''Senate tax bill attracts Democratic efforts to squeeze oil, gas companies''

"Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., proposed the ban on price gouging, which was defeated despite winning support from 57 senators. Under Senate rules, the amendment needed 60 votes to pass. Forty-two senators opposed the measure.

Cantwell blasted Senate Republicans for blocking the amendment, which she said would protect American families from skyrocketing fuel costs.

"Americans will spend over $200 billion more on energy this year than they did last year," said Cantwell, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "That's hundreds of billions of dollars coming directly out of family budgets and the bottom lines of businesses across the country."-from the AP story, "Senate tax bill attracts Democratic efforts to squeeze oil, gas companies."