OOPS, They Did It Again! Mar 29, 2012 | By ThinkProgress War Room GOP Votes to End Medicare In Order to Finance Giveaways to the Wealthy, Big Oil Today was a big day on Capitol Hill. Republicans made crystal clear exactly whose side they're on — that of the wealthiest 1 Percent and special interests like Big Oil. Here's a rundown of today's action. House Republicans Approve Budget That Ends Medicare, Slashes Taxes on the Wealthy 
Just like they did last year, Republicans almost unanimously voted for a radical budget proposal that ends the Medicare guarantee in order to partially* offset deep tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. How radical is the plan the House passed today? It would pull the rug out from under the elderly (and more or less everyone else in one way or another) while giving millionaires a $265,000 tax cut on top of what they'd each get from the expiring Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. The parade of horribles for the elderly, students, low-income Americans, the middle class, the housing market, our public lands, and virtually every facet of society is too long to list here, but check out our complete coverage of this disastrous budget for all of the details. 10 Republicans, some of whom thought the proposal did not go far enough, voted against it, while ZERO Democrats voted in favor of the extreme plan. *Even slashing Medicare and nearly every other program or service that Americans benefit from each day isn't enough to pay for the Republican plan's massive tax cuts for the wealthy. These tax cuts are so big that the Republican plan actually makes the deficit and debt worse. Senate Republicans Vote to Protect $24 BILLION in Giveaways to Big Oil 
Not to be outdone by their compatriots on the other side of the Capitol, Senate Republicans voted en masse to protect $24 BILLION in wasteful and unnecessary taxpayer-funded giveaways to the five largest oil companies. Though 51 Senators voted in favor of the bill (Maine's Republican Senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, joined with 49 Democrats), it was defeated due to the Senate's now-standard 60-vote requirement. Unfortunately, four Democratic Senators — Ben Nelson (NE), Mary Landrieu (LA), Jim Webb (VA), and Mark Begich (AK) — joined 43 Republicans in siding with Big Oil to vote down the proposal. Big Oil is well-known for making it rain in the halls of Congress, but a closer look at its largesse in the context of today's vote is particularly shocking. The 47 Senators voting to protect $24 BILLION in giveaways to Big Oil have received a whopping $23,582,500 from Big Oil. The 51 Senators who stood with the 99 Percent received less than a quarter of that sum. $24 MILLION for $24 BILLION in giveaways is a pretty good rate of return. Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed Big Oil's lobbying arm claims that ads it's running against Senators who are up for re-election are "not related to campaign activities." Ronald Reagan's Solicitor General says he's "appalled" by the "depressing" use of Tea Party non-facts by conservative Supreme Court justices during this week's oral arguments on Obamacare. The Koch brothers are behind a Big Oil front group that just launched $3.6 MILLION in attack ads against the president. Will this be the year that the host of golf's most fabled tournament finally allows women to be members? Mitt Romney's first-world problem: the "tax problem" created by his $100 million IRA. How not to get elected to Congress: cheat on your fiancée with a consultant in Washington, DC. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) says the generals are lying about their support for Obama's Pentagon budget. A Republican meteorologist says acknowledging climate change doesn't make you liberal. The disturbing and dangerous turn toward ethnic cleansing in Syria. | 
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