Going After Big Oil Will Backfire

As we noted last week, the Democrat plans to go after the oil industry will be harmful to the economony. In the New York Post today, Mackubin Owens says the slap at Big Oil will backfire.

The new Democratic majority in Congress has taken aim at the oil and gas industry. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already rammed through part of her plan to "roll back the multibillion-dollar subsidies for Big Oil" through the House, with more to come; the Senate may well follow.

Democrats talk about these measures as promoting U.S. energy independence. But the clear result, should such policies become law, would be the exact opposite. By increasing the cost of domestic oil and gas production, Democrats would increase U.S. reliance on energy imports.

"Big Oil" makes a tempting target because of the mistaken belief that oil profits are unusually high. It's a widespread belief - Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly has railed against "oil profiteering," too - but it's wrong. Oil-industry profits are in line with those in the rest of the economy.

If the economy tanks, will Pelosi and her greedy minons take the blame? Somehow I doubt the Big Media will remember.