An $18 Billion Drop in the Bucket

In a time when the world is facing massive food shortages, increasing controversy over the administration's failing "food for fuel" energy policy, oil reaching $120 a barrel, and a skyrocketing national debt, you would think it would be a simple matter to put an end to tax subsidies for the Big Oil companies.

After all, Exxon Mobil recently reported the largest profit of any American corporation in history, and their stock has tripled in the last 3 years. All the Big Oil companies seem to be doing pretty well (actually, they're doing very well), so you wouldn't think they really need the money. Maybe we could even use the $18 billion in subsidies to Big Oil for something more productive... like subsidizing the development of wind, solar, or other renewable energy sources.

Well Congress is considering doing just that. The Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act (HR 5351) passed by the House of Representatives in late February has been sent on to the Senate and is in now being reviewed by the Senate Finance Committee. If passed, it will go on to President Bush for his signature and be enacted into law.

Seems fairly obvious, right? This won't solve the energy crisis, but at least it's a step in the right direction. Who (apart from Big Oil) would oppose such legislation? Well....let's slow down and take a look at how the process really works, and how good ideas get lost in political machinery that runs on the "fuel" of special interests and big campaign contributions.

Congress took a run at the issue last year with legislation re-titled as the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which was passed into law last December. The original bill, which passed the House in January 2007, did include a cut in subsidies to Big Oil. Even under pressure from President Bush who made it clear that he would veto any bill that removed the Big Oil subsidies, the Senate had a majority.

But with the bill being filibustered, they were only one vote shy of the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture, and this provision (along with several others) was removed before passage of the final bill.
A total of 59 Senators from both parties agreed that Big Oil subsidies should be laid to rest, and voted in favor of cloture. Hillary Clinton voted to end the filibuster and move forward with the original bill. So did Barack Obama. Our own Republican Senator Chuck Grassley also voted to end the filibuster, as did Iowa Democratic Senator Tom Harkin.

Only one Senator chose not to stand up and be counted: John McCain.

So the final legislation did not include the cut, and Big Oil subsidies continue. It's all in the Senate records.

Keep an eye on this issue. One of McCain's advisors was asked in an interview last week if McCain will support the elimination of subsidies to Big Oil. He responded that McCain "isn’t afraid to stand up” to big business.

Maybe...but first you have to show up.
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An interesting footnote, courtesy of Wikipedia. The term 'filibuster' was first used in 1851, and was derived from the Spanish "filibustero" meaning 'pirate' or 'freebooter'. Somehow this seems especially fitting in this case.