Dick Cheney: Snoozing Without Losing

Perhaps Dick Cheney's battery is due for replacement; he's obviously powered down. He snoozed through Chinese President Hu Jintao official visit to the White House. (None of that nonsense about "drawing the pay and doing the day" for him.) After all, several of his primary missions have been accomplished: enrich big business and big oil. They are, after all, the people who count – it's certainly not the American people, who are now playing in a daily gas lottery at the pump.

As with so many things in this administration, pay attention to what they do, not to what they say. After Bush bellowed that America is addicted to oil, Americans increasingly must make tough choices to pay for fuel. Bush displayed remarkably little of his vaunted "compassionate conservatism" as he remarked in the State of the Union:

"'The American people have got to understand what happens elsewhere in the world affects the price of gasoline you pay here,' he said, referring to skyrocketing oil demand in the booming economies of India and China. Bush also blamed the higher prices on a shortage of refinery capacity in the United States, and also on an ongoing shift in fuel additives and mixes that has caused supply hiccups in certain areas.

'When that price of gasoline goes up, it hurts working people. It hurts our small businesses. And it's a serious problem we've got to do something about. The federal government has a responsibility, by the way, to make sure...there is no price gouging,'" Bush added. Well, that's reassuring!

So is it a coincidence that no new refineries have been built for thirty years? After all, Americans stood in long lines then to fuel up. No new refineries, no increase in supply, ever rising prices as more people drive farther distances, soaring oil companies profits – all contributed to making it possible for Exxon Mobil executive Lee Raymond to get a 400 million dollar retirement package. But they want to want to cut your social security - that Bush criticized Democrats for treating it "like it's a federal program."

But while Bush reassures us that there will be no price gouging, what is he actually doing?

He's isn't objecting to a giveaway to his big oil cronies of royalty free oil and gas drilling rights amounting to $65 billion over the next 5 years – figured at $50 per barrel oil prices. Now that we're north of $70, it's even so much sweeter a deal for his buddies.

Meanwhile, Bush's budget plans for the years 2008-2011 are for drastic cuts in domestic discretionary spending:

• veterans' medical care funding cut 13%
• K-12 and vocational education funding cut 13%
• higher education funding cut 20%
• environmental and natural resources funding cut 22%
• housing funding cut 12%
• transportation funding cut 14%
• energy funding cut 29%

That's right! Amid all the cuts, what area is hardest hit? Energy funding. "Funding for these programs would be cut a total of $4.4 billion over five years. The programs in this area include research on alternatives to oil, energy conservation efforts, and emergency energy preparedness programs."

So Bush gives away to his big oil cronies $65 billion in royalties, while cutting $4.4 billion in funding for the very programs that will help Americans work toward energy independence. But who would benefit from his actions?

Almost 30 years ago President Jimmy Carter outlined ten fundamental principles for our national energy plan. "The sixth principle, and the cornerstone of our policy, is to reduce the demand through conservation. Our emphasis on conservation is a clear difference between this plan and others which merely encouraged crash production efforts. Conservation is the quickest, cheapest, most practical source of energy."

Yet federal funding for energy efficiency is taking a major hit. "In the White House's proposed 2007 budget, efficiency spending is down 17% overall from 2006 appropriations, and 25% from levels in 2002. The cuts are deeper for individual programs. Research to help industry reduce energy use is slated for a 30% decrease, and some programs are being shut down...(but) efficiency advocates are lobbying Congress to limit the damage to their cherished programs. With energy prices high and supplies tight, they argue, a mere 1% drop in demand causes prices to plunge 20%, easing cost pressures for both consumers and businesses."

Who profits, and who pays?

So, Dick Cheney can afford to snooze having orchestrated and conducted secret meetings to determine the national energy plan. After all, he had experience with Halliburton, and they have profited handsomely during the Bush-Cheney administration. As we see who profits and who pays as a result of the bargained behind closed doors energy policy, it's hard not to reflect on how Halliburton bribed the Nigerian government to win an $8.1 billion contract to build a natural gas liquefaction plant. And who headed the company then? Why, Dick Cheney!