This whole idea of taxing the oil companies on a "windfall" profit in order to shovel money to potential voters is pretty dreadful. It's up there with the gas tax holiday in the so-dumb-it-has-to-poll-well category. Of course, McCain's emphasis on domestic drilling - did everyone in the GOP get the same memo? - is almost as lame. McCain's speech today embracing an all-of-the-above approach to energy independence nonetheless struck me as a sensible theme. And when you look at all of Obama's energy proposals, they're not as bad as that headline pander might suggest. This news is depressing, however:
The Washington Post reported that McCain received $1.1 million from oil and gas industry executives and employees in June -- three-quarters of which came after he called for lifting the ban on offshore drilling on June 16.
Still, I'm not sure there's a huge amount of difference between the two on energy policy at this point, especially when you consider both are for cap-and-trade (I've become disenchanted with that option) and will be managing a much more Democratic Congress.