You remember when opposition from both parties stalled Sen. Pete Domenici’s energy bill. Well, the news from the Journal’s Washington Bureau is that he’s got a new version to present to the Senate reconvening Feb. 23.
Seems he cut the subsidies to energy companies from $30 billion to a mere $14 billion. Among the cuts – $1.5 billion to oil companies for research on far-offshore drilling.
He’s also dropped a provision that would protect the makers of MTBE from lawsuits.
Presumably the billions in subsidies for his pet nuclear projects remain.
We should not demonize St. Pete. First, his welfare payments to the energy industry are less generous than what the House GOP wants to disburse. Secondly, many Democrats, including Tom Daschle, a leader, favor the bill because it gives goodies to their states. Daschle likes the gifts to the ethanol industry because it buys corn from South Dakota farmers.
Why am I telling you all this? Because everybody knows ours is a free enterprise economy. And they are wrong. Actually, we run a welfare state for big business. Only small business lives in a competitive, free enterprise world.
PS Jeff Bingaman opposes the slimmed-down bill. He says it’s not essentially different from Domenici’s first try.