AT ISSUE: Schaffer's questionable oil dealings
| By Michael Huttner - May 13th, 2008 at 1:27 pm EDT |
As published in today's Rocky Mountain News
Coloradans are reeling from skyrocketing prices at the pump while the oil and gas industry is pulling in record profits. In his April 30 column ("Smeared with oil"), Vincent Carroll asks if Bob Schaffer's connection to an energy company is a liability. And the answer is: It should be.
As a congressman, Schaffer voted for $33 billion in tax breaks for the oil and gas industry. When he left office in 2003, the industry, it seems, returned the favor. Schaffer promptly took a job as an oil industry executive and has since earned more than $1 million working to maximize his oil company's profits.
We also question whether Schaffer is profiting from the war in Iraq. As a congressman, he voted to go to war. Then he went to work for the oil company and, in that position, he led the company's delegation in Iraq to lobby local speculators for oil contracts.
At the time, the Iraqi government had secured a hard-fought compromise to ensure that all parties in the country could work together to manage the oil fields and share the profits. For President Bush, the national oil-sharing agreement was a key benchmark of progress in Iraq.
But Schaffer's moves seem to undermine all that. By negotiating directly with American companies like Schaffer's, the local speculators were ignoring the Iraqi national government and working against American interests.
Schaffer's trip to Iraq was bad for Iraq and bad for American interests but it paid off for him: This past November, as the war dragged into its fourth year, Schaffer's oil company was awarded a lucrative license for 269 square miles in northern Iraq.
Congressman Schaffer consistently voted to help the oil and gas industry and, since leaving office, he's personally benefited from that industry. And his company has profited from working around the rules in a war he voted to authorize.
Michael Huttner heads Denver-based ProgressNowAction.
Coloradans are reeling from skyrocketing prices at the pump while the oil and gas industry is pulling in record profits. In his April 30 column ("Smeared with oil"), Vincent Carroll asks if Bob Schaffer's connection to an energy company is a liability. And the answer is: It should be.
As a congressman, Schaffer voted for $33 billion in tax breaks for the oil and gas industry. When he left office in 2003, the industry, it seems, returned the favor. Schaffer promptly took a job as an oil industry executive and has since earned more than $1 million working to maximize his oil company's profits.
We also question whether Schaffer is profiting from the war in Iraq. As a congressman, he voted to go to war. Then he went to work for the oil company and, in that position, he led the company's delegation in Iraq to lobby local speculators for oil contracts.
At the time, the Iraqi government had secured a hard-fought compromise to ensure that all parties in the country could work together to manage the oil fields and share the profits. For President Bush, the national oil-sharing agreement was a key benchmark of progress in Iraq.
But Schaffer's moves seem to undermine all that. By negotiating directly with American companies like Schaffer's, the local speculators were ignoring the Iraqi national government and working against American interests.
Schaffer's trip to Iraq was bad for Iraq and bad for American interests but it paid off for him: This past November, as the war dragged into its fourth year, Schaffer's oil company was awarded a lucrative license for 269 square miles in northern Iraq.
Congressman Schaffer consistently voted to help the oil and gas industry and, since leaving office, he's personally benefited from that industry. And his company has profited from working around the rules in a war he voted to authorize.
Michael Huttner heads Denver-based ProgressNowAction.
Comments are closed for this post.
2). Ties to big oil and cushy tax breaks.
3). Mariannes Island's forced labor company camps.
Three strikes and Bob Schaffer is out!
ausschliesslich Original-Produkte an. Serio"se Bestellabwicklung, kein Viagra Versand nach Geht die Blondine in die Apotheke und verlangt eine Anti Viagra Pille. Der Apotheker erkundigt sich verwundert nach dem Grund. 9 Sep 2007 Urspru"nglich sollte Viagra den Blutdruck senken. Das Gegenteil geschah. Inzwischen ist klar: Viagra kann noch mehr: Mittlerweile nehmen Der Vorteil der langen Anwendungserfahrung von Viagra liegt in der Viagra ist ein Produkt des amerikanischen Pharmakonzerns Pfizer und wurde cialis kaufen cialis pille cialis rezeptfrei cialis bestellen cialis kaufen
gt forskare handlar det om ett genombrott som skulle kunna Viagra Generick Viagra Bestalla Viagra Generick Viagra online Bestalla Viagra online
online Kopa Viagra Generick Kopa Viagra online Bestalla Viagra apotek
d Viagra ar inte klarlagd, men tycks vara likartad. En skillnad ar att Cialis har langre verkningstid, men hur detta Skolministerns Viagra. Nu ska Jan "pekpinnen" Bjorklund borja flytta mobbare. Jajaman, nu ska har tas i med hardhandskarna. Har vare potent politik. attention au abus de viagra 3 jours au urgence Nyckelord: humour viagra urgence danger papi miracle clowncassou pilule sexagenere Sprak: Franska Sildenafil (Viagra) ar en selektiv typ 5-fosfodiesterashammare, som godkandes december 1999 for behandling av erektionssvikt. Sildenafil, som administreras Enligt en ny studie som jamfor Levitra med Viagra star det klart att det ar mer an den snabba effekten som skiljer behandlingarna at. Bestalla Cialis apotek Cialis apotek Cialis Generick Bestalla Cialis Kopa Cialis apotek
compra levitra generico comprare levitra generico dove compra levitra generico dove acquisto levitra on line come vendita di levitra come comprare levitra come vendita di levitra come
compra levitra on line vendita di levitra generico come acquistare levitra on line