Our beloved Bob Corker is now doing what he went to Washington to do: Take care of his primary campaign funder, "Big Jim" Haslam. As many of you may recall, his 2006 election campaign raised questions concerning Mr. Corker's ties to oil companies. While many may not be aware of the connections, they are well established and documented.

Jim Haslam, the wealthiest individual in East Tennessee, is the founder of the Knoxville-based Pilot (petroleum) Corporation. His political leverage is far-reaching. He is the single largest contributor and a board member to the University of Tennessee. His son, Bill Haslam, is former Pilot President and current mayor of Knoxville. The mayor is also a speculative Republican candidate for Governor in 2010.

As Mr. Corker advocates expanding offshore drilling, he speaks on behalf of Mr. Haslam and big oil, not the interests of the people. The petroleum industry-promoted plan to expand offshore drilling and open the Alaskan ANWR region to drilling benefits only those who have benefited from the policies of the oil-rooted Bush administration. By nearly all accounts, analysts (except those tied directly to oil) contend that these expansions will have little or no impact on the world market price of oil, nor the domestic production. The domestic increase in supply would be miniscule, compared with total daily U.S. consumption.

During the last ei years, oil companies’ profits have grown exponentially, dwarfing the increases of any other industry. It is no coincidence that Americans are paying nearly four times for fuel what they did prior to Bush’s election.

Paul Jackson