Senate Kills Plan to Increase Oil Drilling

Looks like Republicans haven’t given up that whole “drill baby drill” thing. The Democratic-led Senate on Wednesday rejected a Republican proposal that would increase oil- and gas-drilling rights. The measure had been an effort to bring down gasoline prices, but it comes only a year after the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Although President Obama had called for more drilling prior to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, he has reversed that position and has since outright banned drilling in some areas until 2017. While Republicans say Obama’s reluctance to explore drilling in the U.S. has caused oil prices to rise, the president has blamed huge profits by oil companies that have come at the hands of high prices at the pump.