Give us 10%

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has called for oil and gas companies to devote a portion of their nearly $100 billion profits in the latest quarter to families who could see a 50-percent hike in heating bills this winter.

Grassley has sent letters to three oil companies asking them to contribute 10 percent of their profits to the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program or similar state- or utility-run plans.

"In light of record profits and rising energy costs, it seems only logical for the companies to practice good corporate citizenship by helping low-income families and seniors," Grassley wrote.

The Bush administration is encouraging charitable giving at a company's discretion but is against a tax on the companies' profits, citing problems caused by windfall taxes implemented in the 1980s. (Read: Why put even the smallest burden on the rich corporations when I can trample on the welfare of those poor fools who help elect me.)

[Update 11/9/05]
Unbelievable! Oil companies are actually trying to defend their huge profits.

Together the [5 major American oil] companies earned more than $25 billion in profits in the July-September quarter as the price of crude oil hit $70 a barrel and gasoline surged to record levels after the disruptions of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Raymond [chairman of Exxon Mobil Corp.,] said the profits are in line with other industries when earnings are compared to the industry's enormous revenues.