Gas refund (don't hold your breath)

Connecticut lawmakers scream "foul" over oil companies recent record-profits reports.

From The Connecticut Post

Connecticut lawmakers have renewed their call for big oil to pump some of their record profits back into taxpayers' pockets.

Sens. Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, said last week that consumers deserve a break from high gasoline and home heating oil prices — especially since oil companies are ringing up record profits.

Exxon Mobil Corp. announced last week that it earned $36.13 billion in profit in 2005 — the largest single-year profit for a U.S. company in history.

"Consumers have all the pain and the big oil companies have all the gain, and that's simply not fair," said Dodd, a Democrat. "Congress can and should move to correct that, and this news just may be the spark that makes it happen."

The American Petroleum Institute opposes the windfall-profit tax, saying it would drain revenues from the industry that could otherwise be used to invest in new oil and gas production.

[...]

"It is bad enough that consumers, families and businesses have been struggling for a year with high energy costs, but to see major oil companies enjoy excessive profits during this crisis is wrong," DeLauro said. "This is a time for our nation to come together. Responsible corporate citizenship during this time of national emergency is the least this thriving industry can do."