Question: Where Do Biden and Palin Disagree on Subsidies and Tax Breaks for Oil Companies?
Answer: During the 2008 vice presidential debate, in responding to Sarah Palin’s attacks concerning Barack Obama’s vote for the 2005 energy bill, Joe Biden said that "Barack Obama voted for it because it had ... real incentives for alternative energy." He also criticized Republican presidential nominee John McCain and Palin several times for "giving ExxonMobil [and other oil companies] another $4 billion tax cut" instead of lowering taxes on middle-class families.
Palin responded to Biden’s pointed attack with an emphatic denial, saying “we're not giving oil companies tax breaks,” but McCain’s energy and economic proposals tell a different story.
The policies McCain has proposed during the campaign would continue to subsidize Big Oil to the tune of $33 billion [PDF] over the next five years. And according to a report [PDF] by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, McCain’s plans would, indeed, cut taxes on oil companies by $4 billion.
“When there were separate votes on eliminating the tax breaks for the oil companies, Barack Obama voted to eliminate them. John [McCain] did not,” Biden said at one point during the debate.
Biden-Palin 2008 VP Debate FAQ Index:
- How Do Biden and Palin Differ on Climate Change?
- How Do Biden and Palin Differ on ANWR, Offshore Drilling and Renewable Energy?
- Where Does Biden Really Stand on Clean Coal?
- Why Do Biden and Palin Disagree About the 2005 Energy Bill?
- Where Do Biden and Palin Disagree on Subsidies and Tax Breaks for Oil Companies?
- Where Do Biden and Palin Line Up on a Windfall Profits Tax for Oil Companies?
- What Can Pro-Environment Voters Learn from the Biden-Palin Debate?
