BOSTON - Democrats are opening up a new line of attack on
U.S. Sen.
Scott Brown, casting the
Massachusetts Republican as a high-powered friend of "Big Oil" at a time of rising gasoline prices.
Brown's chief Democratic rival,
Elizabeth Warren, is pointing to Brown's vote Thursday against a Democratic measure that would have ended $4 billion in tax subsidies to oil companies.
Democrats note that the industry has pumped nearly $200,000 into Brown's campaign. The industry's main lobbying group also ran ads recently urging voters to ask Brown to oppose measures the industry said would raise taxes on energy producers.
Brown defended his vote, saying ending subsidies won't bring down gas prices. He said the bill was designed to help Democrats craft political ads instead of addressing the nation's energy woes.
"If you want to have a conversation about our tax code and subsidies that entities are getting, sure let's have that, but let's have that as part of an overall reform and review policy, not just pitting up things for commercials in November," Brown said Friday after touring a fire station in Boston.
Brown also said he's voted against ethanol subsidies and supports the Keystone XL pipeline, which he said could bring down gas prices.
The 1,700-mile
Canada-Texas project became a political flashpoint late last year when Republicans wrote a provision forcing
President Barack Obama to make a decision, and environmental groups waged a campaign to kill the project. In January, Obama delayed it, saying the deadline didn't leave enough time for review. ...
