Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rock_nj who wrote (17145)	4/22/2004 11:55:31 AM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

Cheney's Power Company Pals Hold US Hostage: "Proposals to impose mandatory reliability standards on power companies, and fine those that fail to comply, circulated in Washington even before the Aug. 14, 2003, outage, which affected 40 million U.S. residents from Michigan to Massachusetts. The blackout, however, finally prompted the House and Senate to agree last year on a phased-in plan that's a start in the right direction. Since then, however, the electricity package has been held hostage by lawmakers who have tied its final approval to other special-interest provisions in a broader energy bill. Their tactic means Congress can approve the electric-grid reforms only if it also provides businesses lavish breaks the nation can ill-afford at a time of record federal deficits. The conservatively estimated $31 billion in largesse over 10 years includes: • $10.5 billion in tax breaks for the oil and gas industry. • $2.5 billion in write-offs and tax credits for the coal industry. • $5.8 billion for electric utilities. Scores of other financial incentives for the automobile, railroad, ethanol, nuclear-power and alternative-energy industries. Unique protection against lawsuits for refineries that made a gasoline additive now known to have caused serious pollution problems in groundwater. Sensible efforts by some lawmakers to strip out the electricity provisions and pass them separately have gone nowhere. As long as Congress fails to act, power companies know they can't be penalized for making the same mistakes that led to the 2003 blackout." * CORRUPTION INC is in charge of the White House and congress.