Drilling for Peace

I try not to be surprised by government activities, but the attachment of a provision allowing oil drilling in the Arctic reserve to a bill about funding the Pentagon and the war against terror(ism) and for peace and democracy in Iraq shocked me. I guess I still had a little faith left in our elected representation.

Apparently not everyone in the esteemed House of Representatives was exhausted after an end of term all nighter and decided that the easiest was to pass unpassable legislation was to attach it to a huge bill that essentially *must* be passed.

Afraid might be a better word than shocked. I know that this is how legislation gets passed. Completely unrelated issues--or what *should* be completely unrelated issues--get lumped together in a single bill, and people end up voting in favor of things they don't want so that they get what they *do* want. It's an ugly form of compromise in which the real winners are probably the special interest groups handing out the money.

Maybe it's not all bad. Maybe the revenue gained from Alaskan oil drilling can be used to fund the education, health care and other social welfare budget cuts. The Exxon Valdez Memorial High School has a nice ring to it, don't you think?