More Billions

And these guys get billions in tax breaks.

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest publicly traded oil company, on Thursday reported quarterly profit surged, driven by rising oil prices.

Revenue jumped to $88.98 billion from $82.05 billion.

Crude oil prices have risen steadily from about $20 a barrel in 2002 to over $75 last week, handing oil and gas companies a long-running profit bonanza.

Please don't say this is a bipartisan issue. The GOP (led by BushCo) bleeds oil. At least the Dems have tried to be on the right side of the equation.

Many Democrats had opposed the new tax breaks all along, and Senate Democrats pushed for a provision that would trim them in a broader tax bill that the Senate passed last fall. But that provision was not approved by the House.

Sorry GOP, politically speaking, it's too late.

On Wednesday, leading Republicans made it clear they were now willing and even eager to eliminate some of those tax breaks. [Read More]

Anger over gas prices is gaining traction in many midterm races around the nation as Democrats attack Republicans for being too close to oil companies. With many in the GOP growing uneasy, President Bush this week called for price-fixing investigations. Political analysts say the rising prices could dovetail with growing public concern over the war in Iraq to give Democrats an opening in several key races. [Read More]

If you sleep with oil, you wake up dirty.