Obama calls for end to oil, gas subsidies
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.
GOP: Obama tax hike won't help gas prices
WASHINGTON, April 30 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to raise energy taxes can only drive the price of gasoline higher, Rep. James Lankford, R-Okla., said in the party's address.
The freshman Republican said gasoline prices are almost double what they were when Obama took office two years ago.
"For more than two years, his administration has knowingly increased energy prices by choking off new sources of traditional American energy and smothering our economy in new energy regulations," Lankford said. "His latest proposal -- hiking taxes by billions of dollars –- will not lower gas prices and would actually make the problem worse."
The congressman said in coming days, the Republican-dominated House would take up debate on the GOP's American Energy Initiative, which he said would rein in energy costs by reducing reliance on foreign oil and create U.S. jobs.
On the ongoing budget battle, Lankford said the Republican version "would not affect current Medicare beneficiaries, or any U.S. citizen 55 or older.
"We want them to have access to the same kind of medical retirement options that members of Congress and all federal employees benefit from," he said.
William and Kate depart for honeymoon
LONDON, April 30 (UPI) -- British newlyweds Prince William and Duchess Kate set off on their honeymoon Saturday, lifting off from Buckingham Palace by military helicopter.
A day after tens of millions of people in Britain and around the world watched their pageantry-steeped wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey, the couple declined to say where they would spend the next two weeks and asked the media for privacy, the BBC reported.
After the ceremony, there was a reception for about 300 family and friends at Buckingham Palace, although Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip did not attend, the report said.
Bookmakers in Britain gave best odds to the newlyweds traveling to Kenya, as both are fond of hot, dry weather, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Meanwhile, royal spokesman Paddy Harverson told the BBC the couple will live in Angesley, Wales, because of William's Royal Air Force job as a rescue helicopter pilot.
"The most important thing to remember is that he's not heir to the throne, he's second in line, and he's not a full-time royal, he's a full-time pilot working a normal job for the RAF search and rescue," Harverson said.
William is second in line to throne behind his father, Prince Charles.
Harverson also said while technically Kate was the Duchess of Cambridge, because she had married a prince, it was "absolutely natural" she could be referred to as Princess Kate, the Telegraph said.
Political unrest turns bloody in Uganda
KAMPALA, Uganda, April 30 (UPI) -- Cost-of-living protests in Uganda have escalated and led to at least two civilian deaths as police vowed to use live ammunition to restore peace.
The unrest has been simmering for about two weeks since opposition leader Kizza Besigye declared a "walk to work" uprising to protest high gas and transportation costs, The Guardian reported Saturday.
Besigye is a medical doctor who lost to longtime President Yoweri Museveni in a February election Besigye claims was rigged, the BBC said.
Museveni has banned public demonstrations, but by Friday night, local media said two people had been killed by police officers, some 120 had been injured and nearly 400 people arrested.
Besigye was also injured when police smashed his car window and burned his eyes with pepper spray, the BBC said. Despite being arrested, he was allowed to travel to Kenya for medical treatment for his eyes, the reports said.
The Guardian said the anti-government sentiment is being helped by postings to the Internet Facebook and YouTube sites, which Musaveni unsuccessfully tried to block.
The reports said the unrest has spread outward from Kampala and many roads were blocked by piles of burning tires as protesters pelted vehicles with stones.
