Obama demands Congress slash oil subsidies now

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/26/obama-demands-congress-slash-oil-subsidies-now/

y Sahil Kapur
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 -- 1:52 pm

WASHINGTON – A consensus appears to be building in favor of stripping $4 billion in giveaways to multi-billion dollar oil companies, as the specter of rising oil prices amid high unemployment and soaring debt pressures Congress to act.

In a letter Tuesday afternoon, President Barack Obama urged House and Senate leaders to "take immediate action to eliminate unwarranted tax breaks for the oil and gas industry, and to use those dollars to invest in clean energy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil."

"While there is no silver bullet to address rising gas prices in the short term, there are steps we can take to ensure the American people don't fall victim to skyrocketing gas prices over the long term," he added.

The president's sternly-worded letter came less than one day after Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said that cutting oil subsidies is "certainly something we should be looking at," invoking the deficit and declaring that oil companies "ought to be paying their fair share."

"Everybody wants to go after the oil companies and frankly, they've got some part of this to blame," he said, adding that he'd like to "see all the facts" first.

The remarks reflected a reversal of the traditional Republican opposition to such an idea, which Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY), who helms policy and messaging for Democrats, gleefully seized upon.

"It is almost too good to be true, but gas hitting four dollars per gallon seems to have finally caused Speaker Boehner to see the light on the insanity of providing subsidies to profit-soaked big oil companies," Schumer said Tuesday.

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