Democracy: Going through the motions

Congress has a quirky pastime that involves dragging ultra-rich business executives into small Capitol rooms, grilling them publicly for making such obscene amounts of money on the backs of Americans, and then calling it a job well done. As Steven Mufson from The Washington Post points out: "It's becoming a rite of spring."

This hollow, meaningless process serves a dual purpose. It conveys the illusion to the American people that Congress actually cares that a few top CEOs make billions of dollars while the average citizen struggles to fill his gas tank, and it allays the anger temporarily as the public is fooled into believing something is being done, when in reality it's just more smoke, mirrors and rhetoric. In the end, Congress has neither the guts nor the clout to regulate CEO salaries; after all, re-elections don't pay for themselves.

Periodically, the target of these hilarious bouts of outrage are the leaders of our nation's bloated oil industry. The arguments are fairly predictable: Congress accuses the oil industry of economic tomfoolery as company profits rise astronomically with the price of gasoline; the oil industry responds thusly: "It's business. Also, it's your fault for regulating offshore drilling and restricting our right to decimate the environment." Both sides squabble meaninglessly, and the cycle starts all over again.

On Tuesday, lawmakers had a grand old time reaming top officials from the country's five largest oil companies, with moments of complete jaw-dropping hilarity. According to the Associated Press, Democratic lawmakers hounded the executives for their lack of investment in alternative energy, namely wind and biofuels. Are you fucking kidding me? These lawmakers actually expect executives making billions of dollars to willingly invest in technology that would cut their profits? Right. The world's supply of oil will dry up far before greed ever does. Asking the oil companies to create renewable energy is a classic fox-in-the-henhouse scenario. Clearly, the time for asking nice is over -- it's time to legislate. Force oil companies that are reaping the benefits from our land to prepare for the inevitable day when the oil will be gone. Cut demand and prices will follow.

Back at the hearing, while the Democrats lived in their fantasy world where rich people willingly destroy themselves, the Republicans snatched the opportunity to continue the nation's ridiculous dependence on oil by suggesting we simply give the companies more land. No word yet on how that solves the whole nonrenewable problem, but the sad truth remains: If Americans really want a quick fix to high gas prices, increasing the supply is the way to do it. As oil-rich nations around the world grow increasingly unstable, it's important for our oil-dependent nation to have viable, stable access to crude. That is, until we sever our reliance on this devil substance altogether. But why would an oil executive want that to happen?

The most infuriating part of the whole hearing was the oil executives' ability to emerge looking like the victims. Even though it's Americans who are paying the record gas prices and the oil companies making the record profits, the executives had the audacity to complain about their tax liability and limited access to energy supply. These companies made $123 billion in profit last year. How exactly does that equate to suffering? How does billions in profit demonstrate too much restriction on the industry?

Congressional hearings. Oil executives. Billions in profit. It's all a big free market joke. Except nobody is really laughing anymore.