Sex, drugs, and oil money -Toledo Blade

[bronxiteforever]

Article published Monday, September 15, 2008

BEFORE, the next president is able to develop a coherent national energy policy, he will have to corral the explosive scandal unfolding at the Denver office of the U.S. Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service, Stunning abuse of authority by current and former government employees handling billions of dollars in oil royalties was recently revealed to Congress in reports submitted by the department’s inspector general. They portray a dysfunctional agency riddled with conflicts of interest, unprofessional conduct, and a free-for-all atmosphere for much of the Bush Administration’s eight-year watch.Investigators concluded that “a culture of ethical failure” pervades the office, which collects about $10 billion in royalties annually — one of the government’s largest sources of revenue other than taxes.

The two-year, $5.3 million investigation by Inspector General Earl Devaney found employees partying, having sex, using drugs, and accepting gifts and ski trips and golf outings from energy company representatives with whom they did government business.

The reports describe an out-of-control fraternity house atmosphere among officials running the agency’s royalty-in-kind program. Their job is to collect oil and gas royalties turned over by energy companies for drilling on federal lands.

While previous reports about the program’s management and competence have focused on problems the agency had in collecting millions of dollars owed the Treasury, the new reports go far beyond those concerns to expose serious issues of integrity and behavior on the part of agency officials.

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080915/OPINION02/809159926/-1/OPINION

Again GOP foxes guard the hen house
If energy is a national security issue for McSame, requiring drilling on federal lands,how come his party treats the oversight agency of this national security concern as the fraternity in the movie Animal House?