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Oil's Washington juggernaut Tuesday, August 19, 2008
CNN Money -- NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- As angry voters spark a barrage of energy bills in Congress, the oil industry is spending record amounts of money protecting its interests. In what may be surprising to some, the most recent figures from the Center for Responsive Politics show that the oil industry gives a relatively small sum to individual political campaigns - it's 16th on a list of top 50 industries. But when it comes to lobbying - and spending money that goes toward researching, writing and convincing lawmakers to vote its way - the industry ranks fifth. If the spending continues at the current pace, the industry is set to break last year's $83 million record.
Visit CNN Money for full article

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	Tuesday, August 19, 2008 CNN Money -- NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- As angry voters spark a barrage of energy bills in Congress, the oil industry is spending record amounts of money protecting its interests. In what may be surprising to some, the most recent figures from the Center for Responsive Politics show that the oil industry gives a relatively small sum to individual political campaigns - it's 16th on a list of top 50 industries. But when it comes to lobbying - and spending money that goes toward researching, writing and convincing lawmakers to vote its way - the industry ranks fifth. If the spending continues at the current pace, the industry is set to break last year's $83 million record. Visit CNN Money for full article

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eaglev All-Star Author Oklahoma City Posts:973 Points:331,170 Joined:Jul 2005	Message Posted: 8/23/2008 4:59:09 PM	Ignore eaglev Report Abuse
	They have been pouring billions to alternative energy solutions for 30 years. We still need to drill for oil as they get a better alternative.
POLELANE Champion Author Ohio Posts:2,237 Points:237,225 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 4:01:18 PM	Ignore POLELANE Report Abuse
	nothing in dc moves fast enough to deserve that description
LanguageMan1 Champion Author Tampa Posts:2,405 Points:167,795 Joined:Apr 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 11:23:03 AM	Ignore LanguageMan1 Report Abuse
	Of course oil lobby is among those spending the most out there! Intead of drilling for and producing oil, they find ways not to do that!; including buying back their own stock! They in turn make it harder for everyone and even themselves without realizing it! That's right Bannack! So Congress is doing more for them than for the rest of us! [Edited by: LanguageMan1 at 8/20/2008 11:24:34 AM EST]
HawaiianGuy Champion Author Idaho Posts:1,369 Points:1,474,640 Joined:May 2003	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 11:14:46 AM	Ignore HawaiianGuy Report Abuse
	And how much of that so-called lobbying actually ends up being "payola"? What a shameful practice that is.
Bannack All-Star Author Florida Posts:750 Points:134,445 Joined:May 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:54:15 AM	Ignore Bannack Report Abuse
	Big business is right.
rusty_armor Sophomore Author Texas Posts:106 Points:41,840 Joined:Jul 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:52:50 AM	Ignore rusty_armor Report Abuse
	Ho hum. Big business lobbies Congress with billions of dollars. Big retiree's (AARP) lobby Congress with billions of dollars Big guns (NRA) lobby Congress with billions of dollars Big labor lobbies Congress with billions of dollars Big Educrats lobby Congress with billions of dollars Big Pharmacuticals lobby Congress with billions of dollars . . . and so it goes.
scrounger Champion Author Vancouver Posts:6,266 Points:1,682,620 Joined:Mar 2003	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:51:15 AM	Ignore scrounger Report Abuse
	the bucks spent on lobbying should be used for usefull purposes
Don20 Champion Author Oklahoma City Posts:1,520 Points:1,012,795 Joined:Mar 2005	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:51:09 AM	Ignore Don20 Report Abuse
	To many law makers are on the take to get any bill passed.. That is the reason they are million airs after serving in govt.. Most had nothing when they went in.. (you figure it out)
toaster_ted Rookie Author Washington Posts:14 Points:10,585 Joined:Aug 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:48:00 AM	Ignore toaster_ted Report Abuse
	Who do we vote for?? some corrupt <_______> we need Abe Back !!!!
techque All-Star Author St. Louis Posts:661 Points:952,800 Joined:Apr 2005	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:42:53 AM	Ignore techque Report Abuse
	The two parties are deeply divided over how to best solve the nation's energy challenge. And they both want to use gas prices as an election issue. The Republicans are hoping voters will punish Democrats for opposing offshore drilling, while the Democrats hope to paint the Republicans as the party of Big Oil. You put the dysfunctionality and the sharp partisan issues together, and the failure to get a bill is easy to describe. and the people continue to loose.
AuburnTim Champion Author Indiana Posts:1,338 Points:368,880 Joined:May 2005	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:41:21 AM	Ignore AuburnTim Report Abuse
	We can't compete with lobbyist that have million to spend. Our congress is worthless and only way to send them a message is vote their (censored) out of office. Its totally wrong for big business to control our politcal system
mfeldstein All-Star Author Ontario Posts:548 Points:428,160 Joined:Feb 2007	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:41:14 AM	Ignore mfeldstein Report Abuse
	Why am I not surprised?
traindude All-Star Author Virginia Beach Posts:554 Points:181,670 Joined:Jun 2007	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:39:58 AM	Ignore traindude Report Abuse
	votes for sale.....votes for sale here....gecher red hot vote here Ah the beauty of self preservation
Laser917 Champion Author Minnesota Posts:2,383 Points:797,080 Joined:Oct 2005	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:35:08 AM	Ignore Laser917 Report Abuse
	We can vote them out but who can you vote for that won't be such an A$$
BoerneWatch Champion Author San Antonio Posts:6,428 Points:829,160 Joined:Oct 2005	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:32:04 AM	Ignore BoerneWatch Report Abuse
	There is a story within the story. Anyone notice that the electric utility industry lobby? What they spend? Why?
Mooseman1 Champion Author Manitoba Posts:2,026 Points:308,905 Joined:Jul 2007	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:30:40 AM	Ignore Mooseman1 Report Abuse
	Just what we need, multiple suites to drive the price up even more.
tdn117 Rookie Author Twin Cities Posts:79 Points:232,780 Joined:May 2001	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:29:43 AM	Ignore tdn117 Report Abuse
	Better CNNMoney Article "democrats distort oil drilling debate" I think it's important for the American people to understand we're not going to drill our way out of this problem. it's also important to recognize if you start drilling now you won't see a drop of oil for ten years, which means it's not going to have a significant impact on short-term prices." - U.S. Senator Barack Obama, Aug. 8, 2008 If Senator Obama - as well as every other leading democrat who's uttered some variation of the above - merely wanted to remind the American people that there are no easy answers to the ongoing energy crisis, I'd say bravo to them. Washington can't just snap its collective fingers and bring back $1.50-a-gallon gasoline, yet too many Americans seem to think otherwise. Unfortunately though this is not the point the dems are trying to make. They're using the drilling-takes-too-long argument as cudgel against those who want to lift the ban on offshore drilling and end the moratorium on oil shale production in the American West. They say there's no point in allowing more drilling if the oil won't hit the market for five or ten years. Thing is, if Congressional democrats are really going to oppose any energy initiative that doesn't yield quick results, then they'd better rethink their support for alternative energies like wind and solar too. Wind projects can take years to get off the ground. Oilman T. Boone Pickens announced his huge Texas panhandle wind farm in 2007, but the project isn't expected to be up and running until 2011. It is government's job to think long term, which is exactly why Congress should allow more offshore oil exploration. I've already written in this space about the absurd moratorium on oil-shale production. As far as offshore drilling goes, what's most frustrating is we can't even have an informed debate. There may be very little undiscovered oil in the outer continental shelf (OCS), or there may be a multiple oil fields the size of Tupi - the monster field that Petrobras discovered off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in 2006. We just don't know how much oil is out there because oil companies have no incentive to do the costly seismic surveys required to find out. "The fact is that much of the data we have about potential resources in prospective OCS areas is very limited - the equivalent of a few snapshots the size of postage stamps - because it's based on technology that is more than 25 years old," Chevron CEO David O'Reilly said last year. "When we consider the development of domestic oil and gas resources in the OCS, we've created a kind of Gordian knot in the policy arena. We've become paralyzed in a debate confined by fixed positions and fuzzy data." And now fuzzy logic too.
NavyEOD Champion Author Los Angeles Posts:1,956 Points:430,415 Joined:Jul 2007	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:29:26 AM	Ignore NavyEOD Report Abuse
	No suprise here.
acknot All-Star Author Seattle Posts:867 Points:641,600 Joined:Sep 2003	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:29:10 AM	Ignore acknot Report Abuse
	What did you expect? Money talks.
Gerund1 Champion Author Toronto Posts:1,147 Points:828,105 Joined:Apr 2003	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:28:50 AM	Ignore Gerund1 Report Abuse
	That's what happens when an industry, any industry, gets to big and wealthy. They can afford to use millions on lobby group support which is often not in the best intrests of tax payers.
Pede Champion Author New Jersey Posts:1,089 Points:146,255 Joined:Apr 2007	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:25:40 AM	Ignore Pede Report Abuse
	You get a lot of fame and fortune if you are a politican
laddyboy62 Champion Author Riverside Posts:1,576 Points:993,360 Joined:Mar 2005	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:24:31 AM	Ignore laddyboy62 Report Abuse
	you go with your bad self roo...vent baby vent
hwnguy All-Star Author Honolulu Posts:620 Points:141,680 Joined:Apr 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:23:11 AM	Ignore hwnguy Report Abuse
	Who wants to be a politician?
jackson661 Veteran Author Columbus Posts:445 Points:48,080 Joined:May 2006	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:23:02 AM	Ignore jackson661 Report Abuse
	The Oil industry spending heavily on lobbying. It really shows the true colors of this candidate with comments from John McCain, "If cash equals friendship,then the oil industry are best friends".
Roo08 Veteran Author Grand Rapids Posts:398 Points:51,915 Joined:Jul 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:20:23 AM	Ignore Roo08 Report Abuse
	Lobbyist couldn't be successful at what they do if congress wouldn't take from them. We keep passing laws about money in politics and it keeps getting worse. We need to have free and open politics. Get rid of these pacs. Let people individually give and make it all above board. Then there would be no secrets and we'd see just how much each congress person receives and from who. We also need to have some sort of report that shows where a congress person and their families invest so we could see how many are looking out for their own investments. I do mean families, extended for quite a while. If they are going to be in control of our lives more and more we need to see what they are up to that is affecting our lives. Look at the Mayor of Detroit, he is an obvious criminal and they can't even throw him out. He was witness tampering by talking to people that were going to testify in his trial and nothing has happened yet. He is just the last in a chain of crooked politicians. They get away with anything it seems.
tdn117 Rookie Author Twin Cities Posts:79 Points:232,780 Joined:May 2001	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:19:56 AM	Ignore tdn117 Report Abuse
	Previous Comment - "right, keep blaming the environmentalists - looks like y'all have been drinking the oil lobby's lemonade a little too long" Let's try that again, shall we? right, keep blaming the oil lobby - looks like y'all have been drinking the environmentalist's lemonade a little too long. That's better! In fact, I'd use "Kool-Aid" instead of "lemonade," but that's just me. You could probably substitute "Democrat's" for "environmentalist's," too.
KopterDoctor Veteran Author Alabama Posts:318 Points:54,045 Joined:May 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:18:26 AM	Ignore KopterDoctor Report Abuse
	That money could be better spent elsewhere
Brockvillian Veteran Author Ontario Posts:437 Points:277,245 Joined:May 2007	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:17:46 AM	Ignore Brockvillian Report Abuse
	Lobbyists are a the biggest problem with the US.
RochBear Champion Author Minnesota Posts:1,748 Points:503,630 Joined:May 2006	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:16:51 AM	Ignore RochBear Report Abuse
	Even lobbying congress to drill more, Pelosi and co. won't even let it come up to a vote. So the oil companies wasted $83 million, and we don't get any more oil. But come Nov. Let's vote Nancy (and her idiotic no drill friends) OUT! We need to drill here, and Develop alternatives. That's what is best for this country.
SeerLV All-Star Author Las Vegas Posts:532 Points:131,040 Joined:Jun 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:16:34 AM	Ignore SeerLV Report Abuse
	They don't throw away money so you know they get something for it.
eaglev All-Star Author Oklahoma City Posts:973 Points:331,170 Joined:Jul 2005	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:15:52 AM	Ignore eaglev Report Abuse
	It is the left that doesn't want us to drill. Tell congress to drill here drill now build now.
gasman50 Champion Author Portland Posts:1,314 Points:819,645 Joined:Nov 2005	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:12:12 AM	Ignore gasman50 Report Abuse
	I wish they would spend the money on drilling here, drilling now!
tdn117 Rookie Author Twin Cities Posts:79 Points:232,780 Joined:May 2001	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:11:33 AM	Ignore tdn117 Report Abuse
	"[o]il industry gives a relatively small sum to individual political campaigns - it's 16th on a list of top 50 industries." CNNMoney Staff Writer Steve Hargreaves goes to his editor with this fact and the editor says, "That doesn't fit the template. Oil lobbyists are a juggernaut. Says so right here in the media editor's handbook! Minimize the 16th out of top 50 fact and make the story right!" "But when it comes to lobbying - and spending money that goes toward researching, writing and convincing lawmakers to vote its way - the industry ranks fifth. If the spending continues at the current pace, the industry is set to break last year's $83 million record." CNNMoney Editor reads this and says, "That's better - now you're headed in the right direction! Keep working on it . . ." Never mind that Drugs, Insurance, Electric Utilities, and Computers are spending more than the oil industry. CNNMoney Editor looks at the list and says, "Hey, drug companies are up there - another industry we're supposed to beat up. I'll get Master Steve on that one next . . . Friggin' non-story . . .
Dennis783 Champion Author Wisconsin Posts:5,598 Points:1,121,970 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:10:26 AM	Ignore Dennis783 Report Abuse
	with this do nothing congress I say throw the bums out!
katkAL Sophomore Author Alabama Posts:227 Points:80,435 Joined:May 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:09:26 AM	Ignore katkAL Report Abuse
	Lobbyists are actually the ones who get laws introduced. They seem to really be the most powerful people in our country!
docwilly All-Star Author Scranton Posts:520 Points:101,230 Joined:Feb 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:07:46 AM	Ignore docwilly Report Abuse
	Put the lobbyists and speculators ona sle boat (hot-air powered) to someplace, anyplace
no1doc All-Star Author Milwaukee Posts:900 Points:164,975 Joined:Oct 2007	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:07:20 AM	Ignore no1doc Report Abuse
	At least the money isn't going for campaign contributions
tomok Champion Author Portland Posts:9,610 Points:718,135 Joined:Aug 2006	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:04:38 AM	Ignore tomok Report Abuse
	Lobbying should be illegal, along with their money 'donations.'
flatcoatfun All-Star Author Orlando Posts:647 Points:194,745 Joined:Nov 2007	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:04:09 AM	Ignore flatcoatfun Report Abuse
	all such a waste of money.....
ledoy Champion Author Dayton Posts:5,090 Points:1,032,475 Joined:Aug 2005	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:03:32 AM	Ignore ledoy Report Abuse
	can't washington find something better
DarthDadJr Veteran Author Virginia Posts:457 Points:95,310 Joined:Jul 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:03:19 AM	Ignore DarthDadJr Report Abuse
	The President and Congress have always been late the party when it comes to energy...this is a problem that has been around since the 70's and all they have ever done is talk!
tbybee Veteran Author Omaha Posts:292 Points:107,625 Joined:Apr 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:03:05 AM	Ignore tbybee Report Abuse
	Not surprising with so much money at stake.
HybridPete Champion Author Detroit Posts:1,386 Points:275,005 Joined:Jan 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:01:57 AM	Ignore HybridPete Report Abuse
	With this being an election year it will be interesting to see what kind of influence the politicos have on the gas prices. The scary part is what will happen to those prices after the election??
mattf373 All-Star Author Atlanta Posts:556 Points:105,770 Joined:Mar 2003	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:01:01 AM	Ignore mattf373 Report Abuse
	the polls say McSame is in the lead now, i bet its bc of his drill now stance.
rbdesigns Veteran Author Modesto Posts:492 Points:168,940 Joined:May 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:00:38 AM	Ignore rbdesigns Report Abuse
	With elections coming up, we need to make sure we vote out the politicians that don't want to help the crisis.
thedennis64 All-Star Author Dallas Posts:721 Points:724,345 Joined:Aug 2003	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 10:00:23 AM	Ignore thedennis64 Report Abuse
	If Congress would just allow domestic drilling, all this would be unnecessary.
GasholeMI Champion Author Lansing Posts:1,474 Points:113,540 Joined:Jul 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 9:59:47 AM	Ignore GasholeMI Report Abuse
	I wish the oil people would invest some of the money on alternative energy instead of on politicians who only think of themselves for the mostpart. Oh year--and drill drill drill.
tobasco Champion Author Los Angeles Posts:3,107 Points:832,245 Joined:Mar 2004	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 9:57:23 AM	Ignore tobasco Report Abuse
	We only get a crack at elected officials every on even years at best. Lobbyists get to them every day.
JettaJunkie Champion Author Connecticut Posts:6,413 Points:1,123,125 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 9:55:03 AM	Ignore JettaJunkie Report Abuse
	Just a question for all those who are "complaining" here about broken government - what are you doing (legally) to fix it? Did you vote for the incumbent last time? Have you really (and repeatedly) contacted your elected officials to do something - or anything? Are you actively involved in some other process to make change? Or are you waiting for "someone else" to fix it for you? Just curious.
LeoStraussLives All-Star Author Detroit Posts:589 Points:15,675 Joined:Jun 2008	Message Posted: 8/20/2008 9:53:15 AM	Ignore LeoStraussLives Report Abuse
	Driver Dave You are only looking at one aspect. Most oil companies rake in much more than that through the vertical distributions. They make it on the price of refining, distributing, sales to gas stations, etc. . . Plus 17 cents on a gallon of gas refined is a very decent profit.