Posted on 02/18/2006 12:45:16 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
WASHINGTON—Former Massachusetts Congressman Joe Kennedy fires back at the House Energy chairman investigating whether politics, not charity, is behind Venezuela’s offer to provide low-cost heating oil to needy Americans.
In a letter to Congressman Joe Barton, Kennedy says the committee’s highest priority should be praising Venezuela, not investigating its motives.
Kennedy heads the Boston-based nonprofit Citizens Energy Corporation, which is helping to deliver the oil in several states. Rhode Island is among states where low income people are getting discounted oil.
Barton has requested all records pertaining to the program from Citgo Petroleum, a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company.
Isn't this "main line" Kennedy?
Joe Barton is my Congresscritter....good for him.
I just heard today, that Hugo Chavez is threatening to cut off oil sales to the USA...but, I guess maybe his "friends" can get their own private stash, huh??
Actually, I doubt whether Chavez will get much political mileage out of this, unless Democrat political operatives like Kennedy really help him. I doubt whether the people he is helping will rise up and overthrow the government. They aren't the ones we need to worry about.
Meantime, it's easing our energy imbalance, helping our poor, and cutting down on our welfare expenses.
Fine with me.
Guess Joe never heard of LIHEAP.
Traitor
Hey...why go through the Congress...when he can get it from his communist friends??
It's well over 100,000.
I bet he wouldn't accepted oil from Venezuela if a right-winger ruled.
Kinda makes me wonder what in Sam Hill we're funding LIHEAP for...Grrrrrrr...
No Kennedy does anything that doesn't enrich themselves.
All it is basically is a slap at the white people in this country !
Here is more of the grand plan: We should take his stations over and sell Shale oil Products!
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1665
Joe III's first wife, Sheila Rauch Kennedy, is from a wealthy main line Philadelphia family. He dumped her for wife #2, and then petitioned the Vatican to have their marriage annulled. Because she and Joe III had teen-age twin sons born of their marriage, Sheila hit the roof and wrote a best-selling book about it all, "Shattered Faith: A Woman's Struggle to Stop the Catholic Church from Annulling Her Marriage". I don't think she likes Joe any more.
OMG....you are right...he is intending this oil to go to Hispanics and Blacks, NOT white people...
Hmmmmmm..does Kennedy even know anyone that isn't white??
Kidding aside....the "deal" his offering is gonna be a 25 year LOAN to pay for the 40% after an up front payment of 60%...
Now that sounds like a wonderful deal for those poor people...heat yourselves this weekend, and your grandchildren will pay for it in the year 2030.
Of course he's familiar with LIHEAP. LIHEAP has funded his Citizens' Energy for many years. Between budget cuts and the big hike in the cost of heating oil, LIHEAP no longer covers enough energy to carry people through the winter. Massachusetts and other northern states don't have a lot of clout in Congress any more so they were unable to get greater appropriations that way. Enter Hugo Chavez.
No one in Massachusetts is going to rise up to overthrow the government, not unless George Bush burns down a Dunkin' Donuts. This is strictly a way to embarrass the federal government, which has decided to stop helping out low-income people here with their heating bills as a budget-cutting measure. Since my neighbors all vote 'RAT they don't support this move, not surprisingly.
(Before anyone brings up the Big Dig, I'll save you time and point out that Massachusetts is a huge net contributor to the federal government, and even at the height of Tipsy O'Neill's reign and the Big Dig's early stages we gave a fraction of a cent more per dollar than we ever got back from Washington. So we're still subsidizing the rest of the country, whatever happens to policies.)
Remember:More people have died in Ted Kennedy's car than have died in
United States Commercial Nuclear Power plant operations
The government shows heating oil prices up more than 20% this winter over last winter--from about $200/gallon to $240/gallon. That doesn't sound so bad, but in 2003-2004, 2002-2003, the cost was in the $140-$160/gallon range, and if you go back further to the days of cheap oil it was $120/gallon and lower.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/ftparea/wogirs/xls/pswc3vwall.xls
Now, back before Chavez started playing Lady Bountiful with heating oil to the poor masses of the northeast corridor, the federal government was proposing actual absolute cuts to LIHEAP funding. This is despite a near doubling in costs of heating oil. It doesn't take a math degree to see the effects of even holding the price steady.
Doing a web search, it appears that 10 days ago Bush buckled and allocated an additional $1.7 billion in home heating assistance. For better or for worse, it looks like Chavez made him blink.
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