The Citgo funding from Chavez was, I think, primarily designed to be a slap in the face for George W. Bush -- "Hey look, we're an 'evil Communist' nation, yet we're helping to keep your poor, whom you obviously care nothing about, warm during the winter." At the same time, Joe Kennedy probably thought he was bridging the philosophical gap between capitalism and communism and working for the common good ... all while shaming Bu$hCo, which was too busy wallowing in oil profits to notice the plight of the poor. If you don't like Republicans, such an arrangement probably looks like a winning strategy.