To: TimF who wrote (287352 ) 5/9/2006 7:40:20 PM From: Road Walker Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 1574001 re: Special interests are not always corporate, and special interests are not always about money. Special interests are usually corporate, and effective special interests are always about money. re: Many of the special interests are corporations, but that doesn't mean its some general "corporate interest" being pandered to but rather the interest of some specific individual corporation or particular group of corporations that want some subsidy or restraint on trade. For example barriers to sugar imports are hardly beneficial to companies like AMD, and actually hurt companies that make things like cakes or candy. It hurts AMD and it huts you and me. Every tax subsidy has a winner and multiple losers. re: This administration supports subsidies for oil exploration. Those subsidies help oil companies. But its not certain how much of the motivation for supporting the subsidies is a desire to help the oil companies, and how much is the belief that more oil exploration is in the general interest of the US economy. Remember the old quote "what's good for GM is good for America". Someone in government who believes that might subsidize car companies in some way and thing he is looking out for the general interest. If they think subsidizing oil companies to increase the natural rate of consumption, when we are already using 25% of the worlds oil consumptions is smart, then they need to be replaced. re: Its more of a negative feedback loop. Special interests push big government, big government supports special interests, which gives special interest more power to push big government, which in turn gives big government more money to shove at special interests... Bingo, we agree on something.