John Boehner thinks subsidizing big oil is good for the economy



John Boehner thinks subsidizing big oil is good for the economy



It's a non-starter for Boehner, who sees ending a subsidy as a tax hike. "Our goal is to increase the supply of American energy to lower costs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create American jobs," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel. "This tax hike would make prices at the pump even higher. That simply doesn't make any sense."

A little over two weeks ago, John Boehner dropped a bit of a bombshell, telling ABC News he was open to ending tax subsidies for big oil. Within 24 hours, his office was already backing off his comments, and as of today, he's completely reversed course, saying Democratic proposals to repeal tax subsidies for big oil shouldn't even be on the table

Obviously, it's absurd to argue that tax subsidies for big oil are lowering gas prices. Does anybody really think that oil companies aren't already charging as much as they possibly can? And if they really want to increase American energy supply, why are they giving tax subsidies to an industry that sells a non-renewable resource that we are going to eventually run out of?

It's just terrible policy to subsidize oil companies, and the fact that Boehner won't even consider putting those subsidies on the table demonstrates that he's not really serious about reducing the deficit. House Republicans aren't trying to get our fiscal house in order—they're pursuing an ideological agenda.