Further proof our "democracy" is nothing more than an elaborate form of legalized bribery.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House by a wide margin approved a mammoth energy plan for the nation Thursday that sends billions of dollars in tax breaks and subsidies to energy companies, but is expected to do little to reduce U.S. oil consumption or dampen high energy prices.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050728/energy_bill.html?.v=4
Tom Delay, the Sugar Land Fairy, is as slimy as ever in this deal...........
It was revealed yesterday that the energy bill is even worse than first imagined. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) revealed that Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) slipped a $1.5 billion giveaway to the oil industry, Halliburton, and Sugar Land, Texas, into the energy bill. DeLay snuck the provision in after the conference had ended, thereby preventing members of the committee the opportunity to review or reject the measure.
The giveaway was snuck in after legislators thought the bill was finalized. In an affront to the democratic political process, DeLay put this provision into the bill after the Democratic negotiators went home at 4 a.m. believing a deal had been finalized. A DeLay spokesman said he could not explain how the item was added to the final version of legislation that was prepared by the Senate and House negotiators.
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/apps/nl/newsletter2.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=700005