Senate Rebuffs Obama’s Plea To End Big Oil Tax Breaks [VIDEO]

The Senate has rebuffed efforts to move ahead on a bill to repeal tax breaks for oil companies.

A procedural vote that would have allowed the Senate to act on the measure failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority.

The vote came just moments after President Barack Obama pleaded for Congress to end the $4 billion in tax subsidies.

Obama used a White House Rose Garden appearance to argue that Americans are getting hit twice — once at the gas pump, and once more by sending billions of dollars in tax subsidies to oil companies.

He spoke before a crowd that included representatives from energy, business and environmental groups, as well as people who wrote on social media sites about how rising gas costs affected their finances.

Obama says oil companies are pulling in record profits and shouldn't get taxpayer help when that money could be used on alternative energy.

Many congressional Republicans say cutting the tax breaks would lead to higher fuel prices, raising costs on oil companies and affecting their spending on exploration.

Obama couldn't end the subsidies when Democrats controlled Congress earlier in his term.