AP INVESTIGATION: Palin pipeline terms curbed bids (Barf alert...2 Palin hit pieces in one week!!!)

AP via Yahoo! News ^ | 10-25-06 | JUSTIN PRITCHARD and GARANCE BURKE

[wac3rd]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Gov. Sarah Palin's signature accomplishment — a contract to build a 1,715-mile pipeline to bring natural gas from Alaska to the Lower 48 — emerged from a flawed bidding process that narrowed the field to a company with ties to her administration, an Associated Press investigation shows.

[rightinthemiddle]

The headline to this on MSN/MSNBC:

Palin’s Pipeline Project Flawed.

My years in journalism tell me that is and “editorial statement.” Not a headline.

[rightinthemiddle]

The headline to this on MSN/MSNBC:

Palin’s Pipeline Project Flawed.

My years in journalism tell me that is an “editorial statement.” Not a headline.

[Turret Gunner A20]

What they’re going to get is another matter entirely. I will back Sarah 100% to Election Day and, win or lose, beyond that day. I’m betting there’s millions of conservatives out there who feel the same way.

You got that right.

[Turret Gunner A20]

So let me get this straight, they needed a pipeline, and she just got elected because she was fighting the big evil oil companies and so she excluded them from bidding because it would have led to a monopoly by the big evil oil companies and so some people that she knew who worked back in the day at some oil company’s subsidiary

Here's the story in a nut shell: Accusation in the article: "Despite Palin's boast of a smart and fair bidding process, the AP found that her team crafted terms that favored only a few independent pipeline companies and ultimately benefited the winner, TransCanada Corp."

What actually happened: Palin said she saw problems if the firms that own the gas also owned the pipeline. They could manipulate the market or charge prohibitive fees to smaller exploration firms, discouraging competition.

Several important requirements in the legislation were unpalatable to the big oil companies. In the talks under Murkowski, the firms asked that the rates for the gas production tax and royalties be fixed for 45 years; Palin refused to consider setting rates for that long.

Under the Palin process, the pipeline firms had an advantage because they simply pass along taxes paid by oil and gas producers.

Oil company officials warned lawmakers they wouldn't participate under those terms.

And, by their own choice, they didn't. So what the hell is AP sqwauking about?

[curth]

Post their email addresses so we can blast them FR style.

[Question_Assumptions]

She didn’t curb the bids. She wanted to make sure that the pipeline wasn’t controlled by the existing producers so that exploration would be open to other companies. The oil and gas companies didn’t like that condition and refused to bid, thinking they could have their way. It’s the oil companies that refused to meet the conditions for the bid and their fault that they didn’t bid. Here we have AP reporters defending big oil companies against a popular governor, turning the world upside-down for their messiah.

[John W]

2? I lost track after about 5.

[Question_Assumptions]

And, by their own choice, they didn't. So what the hell is AP sqwauking about?

These AP authors are taking the side of the oil companies against Palin. Think about that. AP authors uncritically taking the side of big oil to make Palin look bad. And if she had worked with the big oil companies to make the requirements palatable to them, then they'd be complaining she was working with big oil against the interests of Alaskans. Basically, there is no way she could win with these pro-Obama hacks who call themselves "journalists". Propagandists would be a better description of their work.

[muawiyah]

Why is it we all know he is gay?