let no good deed go unpunished – barton’s citgo investigation
i’m not going to pretend to know the nuances that work around this story, but the big picture is pretty sad.
Big Oil fan after little man [ny daily news, 2006.02.23]Rep. Joe Barton, the powerful Texas Republican who is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, launched a bizarre investigation last week into possible antitrust violations by a major oil company.
You will be surprised to learn that Barton, one of the top recipients in Congress of campaign donations from the energy industry, is not probing whether ExxonMobil or Chevron or any of the other oil giants engaged in price gouging when gasoline and heating oil costs skyrocketed the past few years.
No, the good congressman has set his sights on the only oil company that actually dared to lower its prices last year – at least for the poorest Americans.
so, in a period with oil companies posting record quarterly profits, and even politicians making noise about the high price of oil products, the investigation that the united states congress decides to pursue is how one company decided to help keep poor people warm in the winter.
note to self: kick the next homeless person i see on the street; if i toss them a sandwich, it sounds like my congressperson might want to see my desk calendar.