WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama's top Republican foe in the US Congress said Monday that lawmakers should consider cutting multi-billion-dollar subsidies to oil companies now enjoying record profits.
"It's certainly something we should be looking at," House Speaker John Boehner told ABC television in an interview. "We're in a time when the federal government's short on revenues. They ought to be paying their fair share."
But Boehner warned he would "see all the facts," including the likely impact on job growth, before moving to cut such government aid to oil giants -- a step Obama has endorsed, saying it could save nearly $50 billion over ten years.
"I don't want to hear a bunch of political rhetoric," the speaker said. "I want to know what impact this is going have on job creation here in America."
Boehner also warned that Obama will lose his 2012 reelection bid unless the economy improves and gasoline prices are held in check, saying voters will hold the president responsible for pain at the pump.
"They're going to blame somebody, all right? And the fact is he has done nothing to help the situation," the speaker told ABC in his home state of Ohio.
Asked whether Obama could win in 2012, Boehner replied "who knows?" but emphasized that the president's fortunes would turn on classic pocketbook issues as well as the impact of his landmark health care overhaul.
"If the economy doesn't get better, I don't think he'll win. If people don't feel better about government-run healthcare, I don't think he'll win. And if gas prices are $5 or $6, he certainly isn't going to win," he said.
Obama's job approval ratings have slipped in public opinion polls, a drift analysts have blamed on the unpopular conflict with Libya and soaring gasoline prices.
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