Monday, April 28, 2003

 
You Can't Sue The Government Can You?
Remember the suit filed by the government against Vice President Cheney? Cheney refused to turn over the papers from the energy task force which was convened to establish the national energy policy. The General Accounting Office had requested the papers repeatedly. The GAO even sued to get them, but because of pressure from the Republican party and the administration, they gave up its courtroom fight. Do the boys have clout or what.

No, No, No,You Can't Do That!
An appeals judge told lawyers for Vice President Richard Cheney on Thursday they had no basis to ask the court to intervene in a suit seeking White House energy policy papers, saying "you have no case." "You pretend there is no law on the books. You have no case," Edwards lectured Justice Department attorney Gregory Katsas.

Turn Over The Papers!
U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered the administration last October to produce the documents or submit a detailed explanation of what they were withholding and why. Government lawyers then asked the appeals court to step into the lawsuit, which was filed to seek documents on the energy task force that Cheney directed in 2001.

Shhhhh It's a Secret!
The task force did however produced a policy paper calling for more oil and gas drilling and a revived nuclear power program. Who knows what else went on behind those closed doors.

What's Wrong With Enron and Haliburton Dictating Our Energy Policy?
Environmentalists say they were largely shut out of the decision-making process, while Cheney was meeting industry chieftains such as former Enron Corp . executive Ken Lay to discuss energy policy. Cheney was the chief executive of energy and construction company Halliburton Co. from 1995 to 2000.
Perhaps Cheney had asked the energy task force to recommend a new power source for his implanted cardioverter defibrillator, (ICD). He is after all, 60, years old and has suffered four mild heart attacks over the last 23 years and underwent a quadruple cardiac bypass operation. His last heart attack occurred in November 2000 near the end of the presidential campaign. At that time, doctors found his arteries to be 90 percent blocked and implanted a device called a "stent" to force the walls of the arteries to remain open. If Dick Cheney can't get Bush's budget through the Senate, his ICD may need a Sears "Die Hard" to keep him going.


Nice Try But, Turn Over The Papers Boys
After Thursday's hearing, Judicial Watch's general counsel, Larry Klayman, predicted the appeals court would rule in the group's favor, but said even then it could still be months before the White House produces any of its task force documents. I will believe this when I see it. Sadly, I will not be surprised if Cheney gets his way, no matter what the courts say.


Has anyone seen Cheney lately? The last time I saw him, he was on "Meet The Press" saying the Iraq war was a piece of cake. Maybe Cheney is saving the Energy Task Force documents for his new book. "A Life Of Working Behind Closed Doors"


Sources cited:
Reuters Susan Cornwell

U.S. Gov Info/Resources
with Robert Longley



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