WASHINGTON, April 30 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said Saturday taxpayer subsidies for oil and gas companies should end.
In his weekly address, Obama called on Congress to stop handing oil and gas companies $4 billion every year in taxpayer subsidies, decrying the increasing pain at the pump faced by everyday Americans.
"After the worst recession since the Great Depression, our economy is growing again," Obama said. "But I also know that a lot of folks aren't feeling as positive as some of those statistics might suggest. It's still too hard to find a job. And even if you have a job, chances are you're having a tougher time paying the rising costs of everything from groceries to gas. …
"Of course, while rising gas prices mean real pain for our families at the pump, they also mean bigger profits for oil companies. This week, the largest oil companies announced that they'd made more than $25 billion in the first few months of 2011 -- up about 30 percent from last year.
"Now, I don't have a problem with any company or industry being rewarded for their success. … But I do have a problem with the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies we've been handing out to oil and gas companies -- to the tune of $4 billion a year. … These tax giveaways aren't right. They aren't smart. And we need to end them," the president said.
AAA said Friday the average price for gas was $3.909 a gallon, compared with $3.886 Thursday and $2.877 last year. Gasoline reached its highest average price July 17, 2008, when it sold for an average $4.114.
