…from the debate last night was this.
It’s actually a segment:
MR. ROMNEY: Jim, let’s — we — we’ve gone on a lot of topics there, and — so I’ve got to take — it’s going to take a minute to go from Medicaid to schools to —
PRESIDENT OBAMA: (Inaudible.)
MR. LEHRER: Come back to Medicaid, here, yeah, yeah, right.
MR. ROMNEY: — oil to tax breaks and companies overseas. So let’s go through them one by one. First of all, the Department of Energy has said the tax break for oil companies is $2.8 billion a year. And it’s actually an accounting treatment, as you know, that’s been in place for a hundred years. Now —
PRESIDENT OBAMA: It’s time to end it.
MR. ROMNEY: — oil to tax breaks and companies overseas. So let’s go through them one by one. First of all, the Department of Energy has said the tax break for oil companies is $2.8 billion a year. And it’s actually an accounting treatment, as you know, that’s been in place for a hundred years. Now —
PRESIDENT OBAMA: It’s time to end it.
MR. ROMNEY: And — and in one year, you provided $90 billion in breaks to the green energy world. Now, I like green energy as well, but that’s about 50 years’ worth of what oil and gas receives, and you say Exxon and Mobil — actually, this $2.8 billion goes largely to small companies, to drilling operators and so forth.
But you know, if we get that tax rate from 35 percent down to 25 percent, why, that $2.8 billion is on the table. Of course it’s on the table. That’s probably not going to survive, you get that rate down to 25 percent.
But — but don’t forget, you put $90 billion — like 50 years worth of breaks — into solar and wind, to — to Solyndra and Fisker and Tesla and Ener1. I mean, I — I had a friend who said, you don’t just pick the winners and losers; you pick the losers. All right? So — so this is not — this is not the kind of policy you want to have if you want to get America energy-secure.
The second topic, which is you said you get a deduction for getting a plant overseas. Look, I’ve been in business for 25 years. I have no idea what you’re talking about. I maybe need to get a new accountant.
(Emphasis mine).
Truth, Lies and In Between 