Senior Bush Official Misled Congress About Oil Industry Payoff
Senior Bush Official Misled Congress About Oil Industry Payoff
The Interior Department inspector general has issued a report that finds “pervasive problems in the government’s program for ensuring that companies pay the royalties they owe on billions of dollars of oil and gas pumped on federal land and in coastal waters.” The report reveals top Interior Dept. officials knew about the problem for years, but refused to do anything about it.
In September 2006 testimony before the House Government Reform committee, Minerals Management Service (MMS) director Johnnie Burton told lawmakers she only learned of the issue last year:
“We are not sure what happened. We did look at it,” said Burton, who chalked up the error to a breakdown in communications at her agency. “What I wanted to know is if that miscommunication was intentional or not.” Burton said she didn’t learn of the error until this year. “I don’t think the ranks realized it was an issue they needed to tell me about,” she said. [AP, 9/14/06]
The IG report reveals a different story:
[I]nvestigators have unearthed a series of e-mail messages by officials working under Ms. Burton in March 2004. […] Marshall Rose, chief economist for the Minerals Management Service, wrote the agency’s associate director at the time, Thomas Readinger, that the decision had to be made by the “directorate” — Ms. Burton and her top deputies.
Mr. Rose told Mr. Readinger that he believed the leases entitled companies to the incentive regardless of oil price levels, and that he had told his own subordinates that “you and the director were aware of the need to make a decision on this matter.” Mr. Readinger, who retired last year, responded to Mr. Rose a few hours later by writing, “Sounds like we have an answer. Let’s go with it.” According to the report, Mr. Readinger told investigators “he was sure” that he had discussed the issue with Ms. Burton.
When confronted with the emails, Burton claimed she “could not remember being told about the mistake three years ago.”
Tomorrow, the House will take up a bipartisan bill to fix the problem — The Clean Energy Act of 2007. The bill is “aimed at recouping lost royalties and stripping oil and gas companies of other tax incentives,” and would “shift $13 billion into a fund to promote energy efficiency and development of alternative and renewable energy sources.” Learn more about at the bill from our Kick the Oil Habit campaign.
Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date
23 Responses to “Senior Bush Official Misled Congress About Oil Industry Payoff”
Register
RSSLogin
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog RollAbout Think ProgressContact Us
Donate
Johnnie Burton, Gale Norton, Duncan Hunter, et al.
January 17th, 2007 at 3:29 pmYour time is coming.
Henry Waxman may not be as handsome as Boner, but he’s a pitbull on thorough investigations.
You are crooks.
He will get you.
Ask Scooter.
Be afraid, very afraid.
They need to work on a fi for the republicans memory problems. If my PCs memory leaked as bad as the republicans memory, I would throw it out.
January 17th, 2007 at 3:30 pmMr. Rose told Mr. Readinger that he believed the leases entitled companies to the incentive regardless of oil price
Here’s a thought, READ THE GODDAMN LEASES.
If there’s no mention or language pertaining to royalty payments being tied to the price of crude, CASE CLOSED. Pay.
If there is specific language which absolves companies from paying royalties when crude rises above a certain price, CASE CLOSED. Don’t pay.
C’mon people, it’s as simple as being able to R-E-A-D.
January 17th, 2007 at 3:31 pmWhile they’re at it…
…maybe they can recoup the cost of this damn war…
…that we tax payers have been underwriting with the borrowed futures of future generations of our offspring…
…a war to provide sweet heart deals for those oil companies to plunder Iraqi oil…
…I want the private assets of all corrupt oil/government officials confiscated…
…especially tha fat basta*d former CEO of Exxon-Mobil who ‘retired’ with that $400 million compensation package…
ACCOUNTABILITY + JUSTICE = democracy’s salvation
January 17th, 2007 at 3:36 pmThat’s not news. All senior Bush officials mislead Congress!
January 17th, 2007 at 3:37 pmOh c’mon, say it isn’t so.
January 17th, 2007 at 3:51 pmHow about paying the Native Americans the trillion they are owed in mineral royalties.
January 17th, 2007 at 3:53 pmThis is probably not the typical incompetence of the Bushco ninnies, this is more likely the criminal version of whistling past the graveyard, hear no evil, see no evil, say no evil, what us worryism.
January 17th, 2007 at 3:54 pmWhere are the trolls. Step up to the plate! Defend your precious Bush and his band of thieves.
January 17th, 2007 at 4:07 pmHere’s a wild guess on how this will play out:
1. Johnnie Burton will continue to deny she had prior knowledge of this.
January 17th, 2007 at 4:20 pm2. Bush, or some flunky, will state their support of Burton.
3. Burton will resign, “to spend more time with her family.”
4. Burton will be hired as a lobbyist, consultant, or employee of Big Oil with a starting salary of $500,000/year or more.
4. Burton will be hired as a lobbyist, consultant, or employee of Big Oil with a starting salary of $500,000/year or more.
Comment by And You Thought REAGAN Was Stupid
I wish I had no morals or integrity….
January 17th, 2007 at 4:24 pm/sarcasm
Mistress Z
January 17th, 2007 at 4:52 pmYeah, who put the grit in integrity?
It’s said that ignorance of the law is no excuse. In that case, there’s no way that “I forgot” should be allowed as an excuse. It may have worked for Reagan–he actually DID forget a lot of things–but everyone in the Bush administration who’s tried to get away with something has been using that as their excuse. If you’ve got a lousy memory, you shouldn’t have taken a job with so much responsibility. Throw the damn book at ‘em!
January 17th, 2007 at 4:57 pmTrolls? Where are you MA? Your wit would really liven up this thread! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Rats will start scurrying more and more as the ship goes down!
January 17th, 2007 at 4:59 pmYeah, who put the grit in integrity?
Comment by RUCerious — January 17, 2007 @ 4:52 pm
Who put the APE in apricot? What makes the Hottentots so hot? Courage!
Sorry, I had to.
January 17th, 2007 at 5:18 pmWho put the dick in Richard?
January 17th, 2007 at 5:25 pm#16 - Truth
Ok, you got me with that one. :-D
January 17th, 2007 at 6:55 pmNothing these guys do anymore in unbelievable. Or so I thought.
January 17th, 2007 at 7:10 pmNothing these guys do is unbelievable anymore. Or so I thought.
January 17th, 2007 at 7:11 pmIf we want to kick the oil habit, at least imported oil, we have to build nuclear power plants like the Chinese, Indians, French, and Japanese.
If we want our gasoline prices to increase, then we should pass legislation like the one mentioned here.
January 17th, 2007 at 7:52 pmWe need oversight but we need indictments as well.
January 17th, 2007 at 10:02 pmWhat’s her middle name? Hally?
January 18th, 2007 at 6:31 amI have maybe posted on this four times. Most of the time if I did post, it would be redundant as posters like GregorSamsa, JayRandal, and Juan C either state along the lines of what I was thinking or shed light on a murky subject. There are some other good ones (posters) in here but those three stand out.
‘People‘ posting threats to other commentors is completely childish and assinine. Also, when you threaten someone on a forum and then claim that person is too chicken shit to fight you so they hide at TP. You (threat-maker) are the one doing the hiding. Acting tough, saying words you would never say in public because people might call the cops on you.
If you want to fight, I suggest your local bar or tavern. There is always somebody there that will look at you funny or accidentally spill your drink.
January 18th, 2007 at 8:30 am