The following statement is from Tim Kaine. Sadly, it wasn’t just Republicans who voted to keep the taxpayer-funded gravy train going for super-profitable Big Oil companies, it was also a small handful of Democrats, including our own Jim Webb. Very, very disappointing, and really there’s no excuse whatsoever for those votes. Anyway, I’m glad to see that Tim Kaine got this one right, as oil companies don’t need taxpayer subsidies, and we can find a lot better uses for our money that that boondoggle.
Richmond, VA – Governor Tim Kaine released the following statement today after the U.S. Senate voted to block cloture on the Repeal Big Oil Subsidies Act:
By rejecting the effort to repeal billions in taxpayer funded giveaways to profitable oil companies, Republicans have again sided with special interests at the expense of Americans.
These subsidies, which have been consistently supported by my opponent George Allen, are unnecessary for the Big Five oil companies to turn a profit and do nothing to significantly lower the price of gas that Virginians pay when they fill up their tank. Instead, today’s vote just ensures all Americans are double charged by the richest oil companies – once in their pocketbook at the pump, and again in their tax bill each year.
At a time when we face serious fiscal challenges and cannot afford to waste money on special interest giveaways, these resources should be strategically invested in energy technologies of the future that will make us less reliant on foreign oil, and to reduce our deficit.
Exactly right; let’s spend this money to jump start us off our oil addiction rather than to perpetuate the same ol’ same ol’ — repeating the same thing and expecting different results, aka “definition of insanity.”
UPDATE: Unlike George Allen, Senate Republicans, and a few clueless-on-energy (and economics) Democrats, President Obama totally “gets it” as well – see the video I’ve just embedded.
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