Being an oil investor, I was browsing through Yahoo's various news on oil companies. It came as a bit of a shock to me that the Energy Secretary would go against members of the Republican party by opposing any requests for oil companies to give up some of their profits to help keep the poor and needy warm this winter:

http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompa...07523065_newsml

I just can't help but laugh evilly. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for asking Congress to let this liberal keep more of Chevron's oil profits. Next quarter''s dividends go the Democratic party.

How much more can the Bush administration lower its ratings? Oh well, just wait until the investigation on how the White House handled the evidence for war.

BTW: good time to buy Chevron. $57 to get a pretty well-secured and inflation-adjusted $1.80/year. Chevron hasn't lowered dividends in decades, and their board of directors is planning on $20/barrel oil returning. ($20/barrel oil? *snicker*)

Ain't Capitalism grand!

See, George is an MBA holding venture capitalist from an oil background. Of course this administration is going to let the oil industry just pound the American public this winter.
This is another reason their approval rate is at 35%.
And you can see congressional republicans with a lick of sense saying that they can see next year's campaign ads saying "where was your congressman or congresswoman when gas was $3 a gallon and your heating bill rose another grand last winter, how much oil money was in their campaign?" -sidebar, wouldn't this be a good political season next year for congressional, senatorial, gubernatorial candidates to take a no oil lobby money pledge?-
it's that ol' PT barnum Abe Lincoln thing about fooling all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time."
Conversely, this is why you are seeing the airline industry going down the tubes without that much intervention, this is a free market administration.
With labour being whomped on for thirty some years, the cost of workers to business is stable or is going down, partially because of business holding down wages and unable to rein in healthcare costs, and passing extra healthcare costs to already pressed upon workers.
And why doesn't this administration rein in healthcare expenses and gives even more breaks to drug companies, it is a pro-business free market administration. This administration hasn't figured out how to balance a greater pro-business view while at the same time of over-protecting the sub sector of the healthcare for profit industry. A lot of businesses are also suffering from the healthcare cost explosion.
KISS concept, don't need no conspiracy theories, this administration is doing what it said it would do, even though it operates mostly in a political vacuum...
I remember the old Toyota TV ad campaign, "You bought it, Toyota!".
This is why I believe that one should govern from the middle, and move to the right or left on specific issues when extraordinary circumstances intervene. You know that silly concept, the balancing attempt of representing the will of the majority and protecting the rights of the minority. Just as in business; individuals within the corporation have styles, opinions, and preferences; so it is in governing, but the system still best operates in the center.
Ya see, there should be a difference between ones own personal views on a host of issues and how one should govern. It is not unprincipled to compromise, especially when it is right or when it represents an appreciation for balancing the will of the majority and protecting minorities views, not only social or demographic minorites, but economic minorities as well.

Poetpj:

You were on quite a roll there.

I can see the perfect campaign commercial:

<Picture of a gas station sign with $3.89/gallon on its sign.>
Narrator: "Where was your representative when the oil companies were gouging you in the wake of Katrina?"
<Video of an actor looking like the representative, waving around a bunch of $100 bills and smirking>
Actor: "Picking up special interest money from Big Oil! Thanks, voters!"

In all fairness, however, I'm not sure how good of a move a windfall tax on oil companies is going to be. The tax winds up discouraging new production and exploration. Perhaps a windfall tax on oil and refining companies' dividends might be fair and sensible.

We have to remember not to get too down on the oil companies. Unless we can come up with alternatives to oil today, they're going to be the only ones that will be able to step up production and lower energy prices. And for the matter, for all the horrible things Exxon does, we can at least thank it for its 3 mbpd of oil production. Katrina took out something like 1 mbpd; losing Exxon's production would likely raise oil prices in excess of $4.50/gallon.