Right now coal is still king. Coal provides 50% of the electricity production for the U.S. while natural gas provides about 20% of that production.

Now, however, with an energy bill in Congress, the battle lines are being drawn between the coal and natural gas companies. Each side is marshaling an army of lobbyists to descend upon Congress. Each side will make pitches to Congress to gain favor for their companies.

Bloomberg reports that "Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), General Motors and four other bailed-out firms subject to U.S. pay reviews cut 2009 lobbying costs 37 percent as pressure mounts from Congress and the public to rein in outsized bonuses, records show."

In a way, it's not so surprising: Now that they've gotten their handouts, they don't need to buy off public officials anymore. But what's appalling is how much -- even after the drop -- taxpayer money these companies used to lobby the government for more gifts.

In a word: yes.

Despite all the talk about regulating these speculative investment vehicles, "Obama's financial overhaul plan included no big surprises or threats to the lucrative, secretive industry," writes The Wall Street Journal.

The name of the game is lobbying, which is easily funded by the $1.3 trillion dollar industry. Even after numerous Ponzi schemes and frauds have recently been exposed, the U.S. government has failed at regulating hedge funds, the most speculative area in finance, in part due to the industry's lobbying efforts.

Much has been written about the add-ons or 'pork' in the rescue package passed by the U.S. Congress and signed President Bush.

The add-ons, which increased the bill's projected cost by $130-$165 billion, depending on the analysis, have been viewed as another example of "special interest lobbying," "sneaky ways to get pet projects passed," "ripping off the taxpayer" and/or as simply un-American.

Well, the truth is, add-ons in the United States have taken place in every Congress since the nation was founded. Further, no one really knows who made the first legislative "deal," but to say that senators in ancient Rome or officials in Greece, did not trade votes for projects or patronage would be a stretch.

"Democracy is the worst system ...

Of course, it's much more ethical -- some would call it virtuous -- to propose a bill, then get a large majority to render a decision on the program/policy/law solely on its merits, driven by whether the bill is in the nation's interest.

And likewise, add-ons/pork can increase federal spending by substantial amounts, which makes it harder for the federal government -- or any government, for that matter -- to live within its means.

On Super Tuesday, as the United States approaches its first $1 billion election, the chorus sounds a familiar refrain.

The conventional wisdom regarding campaign spending -- that the U.S. is spending too much on campaigns, or that certain groups have too much influence -- reminds me of what Mark Twain said about the the public's attitude toward the weather: "Everybody complains about the weather, but no one ever seems to be able to do something about it."

While some would argue that campaign spending is not a problem, for the sake of argument let's assume that the conventional wisdom on campaign spending is valid. The next logical question would be, what changes could and should we make to the current campaign spending laws?

Limits on campaign spending? The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Congress and regulators can do this, but only up to a degree, as beyond a certain point it violates the First Amendment's free speech right.

In an age of flat-panel television and laptop computer sales, consumer electronics giant Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) continues to impress me. The company rolls out initiatives that actually work and serve consumers first (instead of shareholders), which in turn brings the company more business, which in turn of course helps shareholders.

Compared to laggard Circuit City, Inc. (NYSE: CC), I believe Best Buy will continue to offer the best upside in an age of slim electronics margins since it leads the way in sufficiently groping customers for those fat-margin services, including helping them set up their HDTVs, to scanning their computers for viruses.

So, it was with a bit of shock that I read the Associated Press report that Best Buy has only doled out some $235,000 to lobby the Federal government in the first six months of this year. This fact was recently disclosed by the company, and in an age of so much change -- like HDTV transitions and declining CD sales -- I would have thought the company would be pouring much more money into the pockets of politicians who have a direct impact on the products that it sells.

Of course, as would be expected, Best Buy did lobby the FCC regarding the expected completion of a nationwide transition to digital television in early 2009. That issue alone is set to cause an even larger transition to newer high-definition television sales in 2008, and Best Buy will be a main beneficiary of that movement once the FCC gets in gear and starts warning hundreds of millions of Americans that analog television will be shortly shut down. I'm betting that Best Buy will break the $600,000 lobbying spend barrier at the conclusion of 2007. Place your bets now.

Welcome to Media World, my new weekly column, which will cover the highs and lows of today's media. I am, as they say, platform agnostic, meaning that I expect to offend both the mainstream and new media. I look forward to your feedback.

For my first column, I'd like to direct your attention to Citizen K Street, a 27-part series the Washington Post Co. (NYSE:WPO) is running on the Web site of its flagship paper about the rise of Washington lobbyist Gerald S.J. Cassidy. I'm sure the series, which was a herculean effort, will win all sorts of awards as these sorts of projects usually do.

But it's 27 parts. Who has the time to devote to reading a newspaper series that last that long about any topic? Is anything worth that degree of fuss?

One person who doesn't think so is Cassidy. In his blog, he seemed stunned by attention he's gotten from the Post. "There are so many other issues that face our country that are much more deserving of this attention." he writes.

Don't buy the false modesty.

Lobbying is plenty important, particularly in light of the Jack Abramoff scandal. It's also a huge business in Washington as Post Associate Editor Robert Kasier, who wrote the series, pointed out to me.

But I wonder whether Citizen K Street will only appeal to the most passionate of political junkies, the types of people who watch C-Span instead of "American Idol." Kaiser, who has been at the Post for 43 years, doesn't know either.

"I can't say I am sure we will have a huge audience," he said. "We are asking people to do something that they are not used to doing."