The U.S. Senate had a vote tonight on “a bill to reduce the Federal budget deficit by closing big oil tax loopholes.” Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins actually voted for it. But no other Republicans did. And three Democrats voted against it. Can you guess who they were? Two of them are kind of obvious. Mark Begich of Alaska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana represent petro-states. But Ben Nelson represents Nebraska. The Department of Energy says that Nebraska’s oil reserves are “small.” So, why did Nelson oppose the bill? Anyone want to guess?
The answer is probably related to the reason why Ben Nelson has drawn a line in the sand and declared that he is no more willing to raise taxes to address the deficit than the wingnuttiest wingnut in the land.
The bill actually won a majority (52-48), but you know the drill. The vote wasn’t actually on the bill, but on the motion to proceed to the bill. And a motion to proceed needs 60 votes to pass in the U.S. Senate. Ergo, the Big Oil companies will continue to get huge tax breaks while they are absolutely raping the U.S consumer and making record profits.
I am sure you won’t have to look far to find someone who thinks this is the president’s fault.
