Burnt Orange Report

DeLay's Misdeeds Continue

By John Pruett

With Congress's passage of the long-awaited energy bill this past week, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Sugarland, TX) proved yet again his complete inability to function in an ethical manner (See posts on The Daily DeLay and Think Progress blogs for more).

Besides the fact that the bill was a huge disappointment for those pushing a more responsible energy policy, DeLay felt it necessary to insert some last minute pork for his district to the tune of $1.5 billion.

Reuters reports:

[Rep.] Waxman [D-California] said the $1.5 billion fund for ultra-deepwater drilling was added to the final energy bill this week after House and Senate negotiators called a halt to any more amendments. The 30-page measure appeared in the text of the energy bill after Texas Rep. Joe Barton had officially ended the House and Senate conference committee to combine legislation passed by each chamber, he said.

"Obviously, it would be a serious abuse to secretly slip such a costly and controversial provision into the energy legislation," Waxman said in a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

Most of the $1.5 billion will end up in the hands of the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America, a consortium based in Sugarland, TX. Interestingly, members of the consortium include Halliburton, Marathon Oil, the University of Texas, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Texas A&M among others. According to Waxman,
the consortium has been pushing for the research funding and is in the best position to receive it.

Furthermore, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), who chaired the conference committee on the energy bill, supported DeLay's questionable amendment as necessary for oil companies. To put it another way, when Texas Republicans hold immense power over national legislation, Texas companies will benefit the most (oil interests in particular).

Despite DeLay's complete lack of honesty and ethics in government, the Family Research Council still figure he's pious enough to appear at their upcoming "Justice Sunday II". The rally aims to address the perceived "threat" of "judicial activism" and the upcoming SCOTUS appointment.

Although the Christian Right seems to recognize a faithful ally when it sees one, in my opinion DeLay is nothing more than a modern-day Judas stealing from the American taxpayer.