The Hill: A Senate Democratic plan to replace a series of automatic spending cuts would require tar sands producers to start paying into a fund for oil spill relief.
The Democratic package would end an exemption for the tar sands industry that excludes it from paying an 8-cent-per-barrel fee assessed on domestic and imported petroleum.
Lawmakers are working on a package of cuts aimed at replacing $85 billion of government-wide spending reductions, known as sequestration, scheduled for March 1. For more...