Boehner Rejects Vote on Ending Oil Subsidies
After initially saying that Congress "ought" to put oil subsidies on the chopping block, last Thursday House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) refused to hold a vote on eliminating those subsidies.
The issue is dividing the GOP. Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Chairman of the House Budget Committee, has come out in favor of ending oil subsidies, telling ABC News:
What our budget does is we go after corporate welfare spending, There's corporate welfare spending on energy companies, both green and fossil energy companies. There's corporate welfare on large agri-business. There's corporate welfare on large financial companies. We want to get rid of all that corporate welfare."
Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA), believes that oil subsidies are "tantamount to unfair 'market manipulation,'" and Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), has changed course and says that oil subsidies are "on the table" for review along with other government spending.