Carper: “Won’t someone think of the poor Koch Brother’s oil companies!?!”

Tom Carper really is a piece of work.

Democrats, ironically, are seeking to carve out new subsidies for oil refineries in an omnibus spending bill being negotiated in Congress, amid horse-trading with the GOP for an extension of valuable tax subsidies for the wind industry.

The move, led by Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del…

Go figure.

The amendment is in response to a Republican effort to add a measure to the spending bill to lift the 40-year-old ban on oil exports. Refiners on the East Coast have campaigned against removal of the export ban. They argue that lifting the ban would raise the cost of oil for them to refine into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, and force them to close facilities.

Another way of saying that would be that this might cut into the profits, and Carper style capitalism is all about ensuring the profitability of certain favored companies.

Carper’s amendment would help insulate refineries against such an impact by providing a $3-per-barrel credit to the facilities to weather the price shocks.

“Actually, he is essentially giving a giant taxpayer subsidy to certain refineries that qualify,” said Justin Sykes, federal affairs manager for the conservative Americans for Tax Reform. “It’s a $3 tax cut per barrel of oil refined from the [Northeast] and other refineries [because] if the export ban is lifted they (falsely) think they could be hurt,” Sykes said in an email.

Sykes pointed out that the measure could, “ironically,” benefit Koch Industries, owned by conservative donors the Koch brothers.

“It’s just a crazy situation to see. And for Carper to do this after his stance on subsidies is just absurd,” Sykes said.