House GOP Blocks Vote on Oil Subsidies

[Havakasha]

Anyone who doesnt understand why Republicans are opposed to stopping subsidies to big oil corporations doesnt understand the first thing about politics.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2...es.php?ref=fpi



Republicans on Thursday unanimously voted down a motion from Democrats to consider legislation to end subsidies to oil companies.

Democrats sought to attach the measure, which failed in a 241-171 vote that saw seven Democrats defect, to a bill that would allow oil companies to more easily secure drilling permits off the Gulf Coast. That bill passed.


Republicans on Thursday unanimously voted down a motion from Democrats to consider legislation to end subsidies to oil companies.

Democrats sought to attach the measure, which failed in a 241-171 vote that saw seven Democrats defect, to a bill that would allow oil companies to more easily secure drilling permits off the Gulf Coast. That bill passed.

[Havakasha]

With gasoline prices still hovering above $4 a gallon, President Obama renewed his call on Friday to close tax loopholes for large oil companies, declaring, “If you’re already paying them at the gas pump, we don’t need to pay them through the tax code.”
Mr. Obama traveled to Indiana to visit a company that makes hybrid vehicle transmissions to showcase his administration’s commitment to fuel-efficient and clean-energy technologies. But he also took aim at the oil industry as the key beneficiary of the nation’s ravenous appetite for energy.

Over the last five years, Mr. Obama said, the five largest oil companies each earned between $75 billion and $125 billion. An array of tax breaks for the industry, he said, cost American taxpayers $5 billion annually. The president, calling these loopholes “unwarranted subsidies,” said the money should be redirected to investments in clean energy.

Contrast this with House Republicans, who on Thursday once again blocked an effort to repeal these subsidies and told Democrats to stop 'demonizing' big oil companies. If they can't even repeal tax subsidies for big oil companies, how can you believe anything they say about fiscal responsibility?