Orange Julius Gets Oiled Up

House Speaker John Boehner had a little problem today explaining to the American people why gas prices are all Obama's fault when Republicans are insisting that oil companies get billions in taxpayer subsidies.

President Obama knows all too well what it's like to feel the wrath of rankling his base by embracing compromise with Republicans on one of their ideological positions. That's why he didn't hesitate when House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) appeared to open the door -- just a crack -- to the idea of ending payments to oil companies in an interview with ABC News released Monday afternoon. 

Indeed, Orange Julius said the following when asked about ending oil company subsidies yesterday:

"It's certainly something we should be looking at.  We're in a time when the federal government's short on revenues. They ought to be paying their fair share."

Needless to say,  Obama is calling him on that, and it's been a disaster for the House Republicans all day.  How bad is it?  They're now trying to pass off ending taxpayer subsidies to oil companies as a "tax increase" that will get passed along 100% to consumers.

Behind the scenes, GOP leaders scrambled to flat-out deny any chance of the House Republicans supporting an effort to end tax subsidies on big oil. Oil companies would simply pass the tax increase on to consumers, and that's exactly what the government shouldn't do right now with gas prices skyrocketing, one senior House GOP leadership aide told TPM in an e-mail.

"There is no current plan to raise taxes on production when it is clear that those increases in cost will be passed on directly to American families," he said. 

Hey guys?  We're already paying oil companies taxpayer money here.  If we stop doing that, isn't that a spending cut?   Isn't that cutting federal spending?  Isn't that what you guys are all about?

Now they are saying cutting these "tax expenditures" are really a tax increase because the greedy oil companies will then charge the American people for every dime they aren't getting in taxpayer freebies.  This is your argument for reducing regulation on oil giants and stopping special interests' control of the GOP?  That if you dare to stand up for the American taxpayer against the oil giants, that you have zero power to stop them from making the American family suffer at the gas pump?

That's your best argument?

By all means, keep that up, guys.  Dems smell blood here and need to press this for all it is worth.  Republicans are admitting they are powerless to stop the oil companies from screwing the American family over at the pump.  Powerless.

Think about that.