Oil Companies Prospect For Friendly Lawmakers

We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that Ted Stevens was indicted yesterday for his failure to disclose the gifts he received from an oil company, Veco Energy. And Stevens isn't their only project - they've donated legal contributions, and who knows how many illegal ones, to the campaign committees and PACs of a good portion of the Republican Party, plus Daniel Inouye (D-HI), the only Democratic Senator to be supportive of Stevens yesterday.

VECO contributions to active Washington politicians (1992-Present).
Don Young (R-AK) $190,530
Ted Stevens (R-AK) $102,500
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) $42,250
George W. Bush (R) $20,050
Daniel Inouye (D-HI) $13,000
Norm Coleman (R-MN) $7,000
Richard Burr (R-NC) $6,000
Tom Coburn (R-OK) $6,000
Jim DeMint (R-SC) $6,000
John Sununu (R-NH) $6,000
John Thune (R-SD) $6,000
David Vitter (R-LA) $6,000
Kit Bond (R-MO) $4,516
Arlen Specter (R-PA) $4,000
George Voinovich (R-OH) $3,750
John Ensign (R-NV) $2,000
Steve Pearce (R-NM) $1,000
Jon Porter (R-NV) $1,000
Dennis Rehberg (R-MT) $1,000
Barbara Cubin (R-WY) $500
Larry Craig (R-ID) $200

Between this and the large oil spill on the Mississippi River last week, there's plenty of ammo to go after the "Drill Now" crowd. And I actually believe that this whole thing is being played on the bully principle. Remember in 2006 when conservatives ran on immigration and said it would be a defining issue, and it, er, wasn't? I think "drill now" is this year's version of that. To their credit, both Sen. Reid and Rep. Pelosi aren't backing down to Bush's angry remonstrances, suggesting that they know this is a tempest in a teapot. I think their position is somewhat strong but of course it's so hard to get progressive messages out.

Maybe we can compromise. They just found oil on a moon of Saturn. I nominate McCain to be the first prospector. He can even be named President of Saturn. This works on a lot of levels.