Word: galas
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Brainstorm: I take out an ad in "Variety" inviting everybody to a gala cocktail party at my place...
...contact with the White House while Cheney's task force was working. Many had a chance to press their case directly with the Veep or his staff, sources say. Records show that all but a handful gave to or solicited for the R.N.C. around the time of the gala. Among them was Rick Shelby of the American Gas Association, who raised at least $250,000 for the gala at the same time he was getting the task force's blessing for incentives to build 38,000 miles of new pipeline. Nuclear-industry officials gave $150,000 while landing support...
Though Bush would later brand Iran part of the "axis of evil," the task force proposed factoring in U.S. energy needs when reviewing sanctions against Iran and Libya. In addition to Exxon Mobil, two other oil giants, Conoco and Phillips Petroleum--each a $25,000 gala donor--have long opposed the sanctions, which deprive them of markets. Conoco president Archie Dunham, an old Cheney pal, visited him March 21 to press the case. Big Oil saw the task force's proposal as a victory, though hopes of lifting sanctions were dashed last summer. Congress voted to renew them...
Also underwriting the May gala was a group long shut out of Washington's power equation: the nuclear industry, which hasn't built any new plants since the Three Mile Island disaster. A group of nuclear executives met on March 20 with Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser; Lawrence Lindsey, Bush's senior economic aide; and task-force director Andrew Lundquist. Cheney's report backed faster relicensing of old nuclear plants and construction of new ones...
...government review its lawsuits against several power companies accused of ignoring legally mandated pollution controls on renovated plants. Six utilities, including gigantic Southern Co. of Atlanta, hired ex-R.N.C. chairman Haley Barbour to lobby for the relaxation of controls. While raising at least $250,000 for the gala, Barbour met with Cheney on May 3 to discuss the matter. Barbour apparently made an impact. The review Cheney called for threw the lawsuits into limbo. And last week EPA assistant administrator Jeffrey Holmstead told an industry trade association that the Administration wants to eliminate the old pollution controls. --By Michael...