With oil prices skyrocketing, and the cost of production not going up, you'd think that the oil companies must be doing well. But maybe they aren't. The Republicans somehow got a provision into the energy bill after the conference committee had closed up shop, allowing a "consortium" based of its own members to distribute over $1 billion of tax dollars to deserving oil and gas companies, with the consortium allowed to keep 10% of the funds itself for "administrative expenses".

So business must be really bad. Because the people who voted for this are the same ones who feel that most single mothers have the resources to raise their children on their own, and should not be looking for public handouts. They surely wouldn't vote an outright grant of tax funds to fat-cat businessmen unless they really needed the money...