So, Trump's HRJ 41 bill effectively legalizes foreign government bribery... in the oil sector.

[joshcryer]

This is so fucking preposterous I can't even believe I'm reading this shit.

I'm seeing people saying that HRJ41 simply reverses irrelevant bureaucratic redundancies in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). ie, the whole need to "detail" ones disbursements isn't "necessary."

Except the FCPA allows for "facilitating payments"; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facilitating_payment#United_States

http://www.vjil.org/assets/pdfs/vol54/Nichols.pdf

So what you have is a situation where foreign, oil sector, governments can come in and bribe our oil producers with large cash disbursements. No paper trail. No itemized list. Simply "I got paid X for facilitating Y."

Bribery and money laundering are two ways that this can be used, which no doubt many a Russian oligarch is wanting to do. If you see an unnatural boon in the shale industry in the US (assuming this crap doesn't come to a head anyway), that's where it's coming from.

Take Russian money, launder it through US corporations (whilst also bribing officials), claim profits that aren't actually there, wash rinse, repeat. HRJ 41 makes this very easy to do.

Of course, bribery is still bribery and laundering is still laundering, so you can still get caught, but it's just a lot harder now, you need to show active collusion, and in the world where corporations are people, and banks get bailed out rather than prosecuting the CEOs in charge, what do you think the result would be of a large oil company suddenly getting massive Russian disbursements that make no sense? Big ole slap on the wrist. Golden parachutes for the CEOs.

This is just a hint of the things to come, folks.

pinboy3niner has noted that I got it backwards, though I think, functionally, it doesn't matter if US companies are paying untraceable sums to Russia or vice versa.

Exxon owns some 60+ million acres of leased Russian land for oil prospecting. The 60 million acre deal happened in 2014: https://www.rt.com/business/237637-exxon-russian-oil-exploration/

When Tillerson was CEO of the company: https://www.wsj.com/articles/exxon-mobil-ceo-paid-33-million-in-2014-1429023164

So, while I got the details backward, it seems that this would allow Exxon to effectively pay for this shit without anyone knowing about the underlying details.

This is why climate change mitigation is off the books.

[applegrove]

1. Countries that allow bribes increase inequality. Only the rich can afford

to be in business. Hardly anyone gets ahead. Why does Trump want people abroad, who are only trying to get into business, to fail.

[pbmus]

2. This was just to grease the slide for tillers son and Russia oil deal...

This makes it somewhat legal...to make the 500 billion dollar deal...

[KT2000]

3. Exactly!

and to make sure we will never know Dump's cut.

[pbmus]

4. Dumps cut will make him one of the 10 richest MF in the world...

[pinboy3niner]

5. I think you have it backwards

The rule repealed by H.J.R. (House Joint Resolution) 41 was about disclosure of payments FROM energy companies TO foreign governments. From The Hill:

Trump signs repeal of transparency rule for oil companies
By Timothy Cama - 02/14/17 02:37 PM EST

President Trump signed legislation Tuesday to repeal a controversial regulation that would have required energy companies to disclose their payments to foreign governments.

...

The resolution repeals a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule written under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law.
It was meant to fight corruption in resource-rich countries by mandating that companies on United States stock exchanges disclose the royalties and other payments that oil, natural gas, coal and mineral companies make to governments.

...

Democrats and supporters of the SEC rule see the rollback as a victory for corruption.

“The rule they’re trying to repeal protects U.S. citizens and investors from having millions of their dollars vanished into the pockets of corrupt foreign oligarchs,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said earlier this month. “This kind of transparency is essential to combating waste, fraud, corruption and mismanagement.”

...

Exxon Mobil Corp., whose former CEO Rex Tillerson is now secretary of State, was one of the most vocal opponents of the rule, along with other major oil companies.

...

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/319488-trump-signs-repeal-of-transparency-rule-for-oil-companies

[joshcryer]

6. I did some further digging, Exxon is leasing 60 million acres of Russia land.

The 60 million acre deal happened in 2014: https://www.rt.com/business/237637-exxon-russian-oil-exploration/

When Tillerson was CEO of the company: https://www.wsj.com/articles/exxon-mobil-ceo-paid-33-million-in-2014-1429023164

So, while I got the details backward, it seems that this would allow Exxon to effectively pay for this shit without anyone knowing about the underlying details.

[anarch]

7. so basically this whole shitshow may be just a mechanism to make Putin, Tillerson, and Clownstick

rich(er).

Well that and to destabilize the U.S., to the advantage of Russian expansionism...which is largely also to make Putin rich(er).

A worldwide Oil Oligarchy, and the diminishment of the U.S. as a global power. Not to mention the utter disregard for the wellbeing of anyone else on the planet, as we double-down on fossil fuels while the forces of climate change run amok. Wheee!

[joshcryer]

8. The funny thing is electric cars are going to make gasoline obsolete.

Rendering the whole endeavor very much like any of Trumps business ventures to date. A bankrupt failure.

[anarch]

9. not if the R's pass some kind of legislation to outlaw them

wouldn't put it past them...I'd be shocked if they haven't already taken steps to eliminate any use of alternative energy sources for government operations.

Would you be surprised if they try to pass laws to force people to use their products? I wouldn't.