Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Clinton Calls For Oil Companies To Pay Gas Tax, Obama Says Consumers Should Foot Bill

Obama Voted For Bush-Cheney Energy Bill, Now Attacks Clinton's Plan to Provide Consumers Relief at the Pump

Over the past few days the Obama Campaign has attacked Hillary Clinton's proposal to force the oil companies to pay the federal gas tax this summer rather than American consumers. Not only are his attacks misleading, they blatantly ignore Obama's vote for the 2005 Bush-Cheney Energy Bill which took billions from taxpayers to further subsidize oil and gas companies.

Prior to the presidential campaign, Obama's Oregon Chair Rep. Earl Blumenauer was clear about his feelings for the Bush-Cheney energy bill, calling it "a list of tax breaks and special interest favors that does not translate into a cohesive approach, which global realities demand for this country." [July 29, 2005, Washington Post]

"In 2005, Senator Obama voted to give billions of dollars in government subsidies to oil and gas companies," said Oregon State Director Clay Haynes. "Now his campaign is attacking Hillary Clinton for wanting to return that money to the pockets of regular Americans. If Sen. Obama really believes that Oregonians should be paying the gas tax instead of the oil companies, he should come to Oregon to debate energy policy."

Every single Democrat in the Oregon delegation voted with Hillary to stand up against the billions in corporate giveaways to the oil companies in the Bush-Cheney Energy Bill--Obama sided with Greg Walden, Gordon Smith and Big Oil.

"It's hardly inspiring to send your representatives out to attack while you are refusing to debate the issues that matter to Oregon," Haynes said. "The people of Oregon are eager to hear why Sen. Obama voted for the boondoggle Bush-Cheney Energy Bill and why he now opposes Sen. Clinton's plan to help drivers squeezed by record gas prices at the pump."

Other Pro-Consumer, Pro-Environment Voices on the Obama-Bush-Cheney 2005 Energy Bill

Earthjustice

"In the end, the energy bill does nothing to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, nothing to reduce consumption, and fails to address the biggest threat facing our planet: global warming. What it does do is provide billions of dollars in tax breaks and subsidies to an oil and gas industry that is already bragging about record profits." [statement, 8/19/05]

Public Citizen

"In addition to providing billions of dollars to already wealthy oil, nuclear and coal companies, the energy bill abandons consumers by repealing the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA), one of the most effective consumer and protection laws governing the power sector. With this law now gone, investment banks, hedge funds, insurance companies and oil companies will now be allowed to own utilities, giving these new corporate owners license to raid the utilities' guaranteed revenue streams for use in leveraging non-utility acquisitions, opening the door to price-gouging of ratepayers." [Public Citizen website]

U.S. PIRG

"It's Christmas in August for big energy, and consumers get lumps of coal." [Anna Aurilio, legislative director for U.S. PIRG, Washington Post, August 9, 2005]