It was remarkable to see House Speaker John Boehner yesterday saying the oil companies might not need their government subsidy. With oil at $112 a barrel and profits consequently growing by leaps and bounds, their $4 billion tax windfall seemed "unwarranted," even to him. He told an ABC News reporter that to help balance the budget the government needs revenue and oil companies, "ought to be paying their fair share." How refreshing.
President Obama quickly seconded the sentiment. Seeking to capitalize on the common ground he saw in the Speaker's statements, Obama sent a letter proposing ending the corporate welfare and using the money instead to develop clean energy sources. OK, so far so good.
But all that was yesterday. Upon reconsideration, today Boehner's office began walking his statements back and "explaining" that he did not really mean what he said. Now they say the President's proposal would, "simply raise taxes and increase the price at the pump." This is the typical hypocritical tap dance Republicans pull when caught in blatant inconsistency. They say they are against wasteful spending-except when it goes to wealthy interests that contribute to them. Someone must have reminded the Speaker who pays the freight for his party. Go ahead and cut education spending for poor kids and doctor visits for seniors; those are wasteful. But don't touch subsidies for profitable multi billion dollar corporations-that's essential spending we can't do without. We all get the picture.
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