http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/50367/The Money Race: Politicians Win, You Lose
By Arianna Huffington, HuffingtonPost.com. Posted April 9, 2007.
The oil industry spills gobs of cash all around Washington, and politicians return the favor with mega-billion dollar thank you notes, then have the gall to pretend that all that money doesn't affect their decision-making.
Money money money -- it's the talk of the political world right now. Who raised the most? Who had the most donors? Which party raised more?
The answer to the last one is the Democrats, who crushed the Republicans in fundraising for the first quarter of 2007. But allow me to interrupt the victory parade for a moment to point out that the raising of political money isn't the whole story.
It's what happens afterwards that should command our attention.
A perfect example: the potential $10 billion oil industry windfall made possible by an omission in the offshore drilling leases agreed to in 1998 and 1999.
The Bush administration's response to what the Interior Department's Inspector General has labeled "a jaw dropping example of bureaucratic bungling" has been exactly what you would expect: do nothing and let the oil companies keep the money. Inspector General Earl Devaney called the administration's inaction on the mistake "shockingly cavalier."
The Democrats, on the other hand, pledged to fix the blunder as part of their "First 100 Hours" campaign. And, in fact, the House has already passed a bill to that effect.
But over in the Senate, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Diane Feinstein of California have suddenly gone all wobbly, and are leading an effort to water down the bill. Both of them, not coincidentally, are recipients of political donations from -- can you guess? -- oil companies. In fact, Bingaman pockets more oil money than any other Senate Democrat. And here is the quid pro quo he gave to the oil industry:
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