[Mb-civic] DeLay's up to his filthy tricks again!

[Jef Bek]

There is a filthy thug funneling billions of dollars out of the hands of the
truly needy and into the pockets of the truly greedy! The repeat offending
culprit just happens to be The House Majority Leader of The U.S. Congress!
Why does he do it? Because he can!


Democrat accuses DeLay of adding fund to bill
Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:48 PM ET



 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Majority Leader Tom DeLay quietly slipped into
the energy bill a $1.5 billion fund for oil and natural gas drilling
research that will benefit an energy consortium based in his home district,
a California Democrat said on Wednesday.

 The measure was criticized as a "giveaway to one of the most profitable
industries in America," by Rep. Henry Waxman, who demanded that the fund be
dropped from the legislation before a House vote on the energy bill on
Thursday.

 The House is expected to approve the wide-ranging energy bill, which
includes some $14.5 billion in tax breaks and incentives mostly for oil,
natural gas, coal and electricity companies.

 A vote in the Senate is tentatively set for Friday.

 Waxman said the $1.5 billion fund for ultra-deepwater drilling was added to
the final energy bill this week after House and Senate negotiators called a
halt to any more amendments. The 30-page measure appeared in the text of the
energy bill after Texas Rep. Joe Barton had officially ended the House and
Senate conference committee to combine legislation passed by each chamber,
he said.

 "Obviously, it would be a serious abuse to secretly slip such a costly and
controversial provision into the energy legislation," Waxman said in a
letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

 A spokesman for DeLay defended the fund, saying it was in the energy bill
approved by the House in April.

 "The project is only new to Mr. Waxman if he failed to read the House bill
he had voted on," the spokesman said, adding he could not explain how the
item was added to the final version of legislation prepared by the Senate
and House negotiators.

 Waxman said the fund would steer most of the money to a private consortium
based in Sugar Land, DeLay's home district, by directing the Energy
Department to "contract with a corporation that is constructed as a
consortium."

 Members of the consortium, Research Partnership to Secure Energy for
America, include Halliburton Co., Marathon Oil Corp. and several
universities, according to the group's web site.

 The non-profit group conducts research into designing better technology to
explore and produce natural gas in deep water, the web site said.

 Waxman said that the measure added to the energy bill provides that members
of the consortium -- including Halliburton and Marathon -- can receive money
from the fund administered by the consortium.