OIL - One of Bush's Largest Career Donors
Retired
oil and gas industry ranked 12th among career contributions to George
W. Bush. In 2000, the oil and gas industry ranked 8th in the top
industry contributions. In 2004, the oil and gas industry ranked 15th
in the top industry contributions. [Center for Responsive Politics]
...And the Bush Administration Is Filled with People from Big Oil
...And Record CEO Salaries
"Let us rid ourselves of the fiction that low oil prices are somehow
good for the United States."
-Dick Cheney, October 1986.
Cheney Personally Profited from Rising Gas Prices in 2000. Vice
President Cheney sold his stock in Halliburton in June 2000 for $5.1
million and his stock increased $1.4 million in value due to rising gas
and oil prices that drove up the value of Halliburton stock.
[Associated Press, 7/25/00 Boston Globe, 7/25/00]
Oil & Gas Industry Was Cheney's Biggest Donor in 1988. In 1988,
Cheney's last congressional race, the oil and gas industry gave Cheney
$27,500 in PAC money, Cheney's largest donor that year. [Center for
Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.org]
Cheney Personally Profited from Rising Gas Prices in 2000. Vice
President Cheney sold his stock in Halliburton in June 2000 for $5.1
million and his stock increased $1.4 million in value due to rising gas
and oil prices that drove up the value of Halliburton stock. In August
2000, Cheney exercised stock options and sold 660,000 shares between
Aug. 21 and 28, 2000 for $35 million; Halliburton shares were soaring
because of high oil prices. Cheney made an $18.5 million profit selling
his shares for more than $52 each in August 2000. [Washington Post,
7/16/02; Associated Press, 7/25/00; Boston Globe, 7/25/00]
Condoleezza Rice Served on Chevron's Board; Chevron Gave More Than
$858,000 to GOP, Bush. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice served on
the board of directors for Chevron, a major U.S. oil company from
1991-2001. Chevron named an oil tanker in her honor. During 1999-2000
Chevron gave GOP candidates and committees $758,588 - $534,550 to GOP
committees and $224,038 to Republican Congressional candidates. Chevron
employees gave $100,000 to the Bush inaugural fund. [www.crp.org;
Hart's Africa Oil and Gas, 1/29/01]
Interior Secretary Gale Norton Worked for Anti-Environment, Corporate
Backed Legal Foundations, Raised Money From Oil, Gas Interests. Norton
was a prominent member of the Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF)
which pursued "aggressive litigation against environmental protections,
an agenda to pay polluters to obey the law, an effort to dismantle the
Endangered Species Act, and a campaign to deny the seriousness of air
pollution and the existence of global warming," according to the
Friends of the Earth. In 1977, its first year of operation, MSLF
received donations from over 175 corporations including Exxon, Amoco,
Phillips 66, Marathon Oil, Ford Motor Company and Chevron. [USA Today,
1/2/01; Friends of the Earth release, U.S. Newswire, 1/2/01; AP,
7/13/98; Environmental News Network, 1/9/01; www.crp.org]
Big Oil Was Norton's Second-Largest Campaign Contributor. In 1996
Norton ran for the U.S. Senate in Colorado and raised $28,570 from the
oil and gas companies, the second largest total from any industry.
[www.crp.org]
Chief of Staff Andrew Card Earned $600,000 Lobbying for GM, Auto Trade
Association. Before serving as White House Chief of Staff, Andrew Card
had been GM's chief lobbyist for more than a year earning $600,000 a
year in salary. Card was also CEO of the now-defunct trade group, the
American Automobile Manufacturers Association. The AAMA spent more than
$12 million on lobbying in 1997-1998 to fight Japan over trade issues
and lobby against stricter fuel emissions standards. As a policy fellow
for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Card testified before Congress
against the "Passengers' Bill of Rights" for the airline industry.
[www.crp.org; PR Newswire, 9/16/93; Roll Call, 1/22/01; National
Journal, 5/8/99]
Source: http://tinyurl.com/alcpk
Record Prices, Record Profits
Big Oil-With The Help Of Bush & Co.
Are Bilking American Consumers
Even As They Experience Record Profits
And CEO Salaries Record Prices