet the needs of regular Americans, rather than just millionaires. We focus on three "first" principles: a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens.

(202) 446-0489