NOW

Friday, June 16, 2006 on PBS

Check local listings at www.pbs.org/now/sched.html

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* "Crude Awakening"

Big energy companies are making record profits, but are they also shortchanging
American taxpayers?

* NOW Interview: David Sirota

David Brancaccio talks with David Sirota, author of the new book "Hostile
Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government -- And How We
Take It Back."

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"Crude Awakening"

As oil and gas companies continue to make enormous profits in a time of
record-high gas prices, watchdog groups are accusing these companies of
shortchanging American taxpayers on billions of dollars in royalties for
drilling rights on public property. "These oil companies along with some members
of Congress have really engineered one of the greatest train robberies of all
time," says California Congressman George Miller.

NOW investigates oil royalty manipulation and speaks to a whistleblower who says
oversight control was weakened to keep more money in the coffers of Big Oil.
Who's following the money, and who's keeping it? Get ready for a crude
awakening. Next time on NOW.

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NOW Online

The NOW Web site follows up this week's show with exclusive features and
up-to-date information, including:

Overview: Big Money and the Royalty Treatment & Vital Documents
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/224/index.html

FAQ: Oil and Gas Royalty Relief
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/224/royalty-relief.html

Whistleblower: A Former Government Employee Speaks Out
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/224/indian-oil-royalties.html

All this, plus an incredible archive of in-depth information and deep insight on
the issues most important to you, at www.pbs.org/now

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Personal Essay

Trivializing Corruption
By David Sirota

"Ninety thousand dollars in a Democratic Congressman's freezer. A Republican
House Majority Leader indicted for money laundering, and a senior Republican
thrown in jail for accepting bribes. Washington's biggest lobbyist thrown in
jail for trying to buy off lawmakers. This is what the Washington Establishment
and the media want America to believe is the worst form of corruption: a few
dirty political hacks who had the nerve to violate our supposedly pristine
democracy. Certainly, these examples are egregious. But the intense focus on
them by political leaders and the media to the exclusion of the real corruption
destroying our democracy trivializes what corruption really is...

Read the full web-exclusive essay at
www.pbs.org/now/shows/224/money-democracy.html