OBAMA HAS GOOD TIMING

Just as Exxon/Mobil reported a quarterly profit of $11.78 billion, the largest in history for a U.S. company, Obama goes on the attack.

Obama slams McCain over oil company tax breaks
By Mike Glover, Associated Press Writer

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama seized on a record oil company profit to argue that rival John McCain offers only tax breaks for Big Oil and "short-term gimmicks" to consumers struggling with soaring gasoline prices.

The Illinois senator quickly incorporated news of ExxonMobil's nearly $12 billion quarterly profit into his remarks at a town hall meeting here.

No U.S. corporation ever made that much in a quarter," Obama said. "But while Big Oil is making record profits, you are paying record prices at the pump and our economy is leaving working people behind."

McCain's response, Obama said, is to propose a corporate tax plan that would give "$4 billion each year to the oil companies, including $1.2 billion for ExxonMobil alone" and a gas tax holiday that Obama said would only "pad oil company profits and save you — at best — half a tank of gas" over an entire summer.