How far would Republican go to save $8 billion in giveaways for the most profitable industry in history? First Boehner & Co. try to just get everybody to go home, then they accuse Democrats of sympathizing with "dictators" and "terrorists," then when all that falls flat, they try some desperate parliamentary mumbo jumbo.
But the measure passes in a landslide anyway. It was a really pathetic try on their part. How does it feel to be in the minority, Mr. Boehner?
Download The House rolled back billions of dollars in oil industry subsidies Thursday in what supporters hailed as a new direction in energy policy toward more renewable fuels. Critics said the action would reduce domestic oil production and increase reliance on imports.
The legislation would impose a "conservation fee" on oil and gas taken from deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico; scrap nearly $6 billion worth of oil industry tax breaks enacted by Congress in recent years; and seek to recoup royalties lost to the government because of an Interior Department error in leases issued in the late 1990s.
Democrats said the legislation could produce as much as $15 billion in revenue. Most of that money would pay to promote renewable fuels such as solar and wind power, alternative fuels including ethanol and biodiesel and incentives for conservation.
"The oil industry doesn't need the taxpayers' help. ... There is not an American that goes to a gas pump that doesn't know that," said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.
100 Hours? Check, check, check, check, check, check and... check. You go, Nancy...
Progress is possible again . (Nicole Belle helped with the post and h/t a C&Ler for making the video)
