Call the Liberals' Bluff: Oil Subsidies Should Go

On “Meet the Press” Sunday, David Gregory asked Barack Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe, “Should government be playing venture capitalist to try to prop these interest–industries up [referring to Solyndra]?”

Plouffe’s answer: “Well, let’s step back for a minute. We have to win this race, you know, we–if we don’t win the clean energy race in terms of technology, innovation, and jobs, and cede it to other countries, we’re not going to have the century–we need this. It’d be like us ceding the automotive industry race or the Internet and computer race.” [emphasis mine]

What pure balderdash! I am sure that Henry Ford would not be happy to hear that the White House was taking credit for his successes – like inventing the assembly line. The success of the American automotive industry and Internet was not because the government subsidizing Henry Ford or Bill Gates or Steve Jobs; it was because private investors saw the value of their ideas.

David Gregory’s question goes to the heart of our economic train wreck. Where in the Constitution does it state that Congress should be playing the role of venture capitalist and funding one business over another? What authorizes the government to fund one particular business – whether it’s Solyndra or Exxon – with everyone else’s money?

Ethanol producers receive billions in government subsidies. What does it accomplish? It increases the price the farmers pay to feed their livestock, devours huge quantities of the corn supply (more than 40%), and increases the price of corn for American families and families around the world. How crazy is that – a government subsidy that drives up the cost of food?

Then there is Solyndra, the bankrupt company President Obama gave a $535 million federal loan to because the company had the political acumen to attach the buzz words “green energy” to its loan application. Now we hear of other green energy companies going belly up that received these federal loans.

All these economic meltdowns lead to one fundamental question: What is the role of the federal government in private enterprise? It is past time to stop the Washington politicians “subsidizing” their corporate friends with taxpayers’ money, which means that we shouldn’t be subsidizing “green companies,” “ethanol conglomerates,” or, for that matter, “oil companies.”

I don’t say this as someone who sees “big oil” as the big boogeyman. In fact, I am a strong supporter of oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear power. But we’ve proven we can’t “subsidize” our way to lower gas prices. If we want to be energy independent and turn our economy around we should:

1) Eliminate the federal corporate tax and the tax on capital for ALL businesses. Let’s get rid of the subsidies and loopholes and cut taxes on everyone.

2) Remove the ban on drilling and drill responsibly on the Outer Continental Shelf, ANWR, and elsewhere.

3) Allow the Keystone XL pipeline to be built from Canada to the United States.

4) Ensure cap & trade is never passed.

5) Bring accountability and oversight to the Environmental Protection Agency by requiring Congress to vote and approve any EPA rules that have an annual economic impact of more than $100 million.

6) Get the federal government out of the loan and subsidy program and allow private investors to fund new energy solutions.

I challenge George Allen and Tim Kaine to join me by taking a stand to eliminate ALL energy subsidies – green subsidies, ethanol subsidies, and oil subsidies. Let’s get Obama-nomics out of the way and let the private market go to work for everyone by having a tax code that treats all businesses equally instead of subsidizing the Washington politicians’ “chosen few.”