Drill baby drill - Dept of Int.

Submitted by avahome on September 10, 2008 - 15:53

Well, from the looks of this article...we have a problem. A three page description problem...give it a read. Misconduct Found at Interior Dept.
excerpt:

WASHINGTON — As Congress prepares to debate expansion of drilling in taxpayer-owned coastal waters, the Interior Department agency that collects oil and gas royalties has been caught up in a wide-ranging ethics scandal — including allegations of financial self-dealing, accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct.

In three reports delivered to Congress on Wednesday, the department’s inspector general, Earl E. Devaney, found wrongdoing by a dozen current and former employees of the Minerals Management Service, which collects about $10 billion in royalties annually and is one of the government’s largest sources of revenue other than taxes.

“A culture of ethical failure” besets the agency, Mr. Devaney wrote in a cover memo..

Doing the people's business........yah right!

Drugs, oil, drill, D.O.I., taxpayer, cocaine, misconduct, royalties
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luaptifer

September 10, 2008 - 17:48

whose insiders knew that the first deck to stack was the Department of Justice, and the President's Management Agenda said flatout, 'ya gotta stack the deck of each agency by pegging a crony like 'great job-Brownie' into the COO position, and if you can get 'em, the Inspector Generals who can defray any real investigation.

Fortunately, in this case, Earl E. Devaney has served as the Inspector General for the Department of the Interior since August 1999, not a guy who surfed in on the Bush-cultural wave of corruption.

He woke up in 2001 surrounded by a tsunami of ethical failure brought in by the DeLay-ing lobby gang who knew where the (black) gold was and went for it directly in Interior.

Remember when we invaded Iraq? The only two ministries we saved from plundering were the Petroleum and Interior Ministries?

It is the Bush Administration, after all -- D'oh!!



"So your party is the only party that can save the country from the mess that your party created?" - attrib. Jon Stewart

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"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations which dare already to challenge our government in a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." - Thomas Jefferson

cho

September 10, 2008 - 17:53

this line should be plastered everywhere McCain speaks:

"So your party is the only party that can save the country from the mess that your party created?"

luaptifer

September 10, 2008 - 18:14

and we'll be able to offhand such brilliance as Stewart achieves seemingly with no effort!



"So your party is the only party that can save the country from the mess that your party created?" - attrib. Jon Stewart

-----
"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations which dare already to challenge our government in a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." - Thomas Jefferson

avahome

September 10, 2008 - 18:14

Via Propublica

In the the first report (PDF), investigators focus on Gregory Smith, the former program director of the royalty-in-kind program. As the Times reports, "The report accuses Mr. Smith of improperly accepting gifts from the oil and gas industry, of engaging in sex with two subordinates, and of using cocaine that he purchased from his secretary or her boyfriend several times a year between 2002 and 2005."

The second report (PDF) look at the Interior officials who marketed taxpayers' oil. From the Times: "The report found that 19 officials -- about one-third of the program's staff -- accepted gratuities from oil companies, which was prohibited because they conducted official business with the industry."

And the third report (PDF) focuses on Lucy Denett, the former associate director of minerals revenue management, who allegedly manipulated the contracting process to steer a contract to her friend Jimmy Mayberry. Mayberry pleaded guilty to conflict of interest charges earlier this year.

luaptifer

September 10, 2008 - 19:14

to recognize any of the names we started digging up on ePI? That's where I got the strong sense of perfused with lobby-gangers.



"So your party is the only party that can save the country from the mess that your party created?" - attrib. Jon Stewart

-----
"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations which dare already to challenge our government in a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." - Thomas Jefferson

avahome

September 10, 2008 - 21:05

Been looking thru old ePMi site and went to page 3 to see what the interest was in the beginning......where has all the money gone,,,that's what I want to know!

susie dow

September 11, 2008 - 13:15

From the article:

Ms. [Lucy Q.] Denett did not return a message left at her home on Wednesday with her husband, Paul A. Denett, who was the top procurement official in the White House Office of Management and Budget until he resigned this month. He declined to comment.

Ms. Dennett looks like she has a good shot at going to jail.