Senate Dems Want Oil Subsidies Terminated

As both parties look for ways to respond to voter concern about the nation’s debt, Senate Democrats have zeroed in on doing away with federal subsides for oil companies.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday that the move would slash $20 billion from the budget, and would encourage more investment in clean energy initiatives.

“At the same time that Republicans are threatening to undermine Social Security, they are defending $20 billion in government giveaways to oil companies that are raking in record profits,” said the spokesman, Jon Summers.

The question now is whether Democrats will be willing to compromise on a proposal from President Obama in his forthcoming budget outline that aims to roll back roughly $4 billion in subsidies and tax breaks for the oil industry. Progressive lawmakers have pointed to figures showing that large oil companies are enjoying record profits as evidence that they don’t need help from the federal government.

Meanwhile, critics of the Democrats’ proposal have argued that the oil industry actually subsidizes the federal government through the billions of taxes that businesses pay annually.