Dems put oil subsidies on the table

In a sane society, we would stop subsidizing multinational conglomerates that have been raking in obscene profits for years and also happen to be major polluters of our planet. We would take those taxpayer dollars and invest in clean energy. But we live in Crazytown, USA where clean energy is viewed by a large percentage of the population as an evil plot against "our way of life" so I'm thinking the Democrats have a good strategy here.

Linking two of the politically volatile issues of the moment, Senate Democrats say they will move forward this week with a plan that would eliminate tax breaks for big oil companies and divert the savings to offset the deficit.

Politically, it's the most brilliant move the Dems have made in years. Pits the GOPers against their Tea Party base. And they seem to have a good narrative going:

“Big Oil certainly doesn’t need the collective money of taxpayers in this country,” said Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, one of the authors of the legislation that Democrats intend to showcase. “This is as good a time as any in terms of pain at the pump and in revenues needed for deficit reduction.” [...]

“I am happy to have this debate on the floor for days,” Mr. Menendez said.

Hell, I'd be happy to watch that debate for days. Even weeks. And if ending the subsidies is the actual outcome -- all the better. Even if the savings aren't used all that wisely.

Adding, on a different note, the slant of this article is interesting. If you read the whole thing you'll note that the Democratic strategy is being portrayed in terms of political manuvuering, but the lame GOP response in trotting out the old canard about a backdoor tax that will be passed onto the consumers isn't characterized as a political sleight of phrase to please their base. Darn that liberal media. [graphic]