Jeff Sutherland sent me a link to this article. It blew my mind.

Consumer Energy Report:

If you were to survey people and ask the question “Should we subsidize oil companies?” — the overwhelming majority would undoubtedly respond “No!” The notion that we are subsidizing oil companies generates outrage in many people, but in this article I will show why these subsidies aren’t going to go away any time soon. The reason may surprise you. …

… The summary of oil-related subsidies for 2010 totals $4.5 billion. That is a number often thrown out there; $4 billion a year or so in support for those greedy oil companies. …

The single largest expenditure is just over $1 billion for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is designed to protect the U.S. from oil shortages.

The second largest category is just under $1 billion in tax exemptions for farm fuel. …

The third largest category? $570 million for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. …

Many smaller subsidies are intended to keep Oil jobs in the USA, rather than overseas.

When President Obama and the Democratic National Committee complain about Oil Subsidies, they’re being disingenuous. No Democratic President is going to cut them. Much.

In fact, No money from the U.S. Treasury goes to the oil industry. Everything is a tax break.

Read the article for your self – The Hard Truth: Even Liberals are Big Fans of Oil Subsidies

related – Washington Post Fact Checker – Oil War: The ad battle between ‘Big Oil’ and DNC, Part 2

After all that, I still trust that Obama is more likely to take the side of the consumer over Big Oil. But not by much. Neither he nor Romney are going to lower the price of gas at the pump. Nor the profits of American Oil companies.