Republicans who claim to be deficit-conscious vote to hand-over billions in tax-payer dollars to profitable oil companies

Remember how, not too long ago, we were talking about the fact that we could save $39 billion by cutting our federal subsidies to the already highly-profitable oil and gas industry? Well, it looks as though we’ll have to find those savings somewhere else – like with cuts in teacher pay – because the Republicans voted today to keep those subsidies in the federal budget.

Representative William Keating, a Democrat from Massachusetts, today made a motion on the floor of the House that would have eliminated the subsidies. Saying, “let’s stop sending taxpayers’ money to the most profitable companies in the world,” Keating moved that we stop handing our tax dollars over to companies like Shell and Exxon. Unfortunately, the Republicans in the House voted unanimously against the motion. The final vote was 176-249.

Given that the Republicans have said several times that their main intention this legislative session is to reign in federal spending, this doesn’t make a great deal of sense. There is the fact, however, that the oil and gas industry gave over $14 million to Republican members of Congress in 2010. (During that same period, these companies gave only $4.8 million to Democrats.) I suppose that might have had something to do with it. And, then, of course, there’s the very real possibility that the real objective of Republicans isn’t to prevent a federal deficit crisis at all, but to create one, giving them an excuse to privatize social security, and significantly cut programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

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6 Comments

  1. Edward
    Posted March 3, 2011 at 10:09 am | Permalink

    I want to look and see if this is on the front page of today’s paper, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be, seeing as how Charlie Sheen still has leopard blood dripping from his lion fangs, or whatever. Hopefully someone in the press will point out what hypocrites the Republicans are.

  2. TaterSalad
    Posted March 3, 2011 at 10:27 am | Permalink

    Now it seems that the Unions in Wisconsin are what we call hypocrites. They own corporate bonds in a Koch Industries company.

    http://www.fireandreamitchell.com/2011/03/02/lol-wisconsin-state-union-thugs-retirement-system-owns-5-5-million-in-georgia-pacific-corporate-bonds-a-koch-owned-company/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FireAndreaMitchell+%28Fire+Andrea+Mitchell%21+Exposing+Liberal+bias+cause+the+MSM+doesn%27t+have+to.%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

  3. Nader Tot
    Posted March 4, 2011 at 12:07 am | Permalink

    Mark, Mark, dear Mark!

    Tater is has finally said something salient (never mind that others are equally hypocritical for holding stock in profitable unionized companies). Please don’t ignore this. We profit from and fund things we abhor. Our investments benefit from our falling benefits. Corporate greed funds our 401ks. We are BP. We are the investors. We buy elections for people we vote against. We profit from global warming. Denying health care protects our retirement.

    The stock market creates moral distance. We are financing our destruction.

    Yes, that seems dramatic. But…

    Where is your money invested? What is it supporting? Do you even care as long as you get a good return? If you don’t want Wall Street to determine elections, why are you letting your meager savings fund Wall Street?

    Why, indeed, are Wisconsin unions invested in Koch? Why am I? Why are you?

    Moral distance.

    Short sighted, self destructive, distance. It’s closing in.

  4. TaterSalad
    Posted March 6, 2011 at 3:10 pm | Permalink

    Americans are ignorant of Agenda 21 and here are the facts of what is going on:

    http://www.newswithviews.com/Morrison/joyce36.htm

    http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/10/un_agenda_21_coming_to_a_neigh.html

    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5udza_agenda-21_news

    http://gulagbound.com/12218/agenda-21-the-death-knell-of-liberty

    http://gulagbound.com/12977/agenda-21-part-iii-maryland-county-abolishes-it-now-its-your-turn

  5. Freedom Friar
    Posted March 6, 2011 at 5:01 pm | Permalink

    …by that reasoning, Nader Tot, anybody who pays taxes is partially responsible for every government subsidy to an oil company, and every kid in the middle east who’s been killed by a U.S. bomb. Do you even care, as long as you get your precious freeways, and public education? Moral distance.

  6. herpes eye drops
    Posted April 13, 2011 at 3:22 pm | Permalink

    Let’s not forget that these “we desperately need to do whatever we can to decrease the deficit” Republicans are the same ones who voted to give millions away to already profitable oil companies.

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