PUMP PROBLEMS

Obama: Kill the Oil Subsidies

Seizes on sympathetic remarks by Boehner.

Seizing on the hint of bipartisanship offered by House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) on Monday, President Obama kick-started a new attempt to axe the $4 billion in tax breaks granted to oil and gas companies every year. Boehner appeared to agree with President Obama on Monday, saying Congress could look at the subsidies. "If sustained, these high prices have the potential to slow down the pace of our economy's growth at precisely the moment when we need to be accelerating it," Obama said in a letter to congressional leaders released by the White House. Obama claimed the money saved by ending the tax breaks could be invested in clean energy, and also could help temper U.S. dependence on foreign oil. The remarks by Obama and Boehner come as the cost of gasoline in many cities has ballooned in recent weeks, passing $4 a gallon in some locations.