Sen. Snowe: GOP is ‘the party of Big Business and Big Oil and the rich.’
Sen. Snowe: GOP is ‘the party of Big Business and Big Oil and the rich.’
In a new Time article on the state of the Republican Party, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) lamented the GOP’s exclusion of groups like minorities and environmentalists. “Ideological purity is not the ticket to the promised land,” she said, echoing comments her fellow Maine senator Susan Collins (R) made last week. She also complained that, “to the average American,” the GOP is just the party of “Big Oil and the rich“:
Snowe recalls that when she proposed fiscally conservative “triggers” to limit Bush’s tax cuts in case of deficits, she was attacked by fellow Republicans. “I don’t know when willy-nilly tax cuts became the essence of who we are,” she says. “To the average American who’s struggling, we’re in some other stratosphere. We’re the party of Big Business and Big Oil and the rich.”
Of course, Americans are right to view the GOP as the party of Big Oil, which gave nearly $20 million to the Republican party apparatus during the last election cycle. The securities and investments industry — big banks — donated more than $54 million to the GOP.
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New Oil Lobbyist Group Targets Democratic Congressmen With Anti-Clean Energy Ads
New Oil Lobbyist Group Targets Democratic Congressmen With Anti-Clean Energy Ads
The largest U.S. energy companies increased lobbyist spending by 30% in 2008 to influence energy and climate change legislation. Some of those funds are now going towards the creation of the American Energy Alliance, a new off-shoot of Institute for Energy Research.
The American Energy Alliance is headed by an oil industry lobbyist named Thomas J. Pyle. Before joining AEA, Pyle was a policy adviser to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX). Pyle’s former employer was among the top recipients of oil industry campaign contributions from 1998 to 2004, raking in $498,375 according to the Center for Public Integrity. Pyle then went to work for the oil-giant, Koch Industries.
The American Energy Alliance is airing radio ads in the home districts of moderate Democrats in order to press legislators to vote against the Waxman-Markey clean energy bill. Here’s a list of the Democrats being targeted by the ads:
– John Barrow (D-GA)
– G.K. Butterfield (D-NC)
– Mike Doyle (D-PA)
– Charlie Gonzalez (D-TX)
– Baron Hill (D-IN)
– Jim Matheson (D-UT)
– Charlie Melancon (D-LA)
– Tim Murphy (R-PA)
– Mike Ross (D-AR)
– Betty Sutton (D-OH)
The ad repeats the debunked $3,100 lie that energy companies and their conservative allies have been pushing for weeks. Listen to the AEA anti-clean energy ad:
‘Smokey’ Joe Barton Operates His ‘Philanthropy’ Foundation As A Front Group For Big Polluter Funds
‘Smokey’ Joe Barton Operates His ‘Philanthropy’ Foundation As A Front Group For Big Polluter Funds
Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), the ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce committee, has garnered positive headlines in his district for promising hundreds of thousands of dollars in charitable contributions from his “philanthropy” foundation to local community organizations. Yet, the Washington Times reports that Barton’s “philanthropy” foundation has not raised enough money to cover its pledges. Barton gave “less than a quarter of the foundation’s money to charitable causes” and made only one $90,000 contribution to a charitable cause from 2005-2007.
The rest of the money is going to pay for “staff” and “other overhead.” Amy Barton, Barton’s daughter-in-law, is the “unpaid” executive director of the foundation. She said the foundation fulfilled a $900,000 pledge to help build a local Boys and Girls Club and fund a Meals on Wheels program by directing the funds from “other donors who were made aware of the project by the foundation.” Many of these “other donors” were companies with a stake in Barton’s committee:
– Future Energy Holdings, formerly known as TXU Energy, donated $25,000 for a Meals-on-Wheels project.
– Exelon Corp. donated $25,000 to the foundation with Barton as the “payee.” At the time, Exelon was seeking federal loan guarantees to back financing for a proposed nuclear power station that the firm wants to build in Victoria County, Texas.
– TXI Energy and XTO Energy sponsored a fundraising dinner for one of the charities to which Barton pledged money. Barton was honored at the event.
– BNSF, which delivers coal to 60 power plants nationwide, donated $10,000 to Meals on Wheels, but credited the donation in Barton’s name.
By directing donations and claiming credit, Barton essentially bypassed “a 2007 congressional requirement that donations from lobbying interests to lawmakers’ charities be disclosed.” Barton was honored as a “special guest” at a Meals on Wheels reception in Texas to thank him for the donations supplied by these corporate sponsors. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the oil and natural resources industry has donated $2,897,050 to Barton’s reelection efforts.
Barton has been referred to as “Smokey Joe” for his willingness to stick up for big polluters. In response to the financial crisis, Barton sponsored legislation that would “open up” the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve and Outer Continental Shelf to new oil drilling. Last month, Barton denied the scientific consensus on man-made climate change, saying that dramatic changes in climate are “natural” and that Americans should respond to such changes by merely seeking some “shade.”
Last week, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) selected Barton to help lead the party’s energy task force in advocating “alternatives” to green energy legislation. With leaders like Barton, can we expect new policies? Or, further calls to simply “Drill Here, Drill Now?”
McCain: ‘When I’m President, we’re not gonna let’ Exxon reap record profits.
McCain: ‘When I’m President, we’re not gonna let’ Exxon reap record profits.
Today, ExxonMobil shattered records by reporting a $14.83 billion profit, just in the third quarter. Campaigning in Ohio, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) declared that when he’s President, “we’re not gonna let that happen.” Watch it:
McCain must have forgotten about his multi-billion-dollar corporate tax cut, which would give $4 billion in tax breaks to the five biggest oil companies — including more than $1.2 billion to ExxonMobil alone:
Palin Touts ‘Flawed’ Pipeline Process As ‘Free Market Competition’
Palin Touts ‘Flawed’ Pipeline Process As ‘Free Market Competition’
This morning, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) delivered her second policy speech of the entire campaign, on energy — a fitting topic, considering Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) considers her to be America’s foremost energy expert. Along with praising coal and expanded drilling, Palin touted her own experience in achieving “progress” on a natural gas pipeline in Alaska, claiming she “introduced” “free-market competition” to Big Oil:
[Oil companies] should have been competing to invest in a new means of delivering their product to market. They should have been competing for the right to tap into the hungry markets, flowing our resources into those hungry markets, and instead they wanted a higher and higher price than any fair competition would yield. So they wouldn’t build the line. [...]
So we introduced, when I got elected, we introduced the big oil companies and their lobbyists to a concept of something that evidently they had forgotten, and that’s free-market competition. They had a monopoly previously on power and resources, and we broke it.
Watch it:
Hardly using a free market approach, Palin’s “flawed bidding process” actually “narrowed the field to a company with ties to her administration,” according to an AP investigation:
Despite Palin’s boast of a smart and fair bidding process, the AP found that her team crafted terms that favored only a few independent pipeline companies and ultimately benefited the winner, TransCanada Corp. [...]
– Instead of creating a process that would attract many potential builders, Palin slanted the terms away from an important group — the global energy giants that own the rights to the gas. [...]
– Under a different set of rules four years earlier, TransCanada had offered to build the pipeline without a state subsidy; under Palin, the company could receive a maximum $500 million.
“Most definitely TransCanada got a sweetheart deal this time,” Republican state senator Bert Stedman said.
Throughout the campaign, Palin and McCain have boasted that Palin “was responsible for…a pipeline, the $40 billion pipeline bringing natural gas from Alaska down to the lower 48.” Neither seems to care that the pipeline “exists only on paper;” construction on the first section has not even begun. In fact, despite the $500 million award, TransCanada is not even obligated to build the pipeline.
Transcript: More »
Palin: Stevens verdict ‘shines a light on the corrupting influence of the big oil service company.’
Palin: Stevens verdict ‘shines a light on the corrupting influence of the big oil service company.’
Hotline reports that Sarah Palin issued a statement about the guilty decision in the Ted Stevens corruption case:
Thanks for your patience there. It’s a sad day for Alaska, and a sad day for Senator Stevens and his family. The verdict shines a light though on the corrupting influence of the big oil service company up there in Alaska that was allowed to control too much of our state. And that control was part of the culture of corruption that I was elected to fight. And that fight must always move forward regardless of party affiliation or seniority or even past service. And as governor of the state of Alaska, I’ll carefully monitor now the situation, and I’ll take any appropriate action as needed. In the meantime, I do ask that the people of Alaska join me in respecting the workings of our judicial system, and I’m confident that Senator Stevens, from this point on, will do the right thing for the state of Alaska.
CNN reports, “Palin did not respond when asked if she will vote for Sen. Stevens and promptly boarded the campaign plane.”
This verdict is a personal tragedy for our colleague Ted Stevens, but it is an important reminder that no man is above the law. Senator Stevens must now respect the outcome of the judicial process and the dignity of the United States Senate.
After Greenwashing His Climate Record, Sen. Sununu Reveals His True ‘Drill Here’ Mentality To Glenn Beck
After Greenwashing His Climate Record, Sen. Sununu Reveals His True ‘Drill Here’ Mentality To Glenn Beck
Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) is facing a tough reelection campaign against former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D). During their debate on Tuesday night, Sununu tried to greenwash his dismal record on climate change, claiming to be “concerned” about global warming and touting his involvement with the issue in the Senate:
SUNUNU: I cosponsored legislation this past year with Tom Carper, bipartisan legislation, that would set restrictions not just on pollutants like mercury or sulfur or NOx, which causes ozone, but also limits on CO2 emissions. … I voted to move the climate change legislation forward on the Senate floor, because I think this is an important issue. [...]
QUESTION: Would you consider it a priority for you, global warming?
SUNUNU: Well a priority enough that I was the lead Republican on the piece of legislation that I cosponsored with Tom Carper.
Watch it:
As the moderator noted, just last year Sununu denied that a link between global warming and human activity even exists, so his new-found concern about the climate might have left viewers skeptical. That skepticism was validated today, when Sununu — appearing on notorious global warming denier Glenn Beck’s radio show — made his true feelings about global warming clear:
GLENN: All right. Talk to me a little bit about oil. Are you a global warming guy?
SENATOR SUNUNU: Drill here, drill now.
GLENN: Okay.
Listen here:
Considering Sununu’s long record of voting for Big Oil’s interests, it’s no wonder he’s latched on to their favorite cheer when asked if he’s “a global warming guy.”
T. Boone Pickens: I’m Having More Problems Working With Drill-Only Republicans Than Democrats
T. Boone Pickens: I’m Having More Problems Working With Drill-Only Republicans Than Democrats
Today, Texas oil-tycoon-cum-alternative-energy-spokesman T. Boone Pickens spoke to the National Press Club about his “Pickens Plan” to ramp up production of wind power and the use of natural gas. Given his notorious past opposing progressives, the Press Club’s moderator asked him if he’s been having trouble working with Democrats to promote his plan. Pickens replied that he’s been having more trouble working with conservatives:
Q: you told the New York Times last month that you’d never vote for a Democrat. Are you finding that difficult in reaching out to Democrats then with your plan? [...]
PICKENS: So I am having no problem working with the Democrats. Having a little problem working with the Republicans. They don’t like it because I want to do more than just drill. And they, somehow have gotten it, a lot of them have, that you can drill your way out of this. But you can’t do it. There’s not enough oil there to do it.
Watch it:
Pickens made it clear that, despite five straight weeks of calls for an “all of the above” energy strategy, congressional conservatives are interested in little besides drilling. In fact, last week, when the House passed an energy bill that included conservatives’ demand for offshore drilling, House Republicans opposed it because it would have repealed Big Oil tax breaks to invest in renewable energy. Apparently to Republican ears, “all of the above” sounds just like “Drill Baby drill.”
CNN: Palin’s suggested oil export ban ‘not exactly easy to understand.’
CNN: Palin’s suggested oil export ban ‘not exactly easy to understand.’
This afternoon on CNN, host Wolf Blitzer showed video from last night’s townhall with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), in which Palin — whom McCain said “knows more about energy than…anyone else in the United States” — was asked how she would keep oil from new domestic drilling in the U.S. market. In a serious understatement, Blitzer called her answer “not exactly easy to understand.” Watch it:
As the law stands now, expanded domestic drilling would have no impact on U.S. gas prices precisely because “oil is a global commodity whose price is set by global supply and demand.” Is Palin calling for a total export ban?
George Allen: ‘Americans are not addicted to oil, they’re addicted to freedom.’
George Allen: ‘Americans are not addicted to oil, they’re addicted to freedom.’
Today on Laura Ingraham’s radio show, former Virgina governor George Allen (R) scoffed at claims that Americans are addicted to oil, calling it “an elitist point of view.” Allen insisted it was freedom, not oil, that Americans were actually addicted to:
ALLEN: I love that statement, America is addicted to oil. What an elitist point of view. Americans are not addicted to oil. Americans are addicted to freedom — the freedom and liberty to move where and when we want.
Listen here:
Allen stands alone in his defiance. Alongside energy experts and progressive politicians, prominent members of Allen’s own party have long since admitted the truth. In 2006, President Bush declared, “America is addicted to oil,” and just this past June, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) said, “America is so addicted to oil it will take us years to wean ourselves from it.” Does Allen think Bush and Schwarzenegger are elitists?
No Energy Expert At Senate Hearing Willing To Say That Oil Drilling Is America’s Most Important Issue
No Energy Expert At Senate Hearing Willing To Say That Oil Drilling Is America’s Most Important Issue
Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a Bipartisan Energy Summit featuring experts from MIT, Google, Shell, and others. At one point in the hearing, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) tore into the energy protest House Republicans have been holding for the past several weeks. This political stunt was meant to demand a vote on oil drilling and “attack Democrats for leaving town” in August “without doing something to lower gas prices.”
After listening all the problems currently facing the country, Whitehouse asked the experts whether anyone thought drilling was the “number one issue” right now. Almost nine seconds went by with complete silence:
WHITEHOUSE: Gentlemen, we’re in the middle of a near total mortgage system meltdown in this country. We have a health care system that burns 16 percent of our GDP, in which the Medicare liability alone has been estimated at $34 trillion. We’re burning $10 billion a month in Iraq.
This administration has run up $7.7 trillion in national debt, by our calculation. And there is worsening evidence every day of global warming, with worsening environmental and national security ramifications. In light of those conditions, do any of you seriously contend that drilling for more oil is the number one issue facing the American people today?
[NINE-SECOND SILENCE]
WHITEHOUSE: No, it doesn’t seem so.
Watch it:
House Republicans have spent the past month claiming that their political stunt was “America’s greatest hour” and the “2008 version of the Boston Tea Party.” Not only are they out of step with energy experts, but according to recent polls, the majority of the American public believes that the economy — not drilling — is the most important issue facing the nation. More here and here on why drilling isn’t the answer to lowering gas prices. (HT: Get Energy Smart)
Government Officials Tried To Rewrite Ethics Rules To Accommodate Their Partying
Government Officials Tried To Rewrite Ethics Rules To Accommodate Their Partying
According to the new Interior Department Inspector General (IG) report, nearly a third of the Denver Minerals Management Service’s 55-person office “received gifts and gratuities from oil and gas companies.” Several employees have tried to claim that they were unaware of federal ethics guidelines. However, as the IG outlines, almost all these officials had attended ethics briefings and knew the rules:
RIK officials often bragged about the “RIK way of doing business,” which aimed to “be a part of industry.” In the summer of 2006, RIK employees wrote up a document titled, “Initiative to Clarify Guidance for RIK Interaction with Industry,” which would codify their “uniqueness.” In short, RIK officials wanted to rewrite the ethics rules to cover up their misdoings. From the Initiative document:
As further evidence that employees were aware their socializing with industry officials was unethical, at one point, RIK oil marketing specialist Crystel Edler had her industry friends hide the fact that she had gone to a Shell party and stayed in a hotel at their expense. Edler told her friends that they were “sooo wonderful” for helping her out:
In a statement today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) criticized “how cozy the relationship between Big Oil and the Administration’s regulators have been,” which has “cheated the American taxpayer out of billions of dollars owed them by the oil companies.”
Official increased employee’s ‘performance award’ for providing him with cocaine.
Official increased employee’s ‘performance award’ for providing him with cocaine.
Part of the “culture of substance abuse and promiscuity” at the Denver Minerals Management Service involved employees illegally taking drugs, often while at the office. According to the new Interior Department Inspector General’s report, Gregory Smith, Program Director of the Royalty in Kind Program, referred to cocaine as “office supplies” and rewarded his employees for obtaining it for him:
One of Smith’s subordinates also revealed that in late 2004, Smith repeatedly called her looking for cocaine — even though she had already given some to him earlier in the day. Eventually, he showed up to her house where he “obtained crystal methamphetamine” and the two “engaged in oral sex.”
Oil reps and government employees joked about bubble baths, bringing ‘the meat to the table.’
Oil reps and government employees joked about bubble baths, bringing ‘the meat to the table.’
Today’s Interior Department inspector general (IG) report reveals that government employees at the Denver Minerals Management Service — who are responsible for “handling billions of dollars in oil royalties” — expressed a desire to be a part of the oil industry’s “culture.” This included attending social events with oil representatives, who joked about having relations with the government employees. From the IG’s report:
Norquist: If McCain repeals oil industry tax breaks, ‘that’s a tax increase.’
Norquist: If McCain repeals oil industry tax breaks, ‘that’s a tax increase.’
On the Fox Business Channel earlier this month, Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) campaign spokesperson Taylor Griffin claimed that McCain was in favor of “taking away the tax breaks for big oil” in the 2005 energy bill. At the time, ThinkProgress asked if Griffin’s claim meant that McCain supported a tax hike, despite his “no-new taxes” rhetoric. In an interview with ThinkProgress yesterday, anti-tax guru Grover Norquist said that if McCain followed through on Griffin’s pledge, it would be “a tax increase”:
THINKPROGRESS: McCain spokesman Taylor Griffin recently told Fox Business – Fox Business Network – that they would repeal the tax breaks for oil companies in the 2005 energy bill. Would your organization consider that a tax increase?
GROVER NORQUIST: Uh, if it, first of all, that’s a tax increase. If it’s done in conjunction with other tax changes that are net cuts, or net revenue neutral, then its not a violation of the pledge. But that stand-alone is.
Watch it:
Transcript: More »
Scarborough rips Bush for using Gustav to demand more offshore drilling: ‘Just stop!’
Scarborough rips Bush for using Gustav to demand more offshore drilling: ‘Just stop!’
This morning, President Bush discussed Hurricane Gustav, using the occasion to push for more offshore drilling:
BUSH: One thing that’s for certain, when Congress comes back they got to understand that we need more domestic energy, not less. And one place to find it is offshore America, lands that have been, have been, uh, taken off the book, so to speak, by congressional law. And now they need to give us a chance to find more oil and natural gas here at home.
Reacting to Bush’s statement on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman (D) called Bush’s statement “the worst pivot ever,” questioning “how you go from hurricane to offshore drilling.” Scarborough agreed. “Just stop!” he said. Watch it:
Cheney linked to Stevens corruption trial.
Cheney linked to Stevens corruption trial.
Newsweek reports that in a conversation “secretly tape-recorded by the FBI on June 25, 2006,” Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) “discussed ways to get a pipeline bill through the Alaska Legislature with Bill Allen, an oil-services executive accused of providing the senator with about $250,000 in undisclosed financial benefits.” Stevens promised Allen, “I’m gonna try to see if I can get some bigwigs from back here and say, ‘Look … you gotta get this done’.” Two days later, Vice President Cheney undertook the unusual move of writing a letter to the Alaska Legislature urging members to “promptly enact” a bill to build the pipeline.
McCain To Visit Oil Platform Owned By Chevron; McCain’s National Finance Co-Chairman Lobbies For Chevron
McCain To Visit Oil Platform Owned By Chevron; McCain’s National Finance Co-Chairman Lobbies For Chevron
Today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is touring an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana in order “to highlight his support for increased domestic offshore drilling.” Although he will not join McCain today, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) promoted McCain’s oil rig visit in an appearance on Fox and Friends this morning.
Making sure to note that the drilling platform McCain will visit is owned and run by Chevron, Jindal oddly suggested that the photo-op will “emphasize that drilling alone is not enough” to address America’s energy needs. Watch it:
It should come as no surprise that the McCain chose to visit a Chevron-owned drilling platform, considering that lobbyists for Chevron both fundraise and work for his campaign:
Wayne Berman: Berman, the managing director of lobbying firm Ogilvy Government Relations, is McCain’s national finance co-chairman and has bundled over $500,000 dollars for his campaign. Berman has lobbied for Chevron since 2004.
John Green: Green, who also works for Ogilvy, has been the McCain campaign’s chief Congressional liaison since March. Green has lobbied for Chevron since 2005.
Richard Hohlt: Hohlt, who is the leader of a group of Washington, DC insiders called the “Off the Record Club” that includes top McCain strategist Charlie Black, is a fundraiser for the McCain campaign. Holht has lobbied for Chevron since 2005.
In June, McCain went before oil executives in Texas to reverse his position on offshore drilling and lay out a set of policy proposals that add up to a big fat kiss to Big Oil. Since then, the oil industry has flooded McCain with money and McCain has begun promoting the advice of “the oil executives.”
Gingrich Claims Tire Inflation Lines Big Oil’s Pockets
Gingrich Claims Tire Inflation Lines Big Oil’s Pockets
Last night on Fox News, host Sean Hannity and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) returned (as they often do) to Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) recent suggestion that Americans inflate their tires properly in order to save energy costs.
Seeming to outdo his previous false attacks on this issue, Gingrich claimed that Obama’s idea is actually encouraging Americans to “enrich Big Oil” because selling air has “a higher profit margin than selling gasoline”:
GINGRICH: Well, I got a very funny e-mail from a retired military officer in Tampa who pointed out that most tire inflation is done at service stations and you pay for it. And it’s actually a higher profit margin than selling gasoline. So Sen. Obama was urging you to go out and enrich Big Oil by inflating your tires instead of buying gas.
Watch it:
This claim is absurd for a number of reasons. First, gas station owners, not Big Oil, receive the profits from selling air — if they sell air at all (presumably from mechanized air machines). Second, air is free. So of course the profit margin for selling air is going be higher than a gallon of gas. By contrast, the cost of oil accounts for a significant portion of the price of gasoline. So any profits from gasoline sales (which are actually quite small) also go to the gas station owners, after Big Oil has already been paid.
But beyond Gingrich’s ridiculous assertion, the Auto Alliance has noted that maintaining proper tire pressure is “more important than you may think” because it saves fuel and reduces costs and greenhouse gases.
Indeed, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) — whom Gingrich once praised as one of the “great winners” — agrees. Today he endorsed the thrust of Obama’s idea, saying “you can reduce your fuel costs by more than 15%. And I am talking about simple things, like proper tire pressure, avoiding rapid starts and stops, and keeping your engine tuned.”
CNN’s Convention Coverage Sponsored By Big Oil Giant Exxon Mobil
CNN’s Convention Coverage Sponsored By Big Oil Giant Exxon Mobil
In an ad touting that “CNN equals politics,” the cable news network reveals that its coverage of both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions will be sponsored by Big Oil giant Exxon Mobil. Watch it:
CNN is no stranger to having its political coverage bought and paid for by big energy companies. During the primary season, at least three presidential debates were sponsored by the coal industry. The coal industry has also sponsored CNN’s general election coverage.
As the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson noted yesterday, CNN’s senior business correspondent Ali Velshi recently joined Congressional conservatives on a trip to Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for a pro-oil drilling propaganda tour. In a subsequent interview with Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), an ardent drilling advocate, Velshi never once questioned any of her false statements on drilling.
UPDATE: CBS’s political news coverage is also sponsored by Exxon:
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