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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (178788)	9/8/2001 2:30:59 PM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Bush's Secret Energy Task Force: What is the White House Hiding? When President Bush released his energy plan in May, it was clear that it was written to benefit the energy industry at the expense of consumers and the environment. Now the White House is refusing to say who the energy task force met with while writing the Bush energy plan. What is Bush trying to hide? The Key Facts and Questions 1) The General Accounting Office, an independent investigative arm of Congress, is Investigating Bush's Secret Energy Task Force. Cheney's Office Refuses to Release Lists of Participants in Energy Meetings. The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said it is studying the spending and closed-door policies of the energy task force, led by Vice President Cheney, that produced the [Bush energy] plan, according to the Washington Post. Yet, Cheney's office has refused the GAO request for minutes, schedules of meetings with outside groups and names of those the task force met with. [Washington Post, 5/19/01; Newsweek, 5/2/01; USA Today, 5/14/01] GOP Leaders Criticized Clinton Health Care Task Force for Secrecy. In 1993, Republicans were highly critical of the Clinton health care task force for refusing to open meetings and disclose its files. Then-Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole said, We believe in the open forum. Let the sun shine in. Rep. William F. Clinger (R-PA) then-ranking Republican on the House Government Operations Committee, said, It is insulting to Congress and to the American people . . . that the government now claims that these records are not available. [Washington Times, 10/22/93; USA Today, 2/11/93] Why won't Republicans call on Cheney's task force to disclose its meetings, when they so strongly criticized Clinton's task force for similar actions? 2) Energy Industry Enjoyed Special Access to Bush Task Force by Forwarding Wish List, Meeting With Task Force Officials 118 Times, Compared With Once For Consumer Groups. Although details of the energy task force are not available, some general information on its proceedings has become public. Particularly notable are reports of the energy industry's special involvement in its deliberations. Nine days before President Bush's inauguration, energy industry lobbyists gathered in the American Petroleum Institute's offices to make a wish list for the Bush energy plan. The list was forwarded to the Bush energy transition team, and eventually to the energy task force. Task force officials met with 118 energy groups, and only 13 environmental groups, five academics and one consumer group. Numerous energy industry representatives attended the recent GOP Presidential Gala fundraiser and previous reception at the Vice President's Naval Observatory residence. [Newsweek, 5/10/01; New York Times, 5/10/01; 5/20/01; USA Today, 5/14/01; ABC News, World News Tonight, 5/22/01; Washington Post, 5/17/01] Specifically, which groups and companies attended meetings with Vice President Cheney, the task force or other Administration officals, and what recommendations did they make for the plan? 3) Energy Task Force Did Not Solicit Substantive Recommendations From Environmental Organizations According to the Groups. Andrew D. Lundquist, who directed Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force, invited environmental organizations to a meeting, but the groups said he did not solicit substantive recommendations, according to the New York Times. [5/10/01] What groups were refused meetings with Vice President Cheney, the task force or other administration officials?