Group claims windfall for ex-Enron execs buried in new energy bill

[Roland99]

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Group_claims_windfall_for_Enron_execs_buried_in_new_energy_0606.html

Buried in the 700-plus page energy bill currently under debate in the U.S. Senate is a provision that provides hundreds of millions of dollars worth of federal loan guarantees for a power project apparently to be built by four former Enron executives, the interest group Public Citizen revealed Monday in a release to RAW STORY.

One of the former executives is Thomas White, who was Enron's head of retail and energy trading in California during the energy crisis. White later served as Secretary of the Army under President Bush.

Title XIV of the Senate energy bill provides federal loan guarantees for "a project to produce energy from coal … mined in the western United States using appropriate advanced integrated gasification combined cycle technology that minimizes and offers the potential to sequester carbon dioxide emissions and … shall be located in a western State at an altitude greater than 4,000 feet."

Beautiful.

[liberaliraqvet26]

1. if this is true

It will be an early christmas gift to us!! if the MSM picks it up

[AuntiBush]

65. "What MSM?" Air America is like Radio-Free Europe, but more truthful.

Sad! Really, really sad!

Like Germany said, "We had our Hitler, now you have yours."

Tube-Media-Talking-Heads might as well go to bed at 9:00, as well!
They're worthless, shameless and Anti-Americans!

[Coexist]

2. Disgusting. Filthy.

and taxpayers will be liable when they fail.

<snip>
"The federal loan guarantee makes taxpayers responsible for repaying the loan if the company defaults, or if the project ends up not being economically feasible after its construction."

Sick. Sick. Sick. Greedy. I am incoherent with anger.
(on edit - thanks again, Rawstory)

[ClintonTyree]

26. "IF" the company defaults?

My money is on this company being designed to fail so bush's filthy oil buddies can get richer at the taxpayer's expense. Everything this administration does has big oil, coal etc. in mind. This is freaking disgusting, and IF it passes Americans can be assured of giving more tax dollars to bush's pals. :grr: I can't believe the NERVE of these rotten bastards! :mad:

[katinmn]

35. ditto

[AzDar]

3. Ahhhhh, So THIS is why Lil' Boots keeps demanding that congress pass

his "energy reform" Bill. Just SICKENING!!!!

[aggiesal]

53. And this is what's been found.

How much more is in this bill, that has not been discovered?

[SmokingJacket]

56. My thoughts exactly.

Welcome to DU!!

[aggiesal]

57. Thank You! n/t

[annabanana]

4. Why can't we even SLOW THESE CROOKS DOWN?

With the lawsuits, they get a slap on the wrist, while at the same time they are being lifted into golden carriages to continue to the ball.

[Coexist]

5. one more recommendation for Greatest page

I think everyone should read this.

[Enraged_Ape]

7. And another

What a bunch of unmitigated slime.

[Guaranteed]

34. This should be on the FRONT page. nt

[hughee99]

6. Not that I'm a big fan of this...

but I couldn't find any place where these former Enron executives were accused of any wrongdoing. Am I to assume that because they worked for Enron, they are automatically crooks, and then be outraged that they are getting a government contract? If this was Kenny Boy, or Fastow or someone like that, I would be very pissed, but I'm not a big fan of guilt by association.

[Roland99]

8. He was fired by Rumsfeld; Altered his website to hide his hand in Enron.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-04-25-white-resigns_x.htm


Secretary of Army Thomas White Alters Website To Hide Leading Role in Enron
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0216-04.htm

White had just cashed in $12.1 million in Enron stock and remained close with 'Kenny Boy' Lay and other Enron executives.

Then the shit hit the fan.

And now the Secretary of the Army's 'Official Biography' has been altered - and White's Enron role - moved to the tail end - is reduced to:

"From 1990 to 2001, Mr. White was employed by Enron Corporation and held various senior executive positions."

[rzemanfl]

20. $12.1 million? Shit, if I stole $12.10 I'd probably go to jail. This

motherbleeper wants US to guarantee HIS loan? He can kiss my ass before I shower.

[hughee99]

38. When did getting fired by Rumsfeld become a negative thing?

It sounds like White wouldn't "play ball" with the ass clown. Why does this make him guilty of anything. As for cashing out his Enron stock, would it have been better if he had taken a government job while still holding a sizable interest in a public sector company? I'm still left with my original question, has he been accused of any wrongdoing in the whole Enron fiasco, or is this just guilt by association?

[Roland99]

70. Check out this timeline of Enron

http://www.smartgroups.com/vault/unravel/Public/Chronology/Bush_Enron_Chronology_rev_0.18_10_Aug_2002.html

[Dora]

74. Wow! What a link!

That's an amazing chronology - if it's yours, then kudos to you for putting it together.

Thanks for the post!

[Roland99]

77. Not mine. Came across it and went, "WOW!"

[Richard Steele]

9. Enron or not, this is a HUGE Corporate-Welfare windfall for them.

All the PROFITS are theirs, including however much they skim right off the top in salaries & fees & no-bid contracts to their pals...

But all the RISK belongs to the taxpayers.
We give them HUNDRED$ of MILLION$,
then WE are responsible to pay it back if they go bust.

It's a SCAM; it's nothing but Legalized Theft.

If there was a REAL chance of profit on this scheme, big Corps would be fighting to invest their OWN money to do it!

[hughee99]

21. I do have a problem with this scam...

But I don't necessarily consider anyone associated with Enron a criminal who should be in jail, which in think is at least implied in the article.

[Toots]

78. Wasn't he the head of the division that bilked California for billions

I think they pretty much established that there was fraud going on with that so-called "energy crisis". How this man escaped going to jail is beyond me. Not only didn't go to jail but was rewarded greatly.

[ClintonTyree]

28. That's the "free market" for you.....

free, meaning.... bush's corporate masters are free to rape the American taxpayers, again, and get away with it totally free of risk! :wtf:
What happened to all that "boot strap" bullshit we always hear the Pukes crowing about? :shrug: I guess that only applies to poor schlubs who are trying to make ends meet, not the corporate fat cats that bush calls, "my base". :eyes:

[mermaid]

58. But How Do We Make Enough Americans Realize

that THEY, too...are poor schlubs...and that they AREN'T in the top 5%...and that, no matter what they do, THEY NEVER WILL BE???

Do you know fully 25% of this nations believes they are in the top 5%??

Simple math shows that 80 percent of those who believe themselves to be in the top 5 percent aren't.

How do we reach this 80 percent...who support Bush...based on their own self-delusion?

[The Magistrate]

11. Enron, Sir, Was A Criminal Enterprise

No one involoved in its direction or the upper levels of its supervision should ever enjoy access of any sort to other people's money, particulatly not public monies....

[hughee99]

24. So everyone is guilty, whether they did anything or not...

Is that how this goes? Let's just toss out this whole "presumption of innocence" thing. Obviously, Enron, while keep it's accounting practices a secret from anyone else, made sure that every single executive from every division new exactly how the scam worked. It's nice to know that if someone in accounting at my company fudges the numbers that the man who runs the main sales office in California will be branded a criminal for life. It gives us that "we're all in this together" warm, fuzzy feeling.

Look, I'm not saying that these men aren't criminals or that they are. I'm just saying that I haven't seen anything to indicate that they had anything to do with the collapse of Enron, and I didn't see anything in their previous job descriptions to indicate that they had oversight of any of the departments where the nefarious behavior occurred.

The fact that they received a big payout is a separate issue, and as deplorable as it seems, it has nothing to do with engaging in any criminal activity.

[ClintonTyree]

29. We're talking about Tommy White here....

not the poor middle management and lower folks. White's as dirty as they come. And yes, I'm calling guilt it by association, with george bush. Everybody remotely connected to the BFEE is as guilty as the day is long of SOMETHING! You cannot associate with the BFEE and not be guilty of some crime, it's their nature.

[hughee99]

31. Fair enough,

so guilt by association it is. Maybe Joe McCarthy was onto something and it just took the rest of us 50 years to catch up.

[The Magistrate]

52. That Is Not Quite The Point, Sir

Being viewed as unfit for fiduciary trust is hardly a criminal sanction. Nor is the malfeasance at Enron comperable to 'someone in accounting fudging the numbers." Where a fraud is run from the top down, as this certainly was, persons are elevated to high position in the organization according to either their complicity, or the reliability of their obliviousness to the actions of the principals. The latter, in a circumstance of wide-spread fraud, is a deliberate action, not an inadvertancy or a testimony to the cageyness of the leading criminals. It is always an instance of people knowing just what to avert their eyes from.

It may seem, Sir, or even be, unfortunate, but it remains a fact that to break a culture of misbehavior, such as exists in financial circles today, examples must be made. Put bluntly, it is desireable in driving home the point that what once was tolerated is no longer, that a degree of unfairness and misfourtune be a feature of some of the punishment exacted. People must fear to be even near such an instance of fraud, if the practice is be stamped down entirely....

"Kill one, warn one hundred."

[hughee99]

61. Well said, however...

At what management level is someone no longer liable for the crimes of their higher ups? Were ALL departments at Enron complicit in this fraud. Did Enron's fraudulent accounting involve everything from mergers and acquisitions, to subsidiaries, to the building services department and the cleaning crew?

My point is that if you want to consider guilt by association for those who have personally done nothing wrong, at what point do you get far enough away from those engaging in criminal activity that you are not guilty by association? I personally have not seen any allegations that Mr. White personally did anything illegal, whether he was going to be charged for it or not. Maybe I just haven't found the right articles yet, but it occurs to me that it is actually possible that he did nothing illegal. Would someone who worked for Mr. White also be guilty? Would someone who worked for that person, etc? The problem with guilt by association is that once you get started, you can essentially blame almost anyone, and this dilutes the blame from those who are actually responsible.

As to your remedy involving a "degree of unfairness and misfortune be a feature of some of the punishment exacted", how does this differ from the US treatment of those who "associate" with known terrorists, or in general with the criminal justice systems treatment of minorities and the disadvantaged? A treatment that I think most here agree is not to be emulated or encouraged.

In the end, I understand what you are getting at, but personally, I try not to think of someone as criminal simply because of those he has associated with or worked for.

[daleo]

60. Enron had a policy of firing 15% of its workforce each year

Just to keep people on their toes. Nobody could have remained with them for 10 years without knowing full well how crooked it all was.

[hughee99]

64. So anyone who worked for Enron for 10 years

was a complicit in the criminal acts? In this case, I should not feel bad for anyone who lost their life savings as long as they worked for Enron long enough, since they must have known what was going on.

[daleo]

67. I am referring to upper management, not average workers.

And yes, I think in a corporate culture as corrupt as Enron's that you couldn't be in upper management for a decade and not know what was going on. Even if someone tried to avoid the knowledge, it would be difficult. In small groups like this other members want you to be complicit, for their own self-protection (to make whistle-blowing less likely).

I grant that might be difficult to establish in a court of law, but I think it is true.

[Roland99]

69. Esp. someone in charge of the situation in California.

Remember those audio tapes? Someone was directing them.

[bpilgrim]

12. WINDFALL from a BANKRUPT company what about the employees

is what i'm thinking.

peace

[Coexist]

13. it takes more than a couple of dirty people at the top to prop up

that kind of company.

[getmeouttahere]

22. Normally I would agree, but not with....

execs from Enron. To me, it's like a gestapo officer claiming not to know what was going on with Hitler.

These are the greediest bunch of fucks ever to walk the face of the earth! That they are not rotting in jail is just one more in a long line of tragedies to befall this country in the last 5 years.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

42. To me, it doesn't matter whether they were Enron execs or not

The point is that hidden deep within the energy bill is a provision that grants special treatment to only one class of companies. While that in itself isn't wrong -- it's done all the time to encourage growth in a variety of industries -- it's how narrowly defined the set is: "...above 4,000 feet..." It's just a sneaky way of not naming the company.

There is a name for this kind of clause, which escapes me at the time. I remember a while back that the amount alumni spent on season tickets for college football were tax deductible as "contributions to an educational institution." When the IRS put the nix on this, a special bill was passed that allowed the practice to continue for a very narrowly defined set of colleges, a set which contained only LSU and Texas A&M. It just happened that Louisiana and Texas had really powerful representatives in Congress.

I don't care if it's Aunt Mary's Coal and Knitting Company -- if Congress wants to use taxpayers' money to protect the investment by private citizens, they ought to name the company and not use clever subterfuge to try to sneak it past.

I'll bet the Energy Bill is just chocked full of this kind of stuff, which is why BushCo wants it passed so desperately.

[Roland99]

50. Sorta like Eli Lilly getting protection via the Patriot Act?

[hughee99]

62. Exactly!

I think you just said it more eloquently than I did. Had the "former Enron execs" been those who were being investigated criminally, that would have been outrageous, but since they weren't I don't see this as an issue. I do have a problem with legislation like this directed in such a way that it is meant to benefit only one company.

[daleo]

63. I believe the phrase is "bill of attainder"

"Section 9 (U.S. Constitution)
Clause 3: No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed."

A law drawn up narrowly for the benefit an individual or small group of individuals.

[Roland99]

66. How does the Terri Schiavo thing fit in?

And, since this (and the Eli Lilly rider on the Patriot Act) is part of an overall energy bill, does this skirt that?

[daleo]

68. A lot of people thought the same about the Terri Shiavo legislation

I mean the legislation hurriedly passed by the federal government about two weeks before she was mercifully allowed to die. I suppose a difference in the cases was that Shiavo's was not supposed to be about money, whereas this one is a business venture, where certain parties stand to gain.

Presumably it would take a Supreme Court ruling on any of these matters to see where they stand. For a number of obvious reasons that seems pretty problematical.

[mistertrickster]

10. They're going to make an energy source from coal? Isn't that like

making a liquid from water?

Why don't they just burn the coal, with pollution controls?

I know, we wouldn't have to pay for that with tax-dollars.

[Kolesar]

19. Sequestration technology would eliminate the CO2 emissions

CO2 is the primary greenhouse-effect gas. Experimental sites using sequestration have barely begun to operate. I am skeptical that it will work.

[ClintonTyree]

30. And we're STILL depending on fossil fuels....

if it were for some alternative energy source it might be more palatable.

[jpak]

25. IGCC plants are power plants

They're more efficient than other coal combustion technologies in converting coal energy into electricity and release less CO2 per kWh generated than older plant designs.

They can also eliminate virtually all acid rain precursor and mercury emissions as well.

That said, there is absolutely no reason for taxpayers to subsidize this plant.

Furthermore, if taxpayers are going to be major shareholders in this plant, they should demand zero emissions of mercury, NOx, SOx and particulates from this facility, and demand that any carbon sequestration scheme actually results in a net reduction in CO2 emissions.

Injecting CO2 into oil wells to extract oil that will be combusted back to CO2 smacks of a carbon trading scam to me.

Which is probably why ex-Enron execs are involved.

I also wonder what the Cheney/Wyoming coal industry/Enron connections are...

[markam]

43. The important point is that they are making diesel fuel

Producing energy is one thing. However we ARE going to need liquid fuels for transportation for the next 50 years, and coal gasification is probably the best (and only way) to provide these fuels.. Coal gasification goes back to WWII, when Nazi Germany did it after their oil supplies were cut off. South Africa built a huge (and I mean frickin huge) gasification facility because they have very little oil, and sanctions made if difficult for them to import oil. They can make synthetic gasoline for less than $20/barrel, however, with some significant environmental issues. Something like 90% of the gasoline in SA is synthetic.

I personally have no problem with the government investing in new technologies, including looking at coverting coal to gasoline/diesel. If they can do it efficiently, and seqester the carbon released, then this could be a good thing.

Our government wastes a hell of a lot more than this on projects that have no useful function (star wars anyone).

[Kolesar]

55. That's a very good point about needing transportation fuels, and...

Welcome to the Democratic Underground.

[Greyskye]

14. Here is the relevant snip from the gov. site linked

http://www.fossil.energy.gov/news/techlines/2004/tl_ccpi_round2_proposals.html

Medicine Bow Fuel & Power LLC proposes to develop, finance, construct, and operate the Medicine Bow Energy Project, a mine-mouth coal gasification and liquefaction facility that would demonstrate integration of technologies for producing 1000 megawatts of electric power and 26,200 barrels per day of ultra-clean diesel fuel and naphtha using an estimated 6 million tons of coal per year. The facility would be located at a site near Medicine Bow, Wyoming. The proposed plant would recover virtually all of the carbon dioxide produced for eventual marketing by third parties as an aid for enhanced oil recovery, where the carbon dioxide could also be effectively sequestered. Diesel fuel produced by the facility would contain sulfur levels below EPA's sulfur specification for diesel fuel, beginning in 2006. Electric power would be produced by gas turbines in combined cycle mode from the synthetic gas and liquefaction process gases. Coal for the project would be mined from reserves located adjacent to the facility, for which initial permitting and a federal draft environmental impact statement have been completed. The Medicine Bow Energy Project would be the first commercial scale plant in the U.S. to produce electric power and coal liquids at competitive prices. The total estimated cost of the project is $2.759 billion, of which $200 million (or just over 7 percent of the total cost) has been requested from DOE.

(Highlights mine)

So does the highlighted passage above indicate that there aren't any commercial plants in the U.S. capable of producing electric power at competitive prices? :wtf:

[phoebe]

15. this site gives some info. Hell - there are many sites dedicated to this

fool..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_E._White

snip

As reported in the New York Times in late January 2002 Rep. Henry Waxman requested a meeting with White regarding the military contracts and the irregularities with the accounting at E.E.S. stating “you are in a unique position because you are the person in government who has the most intimate knowledge of Enron”. Furthermore the Washington Post reported that at this time White still held interests in Enron, including a claim on 50,000 stock options and an annuity paid by the company, despite having promised to divest himself at his confirmation hearing 8 months. This earned him a rebuke from Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John Warner (R-Va.) of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He then went on to get himself accused in the Washington Post of Misuse of Government Property by allegedly using military jets for personal trips for him and his wife. Enron however refused to go away and in July following the breaking of the company’s involvement in the 2000-2001 California electricity crisis White found himself denying everything under oath before the Senate Commerce Committee.

[truthisfreedom]

16. i'm intrigued by the process, but i think the process needs less intrigue.

all of the potentially responsible Enron people should be kept away from the energy business as funded by taxpayer dollars.

[mom cat]

17. Another vote for Greatest Page! The outrages never cease!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

18. Geez

These whore's in congress have no shame

[Ilsa]

23. Recommended. I want the crooks to get as much

attention as possible.

[CorwinB]

27. Isn't all that taxpayer-funded stuff...

a bit like communism ? Not something ant self-respecting smaller gummint Repub would want to be associated with, right ?

[ClintonTyree]

32. Yeah...

pull yourself up by the boot straps and all that sort of crap. Smaller government, less burden of the taxpayer...... the repukes have broken every rule in their playbook and keep getting away with it. :shrug:

Welcome to DU, :hi:

[Guaranteed]

33. A MOTHER..FUCKING...OUTRAGE. NT

[cthrumatrix]

36. unbelievable,,,,,, wtf is the press SCREAMING about the corruption???

[Nothing Without Hope]

37. This one is going into my "GOP SCANDALS & HORRORS" bin. Recommended.

Isn't this just too, too typical?

edited to add; I do wonder if this is payoff for keeping quiet about other scandals that might be embarrassing.

[Julius Civitatus]

39. BASTARDS!!! Who wrote this bill? They need to be exposed!

ASAP!

[Roland99]

40. **** So, what's up with Arch Coal and KFX as beneficiaries here??? ****

http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?action=m&board=7080800&tid=aci&sid=7080800&mid=2787

Notice that I did not say it was a scam. I wanted to direct people to the BTU comments to warn prospective KFX investors that they should do their DD before jumping in.

ACI's investment in KFX does not insure that it is either a good investment or has a superior technology. Companies make poor investments too. Also, how does one know that there are not better technologies out there?

Arch and KFX
http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?action=m&board=7080800&tid=aci&sid=7080800&mid=2780



Re: Arch and KFX PRESIDENT WANYS ENERGY
http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&action=m&board=7080800&tid=aci&sid=7080800&mid=2812



Info on KFx
http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&board=7082713&tid=kfx&sid=7082713&action=m&mid=20114
http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&action=m&board=7082713&tid=kfx&sid=7082713&mid=20115
http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&action=m&board=7082713&tid=kfx&sid=7082713&mid=20116
http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&board=7082713&tid=kfx&sid=7082713&action=m&mid=20117




Anyone want to dig into this? Any links between BFEE/Cheney and ACI/KFx or am I just assuming a bit too much. ;)

[muchacho]

41. ARGH

FISCAL CONSERVATIVES MY ARSE!

[Rebellious Republican]

44. Could this be why they are considering a reversal on the Arthur

Anderson decision? Is this just a set up for Enron Exec's to have a loop hole to leap through?

:wow:

[Catherine Vincent]

45. This is the most corrupt admn. in the history of the United States!

This was said all the time by Clinton-hating repukes during the Clinton administration. The Bush administration has definitely surpassed any other administration. All you have to do is check the facts.

[McCamy Taylor]

46. Hush Money. Everyone high up at Enron knows too much about

W and Cheney's involvement in the price gouging of California.

[angryxyouth]

47. Here is a company that has the technology

but isn't a member of the Bush crime family. http://www.changingworldtech.com/
Here is a company that can create clean oil from any carbon based material,
their entire process is clean and efficient, but they won't be getting a gov backed loan.

[Roland99]

48. That, in itself, is a crime.

:(

[dissent1977]

54. That site makes some incredible claims

I am always a bit skeptical when I hear of such incredible technology as this company claims to have. But if this sites claims are real then they could potentially solve some of the greatest environmental problems facing us. I would definately do some close research before you fully buy their claims, but this sure seems like something that at least deserves to be studied.

[mermaid]

59. Wanna Know WHY They Won't Be Getting A Gov't Backed Loan??

I'll tell you why...
Because this is something the already-rich...and already-well-connected haven't yet figured out how to get thier hand into the cookie jar.

Do you not see the pattern? Any innovation is fought...until such time as the insiders of the old figure out how to make sure that the vast majority of the widfall of the new accrues to them. Then, such innovation is allowed to go forward, and is funded.

If the insiders can't get their hands on the vast majority of the financial and other benefits of the new technology, then the new technology does not happen.

And it really is quite that simple.

These people whose interests are in the old technology are willing to allow our civilization collapse, and have no viable energy source...than to see the majority of the benefits of the new technology go to someone other than themselves.

[Pharaoh]

49. slimebags...................

:patriot:

[geckosfeet]

51. Those Enron bastards should be on their own.

If the senate approves this,,,, it better be along party lines. Hopefully there will be a few repukes that see that this is corporate welfare and vote against it or amend it.

[Bridget Burke]

71. I have a problem with a "windfall" for ANY execs buried in a bill.

As for the "innocence" of any higher-level Enron execs--most Houstonians don't buy it. Justice has been moving much too slowly.

[scdusek]

72. Halliburton Gets Money Too!!

Upon digging even further into the Dep't of Energy's website through the link provided at the end of the Rawstory article, the DOE lists all requests that are a part of the Round 2 funding from the Clean Coal Power Initiative. The last item on the list is a project taken on by Southern Company Services.

Kellog, Brown, & Root...yes THAT KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary, is requesting a mere $235 million for the project. That's the largest request of all the Round 2 projects listed on the DOE website.

So we have the administration handing out money to both Enron and Halliburton...what a sick joke.



From the DOE website:
Southern Company Services, in a team effort with Southern Power Company, Orlando Utilities Commission, and Kellogg Brown and Root, proposes to construct and demonstrate operation of a 285 megawatt coal-based transport gasifier plant in Orange County, Florida. The proposed plant would gasify sub-bituminous coal, use state-of the-art emission controls, and be expected to provide one of the cleanest, most efficient coal-fired power plants in the world. Southern Company plans to demonstrate use of an air-blown integrated gasification combined cycle power plant based on the transport gasifier, which employs Kellogg Brown and Root's catalytic cracking technology that has been used successfully for over 50 years in the petroleum refining industry. Southern Company estimated the total cost for the project at $557 million and has requested $235 million of DOE funds to support the project.

[Roland99]

76. AARRRGGGHHH!!!!

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:


Fuckers rip-off the government for millions and get rewarded with bonuses and gov't grants?!?!?

[bunny planet]

73. Just sent link to this thread to Randi Rhodes.

I just love that little loud-mouth lady.
:loveya:

[dchill]

75. This travesty...

needs to be KICKed - hard.

[Az_lefty]

79. So this is the reason bush has been harping about the energy bill

payback for his friends. What a total piece of shit!
:mad:

[Roland99]

80. Ayup...and now they'll work to scuttle provisions in a pending

trade bill to keep us from getting drugs that were "reimported".


Anything to protect their corporate puppet masters.