U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) spoke on the senate floor today in favor of a bill that would close tax breaks for big oil companies—ExxonMobil, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Chevron Texaco, and BP—and direct the estimated $21 billion windfall to deficit reduction.

Murray called the move a "no brainer" saying:

Anyone who is serious about reducing the deficit should support this effort. It’s as simple as that. The big oil companies are already making billions of dollars in profits from families in America who are paying sky-high prices at the pump. In fact, the five biggest oil companies have made nearly a trillion dollars in profits in the last decade, and 36 billion dollars profit in the first three months of this year alone!!

But the big oil companies aren’t just making money hand over fist from families paying sky-high prices at the pump,  they also have the gall to come back to those same taxpayers and demand billions more in subsidies that add directly to their profits!

It just doesn’t make any sense. And it needs to end.

However, according to President Obama there's a different no-brainer solution: He has said the money should go to subsidize alternative energy not deficit reduction.

Murray did not address the difference with the president in her floor remarks.  So, we asked about the difference of opinion.And while not directly addressing the question (ie, why she prefers the senate idea over Obama's proposal?), her office told us:

Senator Murray believes that these wasteful taxpayer-funded subsidies to big oil companies need to end. She supports this legislation that would use the savings to pay down the debt, and she also supports investments in clean-energy technology to reduce gas prices and help our country reduce its dependence on foreign oil.

We haven't asked her office about the exclamation marks in the text of her speech, though, which seem like an odd touch.