O’Neill Slams LaTourette’s Gas Price Proposal
as ‘Taxpayer-Subsidized Profits for Oil Companies’
‘This is the kind of idea that ‘even the oil companies would be too embarrassed to propose,’ candidate says
WICKLIFFE, Ohio (July 2, 2008) - Democratic congressional candidate Bill O’Neill called Rep. Steve LaTourette’s legislation that would provide federal reimbursements for gas consumption a “taxpayer-funded windfall for oil companies that does absolutely nothing to solve the gas price crisis -- and actually makes it worse.”
“Steve LaTourette is at it again, going to the plate for Big Oil companies, and I think Northeast Ohio commuters are smart enough to see right through this ridiculous election-year stunt,” O’Neill said. “We have an energy crisis in this country. The last thing we need is legislation that will drive up the cost of gasoline by increasing consumption, while lining the pockets of oil executives with more taxpayer dollars. It’s the political equivalent of giving a discount on sugar to a diabetic.”
O’Neill proposed a measure last week that would provide a major investment in commuter rail in Northeast Ohio, which he said would not just drive down the price of gas by getting cars off the road, but it would get people to work in a way that would create jobs.
“There’s a clear difference in how Steve LaTourette and I would address one of the most important problems we face today, the rising price of gas,” O’Neill said. “It’s reducing demand for gasoline versus increasing it; it’s reducing gas prices over allowing them to continue to skyrocket; it’s investing in alternative energy plans, instead of rewarding big oil companies. And it’s about creating new, high-wage, clean-energy jobs and getting Northeast Ohio to work in a way that is sustainable for our region’s future.
“This bill is the kind of financial windfall for the big oil companies that even they would be too embarrassed to propose – and that’s saying something,” he said. “It’s time for real solutions and real leadership from Washington.”
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