Mary Landrieu

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The Senate held votes this week on competing Democratic and Republican oil bills.  The Democratic bill, S. 940, which would raise taxes on big oil companies, was defeated on a vote of 52 to 48. The Republican bill, S. 953, which would force the Obama Administration to increase offshore oil leasing, was defeated on a vote of 42 to 57. Under Senate rules, sixty votes were required to pass either measure.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had this to say about those who voted against the bill to raise taxes on the five largest oil companies: “They would rather cut college scholarships, slash cancer research, and end Medicare than take away taxpayer-funded giveaways to oil companies that are raking in billions of dollars in profits.”  Three Democrats (Senators Mark Begich of Alaska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and Ben Nelson of Nebraska) voted against the oil tax hike, while the two Republican Senators from Maine (Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins) voted for it.  And Senator James M. Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) had this to say about the Republican offshore bill:  “The solution to skyrocketing gas prices is simple: increase supply.”  The establishment media regularly try to portray Senator Reid as a statesman and Senator Inhofe as a conservative ideologue.  These contrasting quotes allow readers to judge for themselves.