Source:
Huffington PostWASHINGTON -- The Democratic attempt to take on the major oil companies is being challenged from within, with representatives of producing states rushing to the defense of the industry, complicating the plan to present a stark contrast between the two parties.
Democratic Sens. Mark Begich and Mary Landrieu, who represent Alaska and Louisiana, respectively, each took to the Senate floor Wednesday to decry their party's attempt to strip tax breaks from the top oil companies.
Landrieu bemoaned the "inherent unfairness" of closing the tax loophole, insisting that doing so "will not reduce gasoline prices by one penny.”
Begich chided the party for putting message over substance. "It is a gimmick, a gimmick to get the next week of activity, and get some press out there,” he said. “Picking on one industry because it sounds good, rates good in the polls, gets you a couple of headlines is not what the American people want us to do here. If anything, they're getting fed up with that. … Let’s stop the headline-grabbing and get serious about the energy security."
Read more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/11/mary-landrieu-mark-begich-oil_n_860743.html
Not a big fan of P.J. O'Rourke, but, when he chose
Parliament of Whores for a book title, he knew what he was talking about.