The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted against taking up a new energy package that would revoke $17 billion in tax breaks extended to big oil companies like Exxon Mobil Corp and slap a 25 percent windfall profits tax on firms that don't invest in new energy sources. A week after U.S. oil prices hit an all-time peak of $139.12 a barrel and average U.S. pump prices topped $4 a gallon for the first time, Democrats moved to act on soaring gasoline pump prices, which are a growing political liability in the November presidential election.The Consumer-First Energy Act -- assembled by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other key Democrats -- would tax big energy companies and seek to put checks on oil market speculation. But the bill's opponents -- mostly Republicans -- blocked a key vote that would have allowed the Senate to formally debate the bill. The White House had threatened to veto it.
