On Tuesday Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson voted against a bill that would have stripped oil companies like BP and Exxon of their multi-billion dollar annual tax subsidies from the federal government.

Johnson, who said throughout his Senate campaign in 2010 that he was serious about cutting government spending, apparently isn’t serious enough about cutting government spending to cast a vote that might negatively impact the bottom line of big oil companies. Then again, considering Johnson’s previous investment in BP it’s not surprising he’d support the continuation of a policy that spends billions of dollars a year on government welfare to the oil industry.

If Ron Johnson is really serious about cutting government spending, as opposed to just paying lip service to the idea, he’d start by helping put an end to government welfare for the oil industry. Considering the record profits oil companies have enjoyed over the past few years, it seems only logical that those companies could stand to do without billions of dollars a year in government welfare.