President Bush continues to bankrupt the nation (this year's deficit may break all records) while continuing to reward his good friends in the oil industry with barrels of cash. That's your money he's spending, folks.
From Yubanet
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) today stressed the importance of ending the royalty "holiday" that energy companies drilling in federal waters have enjoyed for more than seven years. Earlier this week, the U.S. Interior Department's Inspector General Earl Devaney confirmed that oil and gas companies have avoided paying the government billions of dollars in royalties due to an administrative error on drilling contracts signed in 1998 and 1999. It has also been reported that the Bush administration may be continuing to draw up new contracts which allow companies to avoid royalty payments.
"The Inspector General confirmed this week that the treasury has lost billions of dollars due to an administrative error that allowed oil and gas companies to drill in federal waters for free despite their record profits," Senator Feinstein said. "At current high prices, companies don't need these additional incentives to drill. Instead, we need to provide incentives for oil and gas companies to renegotiate their leases and end these unnecessary federal handouts. Taxpayers should no longer be forced to bear the burden of $10 billion in lost revenue because of this clerical omission."
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