The Republicans in the Senate blocked a Democratic proposal to place a tax on windfall profits from the five biggest oil companies in the country.

The Democratic energy package would have imposed a 25 percent tax on any “unreasonable” profits of the five largest U.S. oil companies, which together made $36 billion during the first three months of the year. It also would have given the government more power to address oil market speculation, opened the way for antitrust actions against countries belonging to the OPEC oil cartel, and made energy price gouging a federal crime.

Sen. Claire McCaskill summed it up pretty nicely:

“This was politics at its worst,”  “This was a refusal to debate the biggest problem confronting the American people. … That takes nerve.”

What is even more interesting is the while the GOP struck the bill down, they also struck down any attempt to amend or debate the bill. Once again, the interests of the American people have been stepped on in favor of gridlock politics.

I actually agree that the tax really may not be that great of an idea, as I believe that in the long run, the American consumer will end up paying for the tax. I do however think that the floor should be open for debate and amendments so that compromise can at least be attempted.