Voting against our own self-interests

This week Bush promised to veto legislation that has passed in the house that would remove 1.8 billion dollars a year in tax subsidies to American Oil companies.

John McCain and the majority of Republicans in Washington stand behind this.

They're calling it 'discriminatory' to target a single industry with the removal of tax assistance. Furthermore, they claim it will 'discourage' American oil companies from investing inside the US - which would send more jobs overseas and further increase our reliance on foreign oil.

The House bill redirects these subsidies into alternative energy initiatives.

Now, let's examine the logic here:
The US subsidizes all American oil companies, we subsidize both their costs within the US and outside the US. We subsidize their expenditures for exploration, their employees wages (both American and foreign wages), their land costs / purchases. We even waive many of the clean air requirements for their refineries while subsidizing the cost of upgrading their foreign refineries to meet other countries emission requirements.

Billions and billions of dollars in subsidies all geared toward lowering the price of gas at the pump. And despite all of this, oil is over $100 a barrel and prices at the pump are at record highs. To completely moot any argument they have made against this, for several years running the oil companies have been setting quarterly record profits.

It absolutely kills me that Americans, when exposed to this blatant gouging of their own money, their own way of life, will still vote for the men who adamantly stand behind their decision to throw their own constituents under the bus.

"As long as he thanks God for driving me into poverty, and thanks Jesus for taking my job away from me, and does a few Hail Marys for killing my son in Iraq, he's ok with me." - That is what I see millions of Americans saying.

I see it and it horrifies me.