Alaska Raid

[Joanne98]

http://www.slate.com/id/2171426/
By Daniel Politi

Posted Tuesday, July 31, 2007, at 6:02 AM ET
The New York Times leads with a look at a little-noticed provision tucked inside the energy bill that recently passed the Senate, which could provide billions of dollars in government loan guarantees for the construction of new nuclear power plants. Although loan guarantees for builders of what is considered "clean" technology is nothing new, the provision removes all limits to the amounts that can be approved by the Department of Energy. The Washington Post leads with news that Federal agents raided Sen. Ted Stevens' home in Alaska in search of documents that could shed light into his relationship with an energy services company, Veco, and its chief executive, who bribed state officials. The Wall Street Journal tops its worldwide newsbox with, and almost everyone fronts, the hospitalization of Chief Justice John Roberts after he suffered a seizure while at his summer home in Maine.

USA Today leads with a look at how the cost of gasoline is decreasing as the price of crude oil is nearing a record high. This trend is expected to continue as experts say consumers shouldn't expect to see an increase in gasoline prices anytime soon. The Los Angeles Times leads locally with news that a transplant surgeon was charged with giving a disabled man too many drugs in order to speed up his death and harvest his organs. Some think this case could lead doctors "to shy away from a somewhat controversial practice of retrieving organs before a patient is brain dead."

The nuclear industry has said that it needs as much as $50 billion in loan guarantees over the next two years to finance major expansion projects, all of which it could receive (at least theoretically) with the provision that was tucked away in the Senate's energy bill. And the nuclear industry wouldn't be the only beneficiary since all energy technologies that are considered "clean" could get the guarantees. The House is working on its own energy bill, and Democratic leaders have made it clear they oppose awarding loan guarantees for nuclear plants.

Bill Allen, the CEO of Veco, is said to have overseen renovation work on Stevens' home in 2000. Yesterday's raid by FBI and IRS agents means the corruption investigation into the longest-serving Republican senator in history "has taken on new urgency," notes the NYT. The investigation is particularly significant because Stevens has long held much power in the Senate, where he was the chairman of the Appropriations Committee for six years. Meanwhile, the Post notes that Veco received more than $30 million in federal contracts since 2000. Stevens said little yesterday but urged "Alaskans not to form conclusions based upon incomplete and sometimes incorrect reports in the media."
http://www.slate.com/id/2171426/

[izzie]

1. Yes 'they were expendable' I am sorry but it is funny

AJ and Bush have got some one to dump on. Makes one almost think that Bush is not using the DOJ as his personal law office. Right? After all if they would go after one of their own. I do not look at it like that at all but he is using Stevens to take the heat off the AJ and the WH. Bush will dump the ones that stuck with him if it pays for Bush. This type 'ruler' always does.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

2. Northern Exposure!

Oh, Tubes is taking heat but there is plenty to go around for AJ and the Dark House. In our modern, media-intensive world, smokescreens are nowhere near as effective as they once were. Likewise, the politicos' moves into 'armed camps' on either side has the embarassing side effect: Tube's taint is on all of the Repugs.