By INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Wednesday, August 12, 2009 4:20 PM PT

Energy: We didn’t hear the administration crow about it, but Brazil is about to get $10 billion from U.S. taxpayers to develop its offshore oil reserves. It’s not a bad idea, but something’s still wrong with the big picture.

(snip)–Having said all this, the question remains: Why must we go so far and spend so much taxpayer money to drill oil when we could unleash our private sector to do it here for free ?

Eximbank officials are serving America’s interests by developing Brazil. But our Congress, which refuses to encourage offshore drilling, and our Interior Department, which is pulling permits for inland development, are not.

At the center of it is energy security. If lending money to Brazil for oil is a good idea, isn’t freeing our own companies to develop America’s vast reserves an even better one.]