While Washingtonians are crying all the way to the gas pumps, the nation’s major oil companies “are laughing all the way to the bank,” reveals a Democratic congressman who sits on the House Resources subcommittee on energy and mineral resources. “In this first quarter of this year alone,” Rep. Ron Kind on Wisconsin told Congress, “Exxon-Mobil is realizing a $5 billion profit... BP Amoco is at a $4 billion profit... Chevron, a $1.6 billion profit... [and] CONOCO with a $700 million profit already in just the first few months of 2001.
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Seeking answers
Democrats aren’t the only ones demanding answers from the oil and energy companies. Rep. J.C. Watts Jr. of Oklahoma, chairman of the House Republican Conference, asked two key committees this week for hearings to “get answers” on the high cost of energy.
“Hearings in the House on mergers, pricing and supply will shed light on the impact this has on consumers,” Watts said in a statement.Watts, former oil and gas commissioner in Oklahoma, has asked the House Resources Committee and Energy and Commerce Committee to hold hearings.
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Fleischer slaps down reporting
Pulling a card from his recent predecessors, White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer late Thursday knocked new media and ‘Internet’ reporting after the Drudge Report revealed how college mates of Jenna Bush are claiming to have made a home video of the president’s daughter in a inebriated state.
CNN reporter Major Garrett was ‘Fleischerd’ during a White House press briefing after he strayed off script to ask a question about Bush’s daughters.
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Blushing bride
“Governing in Washington is like a marriage; it takes both parties to make it work,” says Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, reflecting on Sen. Jim Jeffords’ broken vows with the GOP. “[Democratic Senate leader Tom] Daschle has now gone from chief heckler at the wedding to blushing bride.”
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Down with polls
“Contemporary polls tell us almost nothing worthwhile about the policy choices facing the nation,” Robert Weissberg writes in a policy analysis for the Cato Institute called “Why Policymakers Should Ignore Public Opinion Polls.” “Even if we were to believe that America is a nation of philosopher kings, and that every poll is perfectly executed, this heretical judgment still stands.
How many polls eliciting public generosity for innumerable worthy causes actually present respondents with a final bill? Every spending choice is independent of any other, a situation at odds with any known political reality. The term ‘tradeoff’ has apparently been banished from the pollsters’ vocabulary,” said Weissberg, a political science professor at the University of Illinois.
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GOP plays hardball on panel
resolution
“With Democrats taking over the Senate this week and pushing their own initiatives, Republican leaders are digging in their heels over negotiating a new committee structure and are threatening to hold the Democratic agenda hostage,” writes Roll Call, a Congressional weekly newspaper.
“Once Democrats take charge Wednesday, a strange scenario will unfold that will leave Democrats chairing all 20 Senate committees. Seizing on this parliamentary rarity, Republicans believe they can use this to their advantage in negotiating a new committee deal by preventing Democrats from moving their favored legislation, such as managed care reform and a minimum wage increase, through committees until a deal is hatched,” he noted.
