In all fairness, it's not just the
Republicans cowtowing to the oil companies.
The Democratic attempt to take on the major oil companies is being challenged from within, with representatives of producing states rushing to the defense of the dirty-energy industry, complicating the plan to present a stark contrast between the two parties.
Democratic Sens. Mark Begich and Mary Landrieu, who represent Alaska and Louisiana, respectively, each took to the Senate floor Wednesday to decry their party's attempt to strip tax breaks from the top oil companies.
Landrieu bemoaned the "inherent unfairness" of closing the tax loophole, insisting that doing so "will not reduce gasoline prices by one penny.”