oil and gas

Government officials handling billions of dollars in oil royalties engaged in illicit sex with employees of energy companies they were dealing with and received numerous gifts from them, federal investigators said Wednesday.

The alleged transgressions involve 13 Interior Department employees in Denver and Washington. Their alleged improprieties include rigging contracts, working part-time as private oil consultants, and having sexual relationships with — and accepting golf and ski trips and dinners from — oil company employees, according to three reports released Wednesday by the Interior Department's inspector general. - MSNBC

According to an AP story, VP Dick Cheney, who did not attend the GOP convention in St. Paul and whose name was never mentioned formally there, will attend a fundraiser for Ed Tinsley on September 26th in Hobbs. Hobbs is the hometown of Tinsley's Dem rival, Harry Teague. No further details were immediately available on the fundraiser.

Obama vs. McCain:

WHAT THEY WOULD MEAN FOR WORKING FAMILIES

Over the summer, GOP Sen. Saxby Chambilss of Georgia and Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota have lead a "Gang of 10" Senators, five from each party, who have been working towards hammering out a bipartisan energy policy bill.

Now, BusinessWeek reports, three more senators from each party have signed on and the proposal is gaining momentum to move when Congress returns to work next Monday, Sept. 8th. Just one problem. The GOP doesn't want it. 

 There are plenty of reasons to be against it. For one, John McCain's choice for running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, is a strong advocate of opening up new areas like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the oil and gas industry. Polls also show that Republicans are getting a major boost by blaming Democrats for blocking increases in oil and gas supplies, so why would they give up their best campaign issue? "One man knows we must now drill more in America and rescue our family budgets: … McCain," says one ad for the GOP Presidential candidate, which accuses Democratic rival Barack Obama of standing in the way.