No Good Deed Goes Uninvestigated

Larry Birns, director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs: "'Unfortunately for the Bush Administration, Chavez is proving to be a more inventive thinker in terms of hemispheric politics.'" Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuela’s Ambassador to the U.S. says it's just good business thinking: "'The U.S. is our biggest [oil export] customer,' says Alvarez. 'PDVSA [Citgo's parent company, the state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela] is simply responding to that client the way any company should.'" Most companies anyway. But you certainly can't expect our House of Representatives to just sit idly by while Hugo Chavez makes a monkey out of George Bush, can you? AP (02.16.06):

"The House Energy chairman said Thursday he suspects politics, not charity, is behind the Venezeulan offer to provide cheap heating oil to poor Americans. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R - TX6), and Rep. Ed Whitfield (R - KY1), chairman of the subcommittee for oversight and investigations, wrote to Houston-based Citgo Petroleum Corp., a subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, on Wednesday asking officials to provide them with all records pertaining to the program by Feb. 23." Lawmakers Seek Info on Cheap Venezuela Oil

"They said they are concerned the oil deals are 'part of an unfriendly government's increasingly belligerent and hostile foreign policy toward' the United States." To the extent Citgo is embarrassing the hell out of the current Administration, why yes, it is a rather belligerent policy. Then again, it is a lot easier to pose, posture and whine about it rather than actually do something, such as matching Citgo gallon for gallon. Vermont, on the other hand, seems to have a bit of a "put up or shut up" attitude. Montpelier Times Argus (02.12.06):

"Although awash in record profits, don't look for other major oil companies to follow the lead of Citgo and make discounted home heating oil available to low-income residents in Vermont and other cold-weather states Citgo last week delivered its first shipment of home heating oil to Vermont at a 40 percent discount. It's part of an offer Citgo, the Venezuelan-owned oil company, made in November to sell discounted home heating oil to low-income residents in the U.S." Citgo's solo in home heating oil discounts

"Shane Sweet of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association said so far no other oil company has come forward with a similar offer." Exxon, taking somewhat of a Socialist line, thinks poor folks should rely on the Feds for help via the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. "Citing a American Petroleum Institute letter sent to U.S. senators in November, ExxonMobil noted that higher prices have substantially increased royalties and income taxes paid by oil and natural gas companies to fully fund LIHEAP." You mean these royalties? Besides, Exxon and Kerr-McGee have their hands full navigating the complexities of all those royalty-free oil leases. The program has expanded to Delaware. Wilmington News Journal (02.14.06):

"Delaware today received its first shipment of more than 1 million gallons of low-cost heating oil from Venezuela under an agreement worked out by the country’s ambassador and a Hockessin lawyer. The oil from Citgo Petroleum Co., Venezuela’s national oil company, is being offered to Delaware at a 40 percent discount to benefit low-income families. The 1 million gallons will be distributed by Delaware’s Catholic Charities." Low-cost heating oil from Venezuela arrives in Delaware

"Another 150,000 gallons is being donated directly to homeless shelters such as Martha House II in Wilmington, where dignitaries and local officials gathered this morning to discuss the deal and watch workers pump the first delivery into the shelter’s tank." "Delaware is not the only state to receive the fuel from Venezuela, the world’s fifth-largest oil provider. New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine also have signed agreements to receive discounted oil." Oh. And there's more where that came from. Time (02.07.09):

"Philadelphia, Boston, the Bronx and cities in Maine, Vermont and Rhode Island have received a total of 45 million gallons of the subsidized Citgo fuel, and other cities are slated for another 5 million soon. That’s a small percentage of the heating oil Venezuela exports to the U.S. each year, but Citgo says it has set aside about 10% of its refined petroleum products for the program." Venezuela's Oil Giveaway

It turns out Venezuela isn't doing this on their own initiative. "When 13 U.S. Senators sent a letter to major U.S. oil companies last fall seeking heating fuel aid for lower-income residents in northern states, Citgo — a subsidiary of the state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) — was the only one to step forward." It was the only one to step forward. This Administration should be embarrassed. Totally outflanked and outsmarted. Chuck Grassley (R - IA) sent a letter. Some House members sent a letter. The response? Cue the chirping crickets. Here's a little snark from the Yale Daily News: "(S)ome have said [the program] was a public relations move to improve Chavez's public image in the United States and undermine President George W. Bush '68", as in class of 1968. Well duh. Outflanked and outsmarted.