Guess Which Democrats Are Helping Big Oil And Their Lisa Murkowski Block Clean Air Provisions

When we talk about the senatorial corruption that is probably the strongest single pillar of the kind of systemic inertia propping up the status quo, we're not necessarily talking about corporations and their lobbyists putting money directly into the pockets of senators. (There are exceptions of course, like defense contractors paying off out-and-out crooks like Duke Cunningham, Duncan Hunter and Jerry Lewis, although that was in the House, or slightly less overt examples like corporations hiring spouses of congressmembers-- sleazy characters like Doolittle and Lieberman being among the worst offenders-- and then paying them outrageous amounts of money which amount to nothing more than bribes.) No, most of the corruption is in the form of the financing of political careers.

Last night I was at a public lecture Jerrold Nadler gave at Brave New Studios in Culver City and with shocking candor he explained how it works-- in terms of the outrageous 5-4 Supreme Court coup (Citizens United v FEC)-- and its colossal danger to democracy. He talked about how some of his colleagues-- I suspect all of them-- will be looking over their shoulders, afraid to vote in the public interest when it conflicts with wealthy special interests that could finance them... or finance their political demises. But, of course, that is exactly what lifelong corporate shills like Alito, Roberts, Thomas, Scalia and Kennedy had in mind when they overturned a century of jurisprudence to give self-serving corporations-- including corporations owned by America's foreign competitors and even enemies-- free rein to buy U.S. elections.

A report today from Greenwire demonstrates the insidious nature of big corporate money dictating policy that may be good for bonus-hungry corporate managers but is disastrous for the public.

Oil and gas companies spent at least $154 million on lobbying last year, potentially besting a field of rivals battling to shape climate and energy policies and setting a new record for the industry.

Influence efforts by the oil and gas sector grew at least 16 percent in 2009 from the $132 million spent in 2008, according to an early analysis of new lobbying disclosures by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. The total reflects spending for the first nine months of 2009 plus 80 percent of reports filed for the past three months.

The electric utility industry, meanwhile, spent at least $134.7 million on lobbying last year. Combined, the two traditional energy sectors paid out nearly 10 times the $29 million that alternative energy companies allocated for lobbying efforts. Environmental organizations spent at least $21.3 million last year on lobbying.

"When a business's livelihood is at stake, they'll put a lot of money down on the table to influence the policies that will affect it," said Sam Thernstrom, fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who worked at President George W. Bush's White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Although President Obama in his State of the Union address criticized what he called "the outsized influence of lobbyists," Thernstrom said, "the policy proposals he puts forward are the kind of policy proposals that attract lobbyists."

The oil and gas industry lobbied on a number of issues other than climate legislation including taxes, health care and spending bills. It is not possible to know how much of the $154 million total went toward climate policy efforts. The total also includes some of money paid for political advertising. Oil companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., report those costs in lobbying totals, but other large petroleum companies like Chevron do not include advertising costs in lobbying reports.

The spending came during a year that saw climate legislation stall in the Senate after passage in the House. The oil and gas industry condemned the House bill as one that would drive up energy costs and kill jobs. Portions of the electric utility industry supported climate legislation but had concerns with the House bill. The two sectors worked for changes in the Senate. Alternative energy companies and environmental groups largely wanted passage in the Senate, while also lobbying for new policies like a national mandate that utilities generate a portion of their power from renewable sources.

As 2010 starts, oil and gas companies are pushing for new access to offshore drilling, welcoming Obama's State of the Union comment. Utility companies are debating whether to back an energy bill that would cap carbon emissions just for the power sector, instead of an economywide mandate. And all sectors want help in any jobs bill Congress puts forward.

Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is the daughter of one of the most corrupt men to have ever served in the U.S. Senate. When people wonder how a trashy moron like Sarah Palin could have possibly been elected governor of anything, the answer had to do with a degree of corruption unheard of even by Alaska's rather loose public morals. Senator Frank Murkowski, on the brink of being forced out of the Senate, got himself elected governor, immediately appointed his worthless daughter to fill his seat and keep the goodies flowing, and went so deep into an orgy of unparalleled and barely disguised corruption that even a nitwit like Palin, campaigning as a reformer, looked like a step up. Palin may have taken over the corruption business in state, but Murkowski's slimy daughter kept the family business going Inside-the-Beltway. Her bid to gut the Clean Air Act on behalf of the corporations that have financed her and her father's political careers is one of the most egregious examples in recent history.

The top three industries financing Murkowski's Senate career are Electric utilities ($391,313), Oil and Gas ($370,213) and Lobbyists ($301,268). That's over a million reasons to take the leading role in killing the kind of environmental legislation most Americans want. [Her career-long #1 single donor is an Alaska criminal organization that rivals the Mafia in terms of corruption-- Veco, all of whose senior management is under indictment or being investigated by the FBI and state authorities for bribing federal and state office holders.]

But, don't get me wrong. Murkowski doesn't have the strength to gut the Clean Air Act on her own-- not even with lockstep obstructionism from the entire Republic caucus. But the Senate is ruled not by a progressive Democratic majority-- super or otherwise-- but by a bipartisan conservative consensus that includes the whole GOP and as many as a dozen conservative Democrats, almost every one of whom is extremely corrupt and more motivated by the "contributions" from Big Business than by any kind of ideology. In the case of Murkowski's latest foray into poisoning America's people, she had plenty of solidarity from the worst of the conservative Democrats. One, who is trying to burnish her corporate credentials for her post-Senate career (which even she knows will begin next year) is Arkansas corporate hack Blanche Lincoln, one of the most for-sale senators in history. She feeds at the same trough as most Republicans, scooping up immense amounts of corporate and lobbyist cash for her failing career in politics.

With the help of our readers and donors Blue America has been helping-- very successfully-- Arkansas voters focus their minds of Blanche's astounding lack of public morality and her shocking-- even for the Senate-- corruption. If you'd like to help with the ongoing effort (or just see the ads), please take a look here. Lincoln has teamed up with two of the most corrupt and most reactionary Democrats-- funny how those traits always go together-- to make sure Frank Murkowski's legacy is upheld by his daughter. Corporate shills Mary Landrieu (LA) and Ben Nelson (NE), along with Blanche, are co-sponsors of Murkowski's deadly proposal. MoveOn is running some powerful ads to let voters-- and air breathers-- in Louisiana, Nebraska and Arkansas know what "their" senators are up to. MoveOn is asking people to sign a petition-- almost 200,000 already have, they will present to the Senate next week when Murkowski's anti global warming legislation gets voted on.