Political Quotes

“yesterday Exxon reported its second-highest quarterly profit ever. Net income, $10 billion, up 36 percent. But they are not the only ones raking in the cash. Shell reported a 40-percent increase in profit. BP, a 30-percent increase. ConocoPhilips, a 65- percent increase in profit. And whom does this oil industry have to thank? Lee Raymond and his outsized $400 million retirement package? No. The oil companies have the Republican Congress to thank for their huge bank accounts. In 2005, the oil and gas companies spent $86 million lobbying the United States Congress, and they received $14.5 billion in taxpayer-funded handouts. You cannot get that type of return on Wall Street or in Vegas. $86 million for lobbying, $14.5 billion in corporate welfare. So Americans are paying twice, once when they fill up their tanks, and then again on April 15. We must stop handing out welfare checks to Big Oil. It is high time big oil companies got off the taxpayer dole. Mr. Speaker, it is time for a change. And it is time for a new direction. ____________________”