Palin Used Flawed Bidding Process ln Alaska Pipeline: AP Investigates:

[amborin]

PRITCHARD and GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press Writers Justin Pritchard And Garance Burke…

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Gov. Sarah Palin's signature accomplishment — a contract to build a 1,715-mile pipeline to bring natural gas from Alaska to the Lower 48 — emerged from a flawed bidding process that narrowed the field to a company with ties to her administration, an Associated Press investigation shows.

Beginning at the Republican National Convention in August, the McCain-Palin ticket has touted the pipeline as an example of how it would help America achieve energy independence.

"We're building a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline, which is North America's largest and most expensive infrastructure project ever, to flow those sources of energy into hungry markets," Palin said during the Oct. 2 vice presidential debate.

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.

And contrary to the ballyhoo, there's no guarantee the pipeline will ever be built; at a minimum, any project is years away, as TransCanada must first overcome major financial and regulatory hurdles.

In interviews and a review of records, the AP found:

_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.

_Despite promises and legal guidance not to talk directly with potential bidders, Palin had meetings or phone calls with nearly every major candidate, including TransCanada.

_The leader of Palin's pipeline team had been a partner at a lobbying firm where she worked on behalf of a TransCanada subsidiary. Also, that woman's former business partner at the lobbying firm was TransCanada's lead private lobbyist on the pipeline deal, interacting with legislators in the weeks before the vote to grant TransCanada the contract. Plus, a former TransCanada executive served as an outside consultant to Palin's pipeline team."

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<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081025/ap_on_el_pr/palin_pipeline>

[FLyellowdog]

1. Power corrupts....

[amborin]

2. Cheney involved, too:

"In January 2007, Palin spoke the first of at least two times to Vice President Dick Cheney, the Bush administration's point person on energy issues, according to calendars obtained by the AP through a public records request. Cheney's staff pressed the Palin administration to draw in the energy companies, said current and former state officials involved in those discussions. "

[Madam Mossfern]

3. At one point, my job involved

RFP's and review of bids and proposals for a rather large county project. We had a review team, and the companies' names were redacted from the documents. We had set criteria to judge the benefits of hiring one firm over the other. We did not discuss the evaluation with each other until after the project was awarded. Then we were able to see the worksheets of the others who were reviewing the proposals.

If we had questions, we were to write them down and all questions and answers were compiled and distributed to the entire team.