I found it highly, er, "curious" last week when the executives of Big Oil, in a joint hearing before the Senate Energy and Commerce committees, were not sworn in. Interestingly, according to the Washington Post:
When Energy Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska, $102,190 [from the oil and gas industry this year] announced that he would not require the executives to give their testimony under oath, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash., $9,400) asked for a vote on the issue. Stevens shot back: "There will be no vote . . . It's the decision of the chairman, and I have made that decision."
Why was Senator Stevens being so protective of the oil guys, summoned to Washington DC in order to explain their record, eye-popping profits? Perhaps it has to do with today's Washington Post lead story, "Document Says Oil Chiefs Met With Cheney Task Force." Turns out that the Big Oil guys weren't telling "the whole truth and nothing but the truth" (whoops, I almost forgot, they weren't sworn in!) last week. In fact, to be blunt, they are now exposed as a bunch of liars:
A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001 -- something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress.The document, obtained this week by The Washington Post, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil Corp., Conoco (before its merger with Phillips), Shell Oil Co. and BP America Inc. met in the White House complex with the Cheney aides who were developing a national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated.
So why all the secrecy and coverup? Why has the White House stonewalled for nearly 4 years on releasing documents pertaining the to the Cheney Energy Task Force? Could it be, as the National Resource Defense Council charges, that the Bush White House allowed and even encourage Big Oil to provide "extensive advice" and even "word for word" into the Administration's energy bill?
Perhaps that's how billions of dollars in extra subsidies (aka, "Corporate Welfare Run Amok") were doled out to the richest companies in the world? Perhaps the Bush White House has been in bed with their friends and campaign contributors from Big Oil since Day #1? Perhaps this White House is corrupt through and through, without a shred of decency in any way, shape or form? Perhaps this "Conservative" Congress needs to be replaced AS SOON AS POSSIBLE by one controlled by the Democrats, who can thoroughly investigate this scandal - and all the other scandals, lies, and abuses of power -- of the past 5 years?
I say it's high time. I also say it's long past high time to investigate the oil company executives, call them back to Congress and this time make them testify UNDER OATH. If they perjure themselves, I suggest we throw their asses in jail along with Ken Lay, Tom DeLay, and all the other "lying liars" that constitute today's national Republican "leadership."