Dems accuse Republicans of helping oil companies

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

Democrats today accused the Republican-led Congress of providing tax cuts to oil companies at a time when the industry enjoys record profits and many motorists struggle to deal with rising gasoline prices.

In his party's weekly radio address, Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan said "gas prices keep skyrocketing, and in Washington, Republicans continue to turn a blind eye to the oil industry's activities."

"From this Republican-controlled Congress, we hear more of the same: 'Let's just drill our way to energy independence, sacrifice our environment and provide big tax breaks to Big Oil,'" Stupak said.

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All true except for the headline and lead sentence: this is no accusation; it's a fact. The GOP Congress has, indeed, been very generous to big oil in the way of tax cuts. Problem is, there is simply no justification for this kind of corporate welfare. I think it's safe to say that the oil industry faces no threat from falling apart due to the government being all over its back. The old neo-liberal point of view, that tax cuts are needed to stimulate the economy, just doesn't come into play here. After all, these guys are raking in billions, setting profit record after profit record as each quarter rolls by. So why the hell does the media refer to the Democrats blasting this pork barrel "tax relief" as an accusation?

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