WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Saturday kept pressure on the Congress to end tax breaks for oil and gas companies, saying they were enjoying huge profits, as he sought to limit political fallout from rising gasoline prices.
With public anger over costs at the pump hitting Obama’s popularity as he revs up his 2012 re-election bid, he pressed his call for rolling back $4 billion in “unwarranted tax subsidies” at a time of budget belt-tightening in Washington.
But opposition Republicans continued their efforts to cast blame on the Democratic president for a surge in gas prices that is straining Americans’ pocketbooks at a time of stubbornly high unemployment and sluggish economic recovery.
“When oil companies are making huge profits and you’re struggling at the pump, and we’re scouring the federal budget for spending we can afford to do without, these tax giveaways aren’t right,” Obama said in his weekly radio and
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