According to JimH's analogy, this is on topic, because boats use
energy.

More proof that Republicans are pigs at the trough.

Majority Leader Tom DeLay may have faded from the front pages, but he's
still up to his dirty tricks. Yesterday, Rep. Henry Waxman revealed
that DeLay slipped "a $1.5 billion giveaway to the oil industry,
Halliburton, and Sugar Land, Texas" into the energy bill. But it gets
worse. The provision was "mysteriously inserted" into the text of the
energy bill "after the conference was closed, so members of the
conference committee had no opportunity to consider or reject this
measure." DeLay has launched an assault on the democratic process.
Write your representatives and demand this provision be removed from
the energy bill.

THE ANATOMY OF A SCAM: The $1.5 billion is designated for "oil and
natural gas drilling research." Ordinarily, any company could apply for
these funds directly from the government. But DeLay does things a
little differently. In this case, the bulk of the money must be handed
over to "a corporation that is constructed as a consortium." As it so
happens, "the leading contender for this contract appears to be the
Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA) consortium,
housed in the Texas Energy Center in Sugar Land, Texas," Tom DeLay's
home district. RPSEA "has been advocating such a research program and
is in a better position than any other group." (DeLay testified in
support of the program before a House subcommittee last year.) If RPSEA
wins the contract they can keep "up to 10% of the funds - in this case,
over $100 million - in administrative expenses."

DISPENSING WITH DEMOCRACY: The $1.5 billion giveaway was added to the
bill after "Democratic negotiators went home Tuesday at 4 a.m.
believing a deal had been finalized and the provision wasn't in the
bill." The program was not included in the draft version of the bill
and a DeLay spokesman said "he could not explain how the item was added
to the final version of legislation prepared by the Senate and House
negotiators." A spokesman for Rep. Joe Barton, chairman of the House
Energy and Commerce Committee, noted that Sen. Jeff Bingaman, (D-NM),
and Rep. John Dingell, (D-MI) were also informed. Bingaman's spokesman,
Bill Wicker, said "We don't see this as a sweetheart deal for anyone."

DELAY - ROBIN HOOD IN REVERSE: The broader question is: why do
taxpayers need to provide another huge subsidy oil and gas companies?
As Waxman notes "The oil and gas industry is reporting record income
and profits. According to one analyst, the net income of the top oil
companies will total $230 billion in 2005." Halliburton, which is a
member of the consortium, would be eligible to "receive awards from the
over $1 billion fund administered by the consortium."

DELAY - ATTACKING THE MESSENGER: Instead taking responsibility for his
action, DeLay attacked the messenger. DeLay spokesman Kevin Madden
said, ''Henry Waxman knows zero about Texas, zero about energy
security, and apparently even less about how a bill becomes law." The
RPSEA consortium, for their part, doesn't want to know. Melanie
Kenderdine, who represents Gas Technology Institute, a company in the
consortium, said, "how the sausage is made is not important to me."