Tom Delay, Again
Posted by Moonage on 16 Aug 2005 | Tagged as: National Politics
My boss, who loves nothing more than to taunt me about how bad the current Presidency is, tossed yet another "scandal" at me. Again. This is the one about Tom Delay earmarking $1.5 billion dollars for a non-profit he supposedly owned.
Well, right off the bat I got him to admit that I thought it was a bit far-fetched that Tom Delay would "own" a non-profit, so it just turned into the stereotypical Bush bashing mantra of "his oil buddies and contributors". I figured a scandal this big would hit NPR and CNN within minutes of his revelation. But, a week or so later, no scandal is on the news. He taunted me again yesterday with it, so I did a little research. This is what I found:
I’m going to quote these guys verbatum and link to their page. You have GOT to read the comments before continuing with my comments. Here’s their scoop:
Sugar Land Celebrates Sweetheart Deal
Yesterday on ThinkProgress, we wrote that, after the conference for the energy bill closed, Tom DeLay slipped in €śa $1.5 billion giveaway to the oil industry, Halliburton, and Sugar Land, Texas.€ť Specifically, the provision was written to benefit an consortium located in DeLay€™s home district.
In today€™s Boston Globe, Bill Wicker, a spokesman for Sen. Jeff Bingaman, disagreed:
€śWe don€™t see this as a sweetheart deal for anyone.€ť Wicker said.
In case you had any doubts, check out this article about the provision, just published by the Houston Business Journal:
The final draft of the energy bill expected to be approved this weekend by House and Senate negotiators contains a research funding provision long awaited by a Sugar Land energy consortium€¦The Sugar Land-based Texas Energy Center has been counting on this source of funding ever since it was established two years ago€¦In 2003, the consortium was awarded $31 million in state economic development funds, but that funding later evaporated under regulations that stymied the consortium€™s access to the money. The TEC has been basically on hold since then, waiting and hoping for federal funding to revive its mission.
Seems pretty clear to me.
OK, had a good laugh so far? It just gets better. You have to remember, from their post, Henry Waxman is leading the charge that all of Congress was duped. OK? Here we go.
That $1.5 billion?
There’s some pretzel math that you have to toss in to make it $1.5 billion, but that money is re-directed around RPSEA, they never touch it.
Giveaway to Halliburton? This non-profit is just that, a non-profit. Now, for those not experienced, non-profits can not be owned or affiliated with for-profits. And trust me, Halliburton’s as for-profit as you will ever find. RPSEA is so "secretive" that they were telling Waxman et al about what their intentions were on their web page. If Waxman seriously thinks RPSEA is a part of Halliburton, he needs to take his argument to the Attorney General. If one cent is profited by members of Halliburton’s board by a member of RPSEA’s board, RPSEA will cease to exist.
After the Conference was closed? Check this out, Henry, Think Progress, et al:
SEC. 314. INCENTIVES FOR NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION FROM DEEP WELLS IN THE SHALLOW WATERS OF THE GULF OF MEXICO.
(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, in addition to any other regulations that may provide royalty incentives for natural gas produced from deep wells on oil and gas leases issued pursuant to, or regulated under, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), the Secretary shall issue regulations granting royalty relief suspension volumes of not less than 35,000,000,000 cubic feet with respect to the production of natural gas from ultra deep wells on leases issued in shallow waters located in the Gulf of Mexico wholly west of 87«, 30′ West longitude that are issued before the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
Guess where that comes from? That’s right. It’s the ORIGINAL LANGUAGE OF THE SENATE VERSION OF THE 2005 ENERGY POLICY ACT placed on the calendar June 9,2005. The terms of that sub-title were discussed as early as April 20, 2005. ALL OF CONGRESS AND THE SENATE GOT TO VIEW IT. THE CONFERENCE RELEASED THEIR REPORT July 27, 2005.
Tom Delay didn’t write anything. Pete Domenici authored the bill. It was discussed and amended to death. What came out of conference was just an amalgamation of those discussions and amendments.
There is no mention of RPSEA or TEC in the legislation. It demands a "consortium". Now, think for one second and ignore all the rhetoric. If the oil companies are forced to contribute heavily to a fund, who would you have manage it? One person? The government exclusively? Or, a group of people that involve both the federal government and representatives of the group providing the funding?
In other words, a consortium.
Now, go back and read all those comments one more time. Amazing.
The only scandal is money is probably is going to Tom Delay’s district. There’s no guarantee. That’s it.
I’ve not been a fan of Tom Delay’s here, for reasons similar to this one. But, in this case, it’s a witch hunt that can’t even get CNN excited. Look for it on Air America and that’s about it.
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