The priorities of these politicians can be summed up in the following intimately related facts: Gas and oil prices are reaching record levels, above $60 a barrel, with no relief in sight for years to come. Energy-industry profits are following the same upward trajectory, as ExxonMobil boasts second-quarter earnings over $7.5 billion, an increase of 32 percent; Conoco Phillips touts $3.1 billion for the same period, a 51 percent improvement; and Kerr-McGee heralds its own tripled earnings. To address this situation, in which suffering consumers are coughing up billions to swell the corporate bottom line, Mr. Bush’s “energy bill” gives additional billions in taxpayer subsidies to the oil, gas and nuclear interests.

Clearly the President (and the Vice President) feel that super-profits and the promise of ever-greater super-profits in the market aren’t enough to encourage investment by America’s patriotic energy companies. If our “way of life” is to continue, the Bush cronies must be paid from the federal treasury as well as the gas pump, where the current cost of filling up is no less than $50. They must also be allowed more latitude to pollute air and water, and less regulation of their propensity to gouge and manipulate the prices of gas and electricity.

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