House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) have said they backed a 2002 legislative provision sought by a Kansas energy company because it fit their deregulatory, free-market philosophy. Good policy, not politics, was their chief concern, they said, and the company's contributions to several Republican committees did not influence their actions.
But the head of a Kansas regulatory agency said the Republican-backed provision was more likely to help the energy company's top executives than its thousands of customers.
Well, surprise! You have to understand that in the Thug lexicon, "free market" means free for the insiders to loot. A la those fine Texas-based bidnesses Enron, Harken, and so on.
The company, Westar Energy Inc., is under federal investigation for alleged fraud. A simultaneous company-initiated inquiry, meanwhile, disclosed e-mails in which top executives last year said they believed Congress would enact the provision -- which would exempt Westar from federal oversight under the Investment Company Act -- if they donated $56,600 to campaign committees associated with four GOP lawmakers, including DeLay and Barton.
Of course, once again, this was simple faith on the part of these deluded executives ("the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen"(Heb.11:1). And indeed, there is nothing to see here. How could there be?
"It never ceases to amaze me that people are so cynical they want to tie money to issues, money to bills, money to amendments," said DeLay, whose Texans for a Republican Majority PAC received a $25,000 Westar corporate contribution.
Move along, people, move along. Nothing to see here!
Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, who received Westar contributions as a Senate candidate, this week declined to say whether he would recuse himself from matters involving the company, the Associated Press reported.
"Never ceases to amaze me"... So stunning in its stark, simple beauty. So sublime in its boldness, its audacity, in the rich, rich flavor of its deeply unctuous and Pharisaical holier-than-thou-ness. So very, very duck pit-ready. It would bring a tear to my eye, if I were not already, with Atrios, banging my head on the table.