With major financial crises occurring this bombshell lost news traction in the last week. Investigations found that there were widespread occurrances of outrageous behavior in the Minerals Management Service of the Interior Department. This office is responsible for managing a program that is supposed to model private business. In lieu of cash payments for oil companies rights to drill on Federally owned land, the Department writes contracts with the drillers to obtain a percentage share of the oil. The US collects, or is supposed to collect about $10 billion/year in royalty fees from oil companies. This office and portion of the fees saw rapid increses in the amts that the feds were to earn....from $1.5 billion to $4.3 billion fiscal last year. The scandal is amazing with federal employees getting payoffs, drugs, alcohol, and sex. Meanwhile there is difficulty if not pure obstruction in auditing the contracts to determine if the Feds and taxpayers are getting there contractural share of these written agreements. So with financial concerns, a melt down in private financial firms, an energy crisis, all sorts of hubris and big talk about new energy legislation, with huge political weight being thrown around by the oil industry and its backers....we see a potential huge scam occurring right under our noses. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/10/AR2008091001829_pf.html The oil companies were paying off the govt. employees, throwing them parties and providing sex alcohol and drugs.....and the feds were unable to audit if the contracts were being appropriately carried out. While the financial crisis is occurring there is heavy pressure to push through drilling, extend oil company tax breaks, and as far as I can tell....there are tax credits for wind and solar industries that are about to expire and thereby utterly smash a developing industry that desperately is needed to strengthen and diversify America's connection to energy. Seriously....WTF. I wonder what McCain, Obama, and El Presidente Bush have to say about this?
First off, hasn't this been going on for years and second its a government job what did you expect was going to happen there.