This is a common refrain from people that simply have no idea what they are talking about.
Let's examine a few facts about "oil subsidies":
In 2010 for example, it was estimated that roughly $4 billion was spent on "oil subsidies" in the United States. You, and the typical uninformed liberal, want to portray this as some needless handout to the "rich, greedy" oil companies. Of that figure, roughly $2.6 billion went to three items:
1) The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (this one is self explanatory)
2) Fuel Tax Exemptions for Farmers (this one gives farmers a fuel tax exemption for fuel they use on the farm)
3) The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (this helps low income people pay their heating bills)
These three "handouts to big oil" accounted for 65% of oil subsidies in the United States in 2010.
In fact, Republicans (and some Democrats) made efforts to cut back on such subsidies - and were quite vocally opposed by people such as Senator Schumer and Senator Kerry. So the next time someone rants about those greedy oil companies collecting subsidies of the backs of the poor people, you can helpfully point out that in fact about $1.6 billion of it helps poor people pay their heating bills and helps farmers manage their farms.
