Send in the Subpoenas (ChimpCo energy policy and more, Wash. Post)

[jpak]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111701481.html

<snip>

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), the soon-to-be chairman of the Government Reform Committee, is a classic pit bull. He has dreamed of subpoenas -- issuing them, and placing witnesses under oath -- for 12 years. Biden, meanwhile, is an unabashed show horse. The Delaware Democrat has dreamed of the Oval Office even longer. Both must exist within the new, mandate-infused Democratic Congress, and must figure out a way to survive together.

<snip>

The vast U.S. energy industry may be the ripest target for a corruption investigation. When Vice President Cheney's energy task force was meeting in early 2001 -- meetings whose secrecy Cheney has managed to protect against legal challenge -- the goal of U.S. energy independence was barely an afterthought. Now, with the United States mired in the affairs of petro-dictatorships in the Middle East, even the president has emphasized the need to cure our addiction to oil.

Studied inaction on this front stems from the coziness between the administration and big oil -- a relationship that affects the global warming debate, Iraq, gas prices and oil company profits. Investigations into that relationship are a sure win for the Democrats. Just lining up oil company executives under the hot lights -- much like the seven tobacco company chief executives were lined up in 1994, looking like gray-suited deer -- creates the image, if not necessarily the fact, of activist government. (Suggested witnesses: Lee Raymond, chief executive of Exxon Mobil until this year; Spencer Abraham, former energy secretary; Cheney; and David Addington, Cheney's deputy on many energy matters.)

While some inquests set the table for responsible policy -- much as hearings on pollution helped spur 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act -- most are designed to strengthen accountability and deter future perfidy. The administration's repeated practice of strong-arming experts who stray off message makes for a bevy of high-intensity witnesses. They include global warming experts in various departments as well as Richard Foster, the Health and Human Services accountant who was threatened with dismissal for trying to alert Congress about the deceptive cost estimates on the Medicare prescription drug program. Hearings would show who gave the order to mislead the public on these issues of pressing concern -- a proper investigation for any Congress. (Suggested witnesses: Tom Scully, Foster's boss; James Hansen of NASA; Rick Piltz, formerly of the U.S. Global Change Research Program; and former Environmental Protection Agency director Christine Todd Whitman.)

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[AndyA]

1. I think the energy policy task force and the mission $9B in Iraq

will be enough to open the flood gates to the Bush Misadministration. Perform oversight on those two things, and everything else will reveal itself.

[dubykc]

2. It will be interesting when Cheney inevitably uses the...

National Security card to try to keep the energy task force information secret.

[jpak]

4. Better hold the children's ears when he's dragged kicking and screaming

in front of the committee...

:evilgrin:

[JohnWxy]

3. THIS WAS PUBLISHED IN THE WASHINGTON POST????!!!

Wow, are we beginning to see some real reporting from the MSM here?

I'll bet Cheney has had all notes from the Energy TAsk Force meetings burned(where I'm sure EXXON-Mobil et al, talked about the importance of getting Iraq's oil fields producing again - they were concerned about Saudia Arabia's vulnerability to terrorist attack). But I still think Cheney ought to be given a chance to explain himself (maybe a little water boarding demo would be helpful - it's not really torture, is it?).

I think the guy who told a U.S. Senator to "Go fuck himself." (a Senator who was actually ELECTED to office) ought to explain himself to the AMerican people.

recommended!

you should put this over on politics forum.