Oil companies still make a bundle

Re “Congress has changed, but business can deal with it,” Jan. 22

The Times points out that of an estimated $32 billion in subsidies and tax breaks that the oil companies are scheduled to receive over the next five years, the final House bill will cut only $5.5 billion, not the elimination of the whole giveaway program as intended. Exxon Mobil alone made a $36-billion profit in 2005. Why does the most profitable business in the nation receive subsidies and tax breaks at all? Democrats are still aglow from celebrating the return to a fairer representation of the American people in the House and the Senate, but the very first step by the Democratic leadership of “walking the talk” turns out to have ended in a spill. Does this foreshadow the style of the new majority? A continuation of politics as usual?

HERMANN BACHOFNER

Beverly Hills