If You're Not Sure Where The GOP Stands....It's In The Pocket Of Big Oil

Senate Republicans have foiled President Obama’s plan to strip $24 billion in tax subsidies from the country’s largest oil companies, in order to make the high price of gas an issue in this election year.

The 51-47 vote was mostly along party lines, with most Democrats voting in favor of eliminating the subsidies, though the vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to withstand a filibuster. Only Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine, joined the Democrats.

The four Democrats who voted Republican are  Jim Webb of Virginia, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mark Begich of Alaska; Begich and Landrieu represent states with large oil revenues.

Go figure.

Senator John Kerry said of the vote: “It’s an opportunity missed for the Senate to make the tax code fairer and smarter. We could’ve made a down payment on energy independence and stopped having taxpayers subsidize the country’s most profitable companies at the same time. These were tax subsidies that even President Bush and I agreed were a waste, and more than ever, Americans paying soaring gas prices don’t need to subsidize these companies this way any longer.”

President Obama, in a Rose Garden speech, slammed oil companies on huge profits: “On top of these record profits, oil companies are also getting billions a year in taxpayer subsidies--a subsidy they’ve enjoyed year after year for the last century. Think about that. It’s like hitting the American people twice.”

Think about that the next time you fill up, and grouse over the high cost. Think of the high cost and think of whom the GOP blames for that.

Then, remember who voted alongside Big Oil.

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