by Deb Cupples | When Bush Administration staffers aren't burning the midnight oil, scouring lists of incompetent people to reward with federal appointments (e.g., former FEMA head
Michael Brown), they're diligently endeavoring to put people in key positions who will protect big corporate interests without the heavy burden of guilt over betraying the public that pays their salaries.
That said, it's no surprise that the Washington Post reported this piece of news:
"A senior aide to Vice President Cheney is the leading contender to become a top official at the Energy Department, according to several current and former administration officials, a promotion that would put one of the administration's most ardent opponents of environmental regulation in charge of forming department policies on climate change."
"F. Chase Hutto III has played a prominent behind-the-scenes role in shaping the administration's environmental policies for several years, the officials said, helping to rewrite rules affecting the air that Americans breathe and the waters that oil tankers traverse. In every instance, according to both his allies and opponents, he has challenged proposals that would place additional regulations on industry." (WaPo)
Mr. Hutto reminds me of Harvey Pitt, President Bush's first appointment to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (which is supposed to protect ordinary investors from corporate fraud). From the outset, Mr. Pitt signaled that he would be more friendly than his predecessor to the accounting industry -- some members of which have repeatedly helped corporations commit fraud (NY Times).
Another example: the Interior Department's Bureau of Minerals Management, whose former Director Johnnie Burton, who "retired" amid scandal last year. Part of her job was to ensure that oil companies paid royalties owed to us taxpayers for allowing them to extract oil from lands that our government owns.
It's a fair arrangement: if the land had been privately owned, the oil companies would have had to pay a ton more to the owners for the oil. Even Jed Clampett knew better than to give his oil away for next to nothing.
Anyway, Ms. Burton (and other officials) not only failed to stay on the oil companies' backs for those royalty payments, but also some officials reportedly outright blocked auditors' attempts to collect the payments.
Then there's the former State Department inspector general that reportedly blocked investigations into contractor fraud stemming from Iraq-related contracts -- and the Justice Department's reported refusal to diligently prosecute Iraq-related contractor fraud cases.
Given those examples, it's no surprise that the Bush Administration is poised to appoint an anti-regulation guy to the Energy Department's top position.
Other BN-Politics Posts:
* Inspector General Blocked Investigations of Waste & Fraud?
* Time to Get Really Serious About Contractor Fraud
* Contractor Blackwater in Hot Water Again
* Have U.S. Officials Protected Blackwater?
* Defense Dept. Rewarding Bad Contractor Performance?
* Billions over Baghdad: Poor Accounting Allowed Waste & Fraud
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