Some of Cheney's energy task force players from an unidentified wh source

[babylonsister]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/washington/19energy.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1184875206-bsLiyV+CqvOXpxo8Zd6iVw

New Glimpse at Players in Group Led by Cheney


By JOHN M. BRODER
Published: July 19, 2007

WASHINGTON, July 18 — For six years, Vice President Dick Cheney has guarded the secrecy of the discussions and participants in his energy task force, which produced a report in May 2001 calling for accelerated development of domestic oil and gas supplies to deal with the nation’s energy needs.

Now, thanks to an unidentified former White House official who provided The Washington Post a partial list of individuals, companies and groups that met with the task force, it is possible to identify with greater precision who may have influenced its deliberations.

The list bears the names, The Post reported Wednesday, of nearly 300 people and organizations that met with the vice president or his staff during the months that the task force was preparing its report. It is not, however, the complete accounting that Congress and some environmental groups have demanded.

It has long been known that the oil industry was well represented at the task force meetings and found a receptive audience in Mr. Cheney, who had spent five years as chief executive of Halliburton, a leading oil-field-services company. He was given the energy assignment by President Bush, who himself had had a career in the oil business.

Virtually every major oil and diversified energy company, from British Petroleum to Enron to Reliant Energy, participated in one or more meetings of the Cheney group, according to the list. Trade groups and lobbyists representing industrial energy users, pipeline companies, utilities and mining concerns were also amply represented at multiple task force sessions. By contrast, leaders of 13 environmental groups were invited to a single session late in the process, weeks after most of the industry representatives had been heard.

Employees of companies that participated in the deliberations have given millions to Republican candidates and causes since 1999 and have been among the party’s largest donors over that period, according to campaign finance records. And employees of the companies on the new list contributed more than $570,000 to the Bush-Cheney campaigns of 2000 and 2004, the records show.

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[pepperbear]

1. k and r

[SpiralHawk]

2. Slezebag fat cat republicon cronies meet in secret to use our money against us

And to fatten their own greedy asses while destroying the planet.

Is it any wonder why honest and patriotic Americans -- the vast majority -- are unanimous in their Hearty Disapproval of this criminal administration of republicon cronies.

[lyonn]

3. Hell, we all know what that bunch came up with to boost our energy

They decided to throw Saddam out and take over Iraq's oil fields. Their plan was awfully good for business but terrible for the military.

Off subject sorta, but heard today the Treasury Secretary wants to cut Corp. taxes to boost economy. Thought they already did that. The Corps seem to be doing great according to the stock market, no so good for the purchasing public that are getting no breaks since local taxes have gone up to make up for loss of Fed. funds.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

4. I hope some reporter checks the names of meeting attendees against campaign "contributions"

by top executives of their firms to particular Senators and Reps. I'd be particularly interested in campaign bribes to those who failed to vote for cloture on Amendment 1704 in the Senate June 21st this year. That amendment would have rolled back $30 billion in unnecessary "energy tax incentives" for oil and gas to fund alternative fuels. Cloture fell three votes short. For the things that really matter, we now have minority rule.

You can get 57 votes against subsidizing record profits for greedy oil companies and still lose. That means that Senators are on sale especially cheap these days.

See the roll call vote at http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00223 .