Why Does TransCanada Need $500 Million Cash Right Now? A Sarah Palin Mystery

[McCamy Taylor]

I. I Love a Mystery

Those who have been following my journals, know that Sarah Palin did not appear on the political scene unannounced. She has been promoted on the internet for the job of Republican VP, based upon a deal which has been in the works since last year. The bargain so slick it shows her ready to lead the United States? Let TransCanada Company build a gas pipeline from the Northern Slopes in Alaska and have the state of Alaska pay them half a billion dollars up front to do it.

http://palinforvp.blogspot.com/2008/08/breaking-senate-authorizes-palins.html

http://thepinkflamingo.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2008/7/23/3807197.html

The screwy part of this story is the half billion dollar cash bribe to TransCanada. Consider the strange and sordid tale of the gas pipeline. Sen. Ted Stevens is under indictment for taking bribes from VECO, so that company would be awarded the privilege of building the gas pipeline. A second group of companies, BP and Conoco, which actually drill for natural gas in Alaska, lobbied the previous governor, because they wanted to build the pipeline. And when they were shut out of the deal, they went ahead and started construction on their own pipeline anyway. The final bidder, TransCanada, was essentially awarded the pipeline at its inception by newly elected Governor Palin, because she appointed a TransCanada lobbyist, Marty Rutherford to direct the task force assigned to complete the gas pipeline project. Among Rutherford’s first acts----she stripped oil companies of their North Slopes oil leases so that TransCanada would be able to build a gas pipeline on those lands (these companies are now in court suing the state) and then she surprised no one by declaring early in 2008 that only TransCanada qualified to build the pipeline. What did come as a surprise was TransCanada’s demand.

They wanted half a billion dollars up front.

Even more surprising----the state of Alaska legislature voted to give it to them. Keep in mind that VECO was willing to hand out bribes to get the deal and BP and Conoco were so eager to build it that they have gone ahead and started building one anyway. If I were a frugal state governor, I might chose to wait and see what kind of progress BP and Conoco make. But Sarah Palin could not wait to sign with TransCanada. Why? Was it because they really needed that infusion of cash?

http://www.democrats.org/a/2008/09/sarah_palin_spe.php

http://www.dailygotham.com/blog/dan_jacoby/the_real_sarah_palin

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=15704546335&topic=5106

II. Lessons From Enron

Before I go any farther, I want to go back. There were two tip offs (at least to me) that Enron was on the verge of collapse. First, Jeff Skilling quit. No wunderkid quits a successful cash cow. So, I had my eye on George W. Bush’s biggest campaign donor (I am sure that a lot of Democrats did) when the Republican House past that crazy piece of post 9/11 legislation giving a handful of companies, including Enron, an immediate infusion of cash as an “economic stimulus package”.

This Alaska gas pipeline deal reminds me of that House Republican bill. It is an immediate infusion of cash into a company which has posted profits that are in excess of those posted by similar companies. A company which has been busy expanding and buying and building---and which has run into a bunch of nasty, unexpected roadblocks on its way to Oz.

The gas pipeline itself will not turn a profit for a decade. And it has been described as a risky venture.

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/tradingdesk/archive/2008/08/05/alaskan-pipeline-offers-downside-for-transcanada-bondholders.aspx

Bondholders should be scared, according to Laurie Conheady, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets.

“We believe there is little, if any, upside for TransCanada PipeLines’ bondholders in this announcement or the prospect of TransCanada building the pipeline,” he said. “On the contrary, we see the potential for significant downside risk for the debt providers as the company moves to develop the pipeline project.”

At last guess, the price tag rings in at US$26-billion. But many are already predicting US$30-billion. Others are also noting a projects such as this pipeline regularly run over budget.
“To put the magnitude of the proposed pipeline into perspective, TransCanada’s Corp.’s total market capitalization currently stands at about $23-billion,” he said.

That does not sound too good. Not if you consider that two of the major natural gas drillers are building their own pipeline and may never use TransCanada’s pipeline. The only positive to the deal is the short run acquisition of half a billion dollars in hard, cold cash.

There are a few other things about TransCanada that remind me of Enron. The passage below contains a lot of financial-eze that I do not speak, but the general gist of it sets off alarm bells, because it seems to say that TransCanada is doing much better financially than it should be doing when you compare it to other similar companies in its market, which makes me wonder Is it doing as well as it says it is doing?

http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Financial-Analysis-of-TransCanada-Corp&id=580021

Nevertheless, while location may differ, many of the companies in the gas utility industry have similar business models when compared to TransCanada. However, what differentiates this company from the rest of the industry is strong historical and predicted fundamentals. Starting from the top line, over a trailing twelve month basis, TransCanada, according to Capital IQ, has seen year over year quarterly revenue growth exceed 27%. Comparing this number to rivals such as Sempra Energy or Kinder Morgan, and respective numbers of -10% and -8.50% will show up. Clearly there is a difference in demand and pricing between these companies. However, the question to now ask is if these numbers are sustainable. Probably the two most important statistics to look at when determining to purchase stocks are in favor of TransCanada are operating margins and gross margins. As a five year average, according to Reuters, TransCanada sees its gross margins to increase by 75.14% and operating margins to increase by 35.52%. Looking at the industry's respective averages of 33.53% and 14.64%, TransCanada has phenomenal numbers. Even compared to some of the aforementioned rivals, this company performed much better. National Grid only saw a 23.74% increase in operating margins, while Sempra Energy only saw a 13.12% increase for that same statistic. And drilling down these numbers past more interest, tax, and other costs will still show that net income remains strong for this company.

As a five year average, TransCanada saw a net profit margin of about 17.18%. This number is above the industry average of 9.11% and respective numbers from National Grid, Sempra Energy, and Kinder Morgan. However, many investors may wonder if much of this growth transcends to an undervalued status for this equity. Looking at the forward P/E ratio for TransCanada, while the number is below the trailing multiple and the industry average of about 29.47, the multiple is still a bit higher than companies like National Grid or Sempra. In addition, TransCanada's other multiples such as price to sales (2.64), enterprise value to revenue (4.24), and enterprise value to EBITDA (9.836) are all either above or very similar to the aforementioned companies. Thus, I unfortunately cannot label TransCanada as a value stock. However, it is important to realize that this company has amazing historical growth and predicted growth. If these numbers are sustainable and nothing serious happens to the company legally or naturally, the company will continue to see higher EPS estimates. Then as more investors see the benefits of owning this company, the share price of TransCanada will continue to escalate with a strong positive correlation like it has seen over the past four years.

Funny he should mention legal matters….But more on that later.

III. Recent History of TransCanada

TransCanada is a major energy sector player. I can say this with confidence, because they are the only company out of Canada that got a private, secret meeting with Dick Cheney.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/cheney_energy_task_force.html

Note that Cheney also tried to persuade the Alaska legislature that it should go along with Sen. Ted Stevens’ plans to build a gas pipeline, back when he was first floating the idea for his buddies at VECO.

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/index.php?view=article&catid=1%3Atalk-of-the-tundra&id=55%3Atrumped

As I describe in my recent journals, employees working for the firm which TransCanada uses as lobbyists have served as bundlers for all the major Republican presidential candidates and for Hillary Clinton. One of John McCain's long time fund raisers in Virginia is employed by TransCanada's U.S. lobbying firm. The company is definitely involved in U.S. politics as well as business.

In the last eight years, TransCanada has been growing and acquiring at a remarkable rate as they seek to control the pipeline market in the North American continent and to move into the electricity manufacturing market in the U.S. A lot of this has been accomplished through buying, some of this through building. All of this is expensive. Below are links about acquisitions from 2002-2007.

http://www.transcanada.com/company/acquisitions.html

http://mergertalk.blogspot.com/2008/02/transcanada-corporation-mulling.html

http://www.transcanada.com/news/2007_news/20070222.html

http://www.scandoil.com/moxie-bm2/financial/stock_news/transcanada-closes-ravenswood-generating-station-a.shtml

http://www.reuters.com/article/mergersNews/idUSN0343835320080903

Here is a recent MSNBC financial report with a second quarter income of $324 million:

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.aspx?symbol=US:TRP&feed=MW&date=20080731&id=8967201

Now, I am not a business type, but I can see how it would be easy to make money with the above type of company. Buy smaller energy firms that are already solvent, collect their revenues and you keep turning out a profit. Sounds very sensible. As your company acquires a larger share of the market, you can begin to set prices (monopoly effect) and then the real profits kick in.

However TransCanada is not just buying up other companies, power plants and existing pipeline. It is also building pipeline. Some very expensive pipeline. I wish someone with some accounting experience would analyze the MSNBC data under “Financing Activities”, because it seems to me (who knows little of such things) that in 2007 TransCanada was spending its money investing in more assets to enlarge its empire and in 2008 it is throwing its money into a project called Keystone which I will describe below, a great big money sink which has required it to look for funds in creative ways.

IV. Keystone, a Great Big Fat Money Sink for TransCanada

Crash course in Alberta oilsands. There is oil in them there sands, but it is filthy and it generates three times as much green house gas to extract it and it costs a heck of a lot more to refine it. Therefore, Alberta, Canada did not experience its Black Gold rush until Bush-Cheney succeeded in pushing crude oil prices sky high.

The biggest source of U.S. oil imports is Canada. And now that oil prices are so high, Alberta’s dirty oilsands oil is a viable export to the U.S. There is just one problem. The nation’s mayors---and Barack Obama---passed a resolution this summer calling for a boycott of Alberta’s filthy crude.

http://www.oilweek.com/news.asp?ID=16986

Jun 23, 2008 5:00:00 PM MST
U.S. mayors pass resolution urging cities not use oilsands derived fuel (US-Mayors-Oilsands)


Mayors in the United States have joined the fight to reduce the use of gasoline made with oil from Alberta´s oilsands.

A resolution passed Monday at their annual conference in Miami urges mayors to forbid the use of oilsands-derived gasoline in municipal vehicles.

"The hope of the resolution was that we would support federal legislation that prohibits governments from using fuel substitutes that are worse than the ones that we´re trying to substitute for," said Mayor Kitty Piercy of Eugene, Ore., the resolution´s main sponsor.

It was co-sponsored by a group of mayors from communities as large as San Francisco and as small as Waukesha, Wis.

They took direct aim at Alberta´s oilsands in the text, saying "the production of tarsands oil from Canada emits approximately three times the carbon dioxide pollution per barrel as does conventional oil."

Canadian representatives of the Alberta oil industry were furious. They vowed to load their dirty crude on tankers and take it elsewhere. However, TransCanada has a problem. It has invested a ton of money into a project to build a oil pipeline from Alberta all the way to Port Arthur, Texas (in conjunction with Conoco-Philips) to transport dirty oilsands oil so that it can be refined down here. All the money that it would normally spend acquiring new companies and pipeline in a year has gone into the Keystone pipeline project. It is severely short on funds (I am betting that is the reason for the public stock offering and the loan) and it can not afford an American president who is negative on a pipeline which still does not have FERC approval.

http://www.ranchers.net/forum/about25821.html

This site includes a newspaper article with a general summary of the Keystone project and how it impacts landowners, many of whom have had their land rights stripped via eminent domain.

V. Keystone Headache No. 1 : Dakota’s Environmental Lawsuit

Remember I mentioned something about legal problems.

http://www.plainsman.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=4545&page=72

Environmental groups are suing the State Department in North Dakota to halt the 1,980-mile Keystone oil pipeline, saying the government did not fully investigate the risks of leaks and other damage to rural areas.

The lawsuit was filed this week in Washington, D.C., by the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., the Dakota Resource Council of Dickinson and Dakota Rural Action of Brookings, S.D. It seeks to halt the project until the environmental impacts of the pipeline are addressed.

Snip

The lawsuit says the project will lead to “increased air and water pollution for residents of the Midwest and other states.” It says the pipeline will supply refineries with extra heavy sour crude oil extracted from Canadian tar sands and could release more greenhouse gases and other pollution.

Snip

In a statement announcing the lawsuit, the resource groups said landowners in North Dakota and South Dakota continue to fight pipeline siting and eminent domain proceedings but find themselves “outgunned by TransCanada’s resources.”

“To extract this low-quality oil from tar sands, oil companies are burning through reserves of natural gas our children will need one day,” the statement said. “Dredging up dirtier and dirtier oil to fuel inefficient vehicles is like washing the dishes with scotch, and the damage to our rural way of life keeps mounting.”

VI. Keystone Headache No. 2: Lubicon Lake Indian Nation Land Rights in Alberta vs. TransCanada

The United Nations has had to get medieval on Canada’s ass before over matters like this. Trampling all over the rights of native peoples in the pursuit of the almighty (Canadian) dollar. And you thought that all Canadians were liberal, fun loving folks? Sounds like some of them would be right at home in Texas.

http://oilsandstruth.org/index.php?q=lubicon-fight-proposed-transcanada-pipeline

TORONTO - The Lubicon Lake Indian Nation in northern Alberta is
gearing up to fight a proposed jumbo pipeline that would carry natural
gas from the Mackenzie Valley in the west to the oil sands
developments to the east.

The $983 million proposal follows a history of industrial development
across the unceded Lubicon territory that has left the 500-member Cree
nation impoverished, poisoned and disregarded by Canada and Alberta -
despite criticism about violations of their rights from two United
Nations committees.

''It's a devastating situation where there is all kinds of activity
around our traditional hunting and trapping areas,'' Lubicon Chief
Bernard Ominayak said when he traveled to Geneva two years ago. ''It's
polluting most of our waters - we have to haul our own water and we
can't eat the fish any more.''
Snip

KAIROS, a Canadian church group, has written to board chair S. Barry
Jackson to express deep concern on behalf of several religious
institutions that hold TransCanada shares.

''We are disturbed by the company's decision to proceed with an
application to the AUC for approval of the NCC project as is, without
having concluded discussions with the Lubicon Nation,'' wrote KAIROS
executive director Mary Corkery.

''Management's handling of this situation may constitute an
undisclosed and poorly managed risk to our investments,'' Corkery
stated, adding that ''this situation constitutes an unacceptable
response to a serious, internationally recognized human rights issue.''
Snip

In 2006, the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
reiterated the Human Rights Committee's findings and urged Canada to
resume negotiations with the Lubicon, a call that was echoed by a U.N.
official who visited the Lubicon community of Little Buffalo last year.

Here is a letter from TransCanada investors calling the company to task for their treatment of the Lubicon:

http://www.tao.ca/~fol/pa/oilp/tcplp/po080223.htm

This situation constitutes an unacceptable failure by management to adequately address a serious, internationally recognized human rights issue that pertains directly to the operations of the company. This is deeply troubling to us as shareholders."

VII. Keystone Headache No. 3: U.S. Conference of Mayors and Obama

See above link. Being denounced as pushers of environmentally unfriendly oil is the kiss of death in the U.S. after An Inconvenient Truth . It is no wonder the Canadian prime minister’s office used dirty tricks to try to discredit Barack Obama before the Ohio primaries. The prime minister or at least people in his office are probably working hand in hand with Canadian oil interests who want to see Bush-Cheney oil policies continue, so that Alberta can be polluted, exploited and the environment can be trashed just a little bit faster---all for the sake of some CEO’s pocketbook.

For the record, there are a lot of people in Canada and Alberta who are mad as hell and who do not want to take it anymore either.

VIII. Sept 4, 2008

Maybe TransCanada needs the half a billion to buy the land rights from the Lubicon and to pay their legal fees in the U.S. and to buy the land that is getting harder to seize if they are going to keep building this pipeline from Alberta to Port Arthur.

However, what good will the pipeline be, if the nation decides that it does not want extra green house gas producing fuel when it can switch to the use of more environmentally friendly energy sources? What will TransCanada do if Obama is elected and his FERC says “Thanks, but no thanks” to dirty oilsands crude?

Sept 4, 2008 is a significant date for the Keystone project.

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS127033+16-Jul-2008+MW20080716

That is the date that bidding closed for binding contracts between it and oil extractors in Alberta to use its pipeline to transport crude down to Port Arthur. The above article came out this summer. The recommendation by the U.S. mayors and Obama probably made it difficult for TransCanada to sell those contracts. I wonder what getting Sarah Palin on the John McCain ticket did for their auction? I wonder how it affects their project's liability?

When Enron's house of cards was on the verge of collapse, it turned to Bush and Cheney, who abused their authority, enabling the rape of California through the the manufactured energy crisis on California at home and negotiating with the Taliban for a gas pipeline deal with Enron abroad.

Has TransCanada decided that the best way to shore itself up financially during this rocky time is to ally itself with John McCain and help install him in the White House along with their favorite governor? Will we see a TransCanada jet being used to ferry McCain lawyers back and forth for recounts in Ohio and Florida?

I hope not, because we do not need to stay dependent upon $4-5/gallon gasoline and the only way that TransCanada can stay solvent is if gas prices stay that high or higher and U.S. demand stays right where it is for the next ten years.

[Blue_In_AK]

1. A lot of us here

would much, much prefer an all-Alaskan pipeline, following the route of the existing Trans-Alaska oil pipeline, with a liquefaction plant in Valdez and spur lines to the state, since our energy costs are so terribly high. That was the plan that Sarah supported when she was running for governor. I think what happened is that everybody was so tired of Frank Murkowski, the "corrupt bastards," etc. that they were pretty much willing to go along with whatever Sarah said since she was kind of the "anti-Frank," so they were willing to kind of let her back-pedal on the "all-Alaska" thing if it meant that a gas line would finally get built, with all the economic advantages that would mean to the state. Construction of a natural gas pipeline has been a goal here for at least 30 years for the revenues and the jobs that would be generated.

One correction I would make to your summary, which is excellent, is that VECO was an oilfield services company, basically a lobbyist for the Big Three oil companies here, not a pipeline builder, per se. I could be wrong, but that has been my understanding. From what I understand they got in trouble for trying to influence the tax rate that was being imposed on the oil companies.

[xxxyyyzzz]

8. Wally Hickel has a lot to say about this too...

Look over here too-------->
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3474128&mesg_id=3474369

I think Sarah realizes she really screwed up AGIA and jumped at the chance to be McCains VP to avoid getting her tit in the wringer when Alaskans have a long cold winter to think about what went on in Juneau in 2007-8.

[DaLittle Kitty]

11. We Need to "OUT" This Bi**h NOW To Save Our Country From This "Black Widow!"

She is power hungry and the VP office will take her to a place that she has no business being in. This pick is DANGEROUS beyond belief in a nuclear age. She is a half ass news reader and we're going to put her likely as not in the f'ing White House?

America is damn near FINISHED... Most assuredly IF THIS SHITBIRD FLIES! :puke:

[Pete2069]

16. Seems that Cheney had ties with Palin

Notice Cheney's only private secret meeting with TransCanada ,
and Palin plays the same card that Cheney has for all his war
contracts. 

    "This is the only company able to do this job." 
    Same as Cheney with his no-bid contracts and
Hallingburton...

Palin was setting in the wind for the VP spot for a while.  
She is in bed with the oil companies just as much as Bush ,
Cheney and McCain are.

Just how far and how many people does Bush , Cheney and their
administration's reach go!

[Just-plain-Kathy]

2. What really got me thinking was how last week the price tag to the pipeline was $26 billion...

...during Palin's speech she said something about spending $40 billion on means to new energy (I can't remember her exact words).


Thank you for addressing this issue.

[cachukis]

3. great research

[drm604]

4. Good stuff.

Keep it up.

[Tutonic]

5. Good post.

[mojowork_n]

6. For whatever they're worth, a couple of historical footnotes

At the end of 2000, TransCanada pulled up stakes in Latin America:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5586/is_200011/ai_n23891839

They got completely out of Mexico, and Venezuela, in exchange for
just less than $200 million. (In 2000 dollars, when a dollar was
worth more than the Euro...)

Considering the tens of thousands marching in candlelight protest
parades in Mexico -- the country's being torn up by an inter-cartel
drug civil war, between the 3 major drug cartels -- and Venezuela's
nationalization of the oil industry, last year, the Canadians must
think they're geniuses.

What do geniuses have to do? Prove it all over, again.

Some people in the oil industry are optimistic that they have a
"magic key" to end the Middle East stranglehold on oil supply,
forever. They're hoping the new technology works out, and are not
really counting on current, high prices, to keep it profitable.

(At least, according to their press releases.)

http://seekingalpha.com/article/31884-can-royal-dutch-shell-s-shale-extraction-technique-end-peak-oil-paranoia

[mojowork_n]

21. Curiosity assuaged

The old, inefficient processes for oil shale extraction (to which all those Mayors and Obama objected), required:

• lots of energy,
  
• two tedious "extra steps" in the process,
  
• two gallons of water for every gallon of oil produced, and
  
• littered the landscape with tons of broken rock
  

http://science.howstuffworks.com/oil-shale1.htm

The new "in-place" technology (Shell/Raytheon/Schlumberger?) will work (maybe, forecasts predict it'll take a decade, at least, to make it commercially viable) by nuking the oil in the rock. RF -- radio frequency micro-waves -- are used to heat the shale, after some catalyst liquids and/or chemicals have been added, to improve heat transfer & distribution.

http://cryptogon.com/?p=1878

No mining or crushing of rock required, but it's a slow process and final development of the technology is years away.

[xxxyyyzzz]

25. Superheterodyne Hydrocarbons

Maybe competitive companies will fast-track the technology ASAP....
http://globalresourcecorp.ir.stockpr.com/news/detail/151/global-resource-corp-realigns-management-and-board-with-experts-to-bring-company-to-global-markets
-------------
http://www.globalresourcecorp.com/Engineering_Data.asp

This technology can be used for recycling waste hydrocarbons into cheap fuels, and can greatly increase the efficiency of manufacturing plastics and petrochemicals.
The potential impact is enormous, and some say that when fully implemented it will push back "Peak Oil" 400years or more.
Klystrons are infinitely scalable in size and can be made small enough to be mounted on a car or truck for onboard processing of garbage for fuels. It's a big improvement on the old-style producer-gas pyrolysis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSgL0Ie4zrI

Power to the People !!!

[Wiley50]

7. "Sounds like some of them would be right at home in Texas."

I think, if you dig around a bit deeper, you'll find out that some of them actually do live in Texas.

As I remember, from a thread I read here a while back (maybe one of SLAD's threads) on the oil sands (or,maybe, as a tie in to a Barrick Gold thread), Poppy Bush has gotten heavily invested in those oil sands projects and related projects.

I'm a big fan of our DU investigative team.

[arthritisR_US]

9. if you guys think Canadians are Liberals here in the West , are you deluded or what?...

I live in Alberta and this is redneck, stupid ass country. There are people here that bitch non stop about the eastern provinces, i.e., the French Canadians who have never ever been to Quebec and lived with those wonderful people. The pigs of the oil industry rape the land and pillage the aboriginals. None of this surprises me since this Alberta government is bought and paid for by the oil fuckers. This province has been conservashit for 32+ years and holding...the fuckers will continue.

[judasdisney]

10. MT, this is amazing, a standard beyond DU

Are you paid to do this full-time? You should be. You should've been a CIA researcher or at least a muckraking journalist. I guess the CIA wouldn't want you these days since you wouldn't fit into a Cheney Sleeper Cell.

The Enron parallel is particularly revealing.

It's almost fanciful that Stevens got taken down. Something sub rosa seems to be happening there. Mueller's FBI is gaming something.

[Divine Discontent]

12. my head is mush right now, but I'm sure just from glancing, that this is fishy

makes one wonder what's in it for sarah...

MT, wonderful job on this research.

MORE AT www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable

[williesgirl]

13. Please send all you have to Keith & open more eyes. Thanks. Rec'd

[bluesmail]

14. This illustrates a reinforcement of mine and others

No More Dirty Oil. This is going to sound lame, but what about solar energy?

[McCainHeartsYucca]

15. more documents... lots of documents

This blog has tons of crazy stuff on Palin… http://liz-seattlespeak.blogspot.com
Like 50 thousand dollars spent on CARPET during renovations on the governor’s mansion
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/omb/09_omb/budget/Admin/Veto/2008proj45391.pdf

also Jesus General gave a helmet tip to her today for a document FROM palin that outlines this policy

"Faced with the prospect of so many Alaska Guardsmen and soldiers returning home after suffering traumatic brain injuries (TBI), Gov. Sarah Palin reached deep into Alaska's coffers to allocate one hundred dollars to teach health care professionals how to recognize TBI cases."

http://www.gov.state.ak.us/omb/09_omb/budget/bills/MHT_Report_Letter.pdf

It's pretty in depth and NEEDS MORE EYES.


http://liz-seattlespeak.blogspot.com

[grannie4peace]

17. she had control of that much $$ with that oil company fund

Scott Richter Palin:Todd Palin Business Partner Emergency Motion - Todd Palin’s former business partner, named Scott .A.Richter who allegedly had an affair with Sarah Palin filled an emergency motion to seal his divorce records but it was denied.
The Palins own few undeveloped properties on the Safari Lake and Big Lake, AK in Alaska in partnership with Scott A. Richter and his ex-wife Debbie under “Richter Investments LLC.”.Debbie Richter was Palin’s campaign treasurer. Richter was awarded a job as the Director of the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Division for her service.The State of Alaska gives its citizens “free money” checks every year out of this fund. This “free money” comes from oil royalties collected and investments. The Fund is currently worth $35 billion.Under Sarah and Debbie’s leadership in 2006, all Permanent Fund claims from residents (you have to make a claim for your check) were lost in a computer data entry failure.According courtrecords.alaska.gov


:http://news.spreadit.org/scott-richter-palintodd-palin-business-partner-emergency-motion/

[bertman]

18. McCamy, I'm going to rename this thread "Explaining Oil Monopolies for Dummies"

Great thread and thanks for making it simple enough that even I could grasp it.

Sometimes the arrogance and brass of these Repukes just boggles the mind.

Cheney and Palin. Oh my fucking Dog!!!

[me b zola]

19. Outstanding post

...and rather sad that it has not received more attention/recs.

[lorijen]

20. KEEP solving the mystery!

A great piece of work that the press needs to digest and get
out there...but we must connect some more of the dots. Let's
face it: Cheney, Bush, and the oil interests MUST win this
election. Back in April, the prospects were dim...scarily dim
for them. Call in the Rovians, who saw that the Hillary
campaign exposed a live wire:  a sizable number of voters who
want a woman in the White House and would cry
"feminist" at ANY criticism. Bring in a woman with
1) lots of baggage to distract and keep the critics occupied
2) the evangelical credentials to wow the base, and 3) the
"Drill Now" mantram to set up 4 more years of record
windfalls for all interested parties. 

[arikara]

22. Very interesting...

thanks for the work, it fills in a lot of blanks.

[MetaTrope]

23. Shades of George H.W. Bush selling the richest gold mine in America to Canada's Barrick Gold

for pennies on the dollar...

And then ending up on their board of directors less than a year later.

[peacetalksforall]

24. I can't tell you how upset I am to read Hillary Clinton's names here.

"As I describe in my recent journals, employees working for the firm which TransCanada uses as lobbyists have served as bundlers for all the major Republican presidential candidates and for Hillary Clinton. One of John McCain's long time fund raisers in Virginia is employed by TransCanada's U.S. lobbying firm. The company is definitely involved in U.S. politics as well as business."

Knowing that certain Republicans were pushing for her nomination as President, it sure is crushing to see her name linked here.

I guess someone didn't understand the connection to the Corporate-Republican club when they set up the services of those people linked to this firm. sarcasm and anger.