An important piece in conjunction with the debate about the ramifications of offshore drilling and energy policy. As soon as McCain changed his position and started to support offshore oil drilling, campaign dollars from the industry followed. Not mentioned is the fact that the strategy of promoting drilling carries the false promise of mitigating gas prices in the near term. Following the oil-drenched politics of the Bush administration, McCain's reversal should be looked at closely.

The story spotlight the effect of our system of campaign financing upon national policies. If the citizens financed the campaigns with tax moneys, the policies would be more likely aligned with public interest, rather than the present system that inflates the interests of corporations and the wealthy. The article does a good job of collecting information on the amounts and timing of the donations relative to the abrupt shift in McCain's stance to favor oil companies.

This is a newsworthy story providing factual information on the significant increase (over 5 fold) last month that McCain received in campaign contributions from oil companies after he changed his position on offshore oil drilling. More balanced could have been achieved by providing information on how much money Obama has received from the oil industry. McCain changed his position (flip-flopped) on oil drilling and is awarded with immediate results from oil companies. The story raises many questions. How can McCain work towards energy independence if he is owned by oil companies? Both McCain and the oil industry are past their prime.