Word: oiled
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Wright, the findings of the ten-month investigation still qualified as a bombshell. Bad enough were the accumulated allegations of venality: details of Betty Wright's alleged no-show job, accounts of the Speaker's staff shamelessly peddling his book, the description of a wildly lucrative -- and suspicious -- oil-well deal that few had known about before. More important, and more ominous for Wright, was the fact that all six Democrats on the committee joined the six Republicans in finding "reason to believe" that the Speaker had violated House ethics rules by failing to avoid "even the appearance of impropriety...
Committee counsel Richard Phelan insisted that Mallick did have such an interest, if only because his extensive oil and real estate holdings made him much more vulnerable to any change in tax laws than the ordinary American. But Mallick does not meet three standard tests of direct interest: he is not a lobbyist, he employs no lobbyists, and he does not have a political-action committee. By the standard of interest that the ethics committee seems to be applying to Mallick, says one member of Congress, "I couldn't talk to my own mother. She's 65, and on Social...
Moreover, the case against Wright may still be building. The committee last week dispatched two investigators to Texas to look further into an oil-well sale involving Wright. The story: Mallick and the Wrights were fifty-fifty partners in an investment company called Mallightco, but in 1987 Wright instructed the trustee of his blind trust to sell out. Mallick told the committee that he wanted to "bet the farm" on one more deal before the pullout...
Mallightco bought a 4% interest in an oil-and-gas well known as Sabine Lake Prospect for $9,120. On the very day the purchase became final -- May 10, 1988 -- Mallightco resold the interest to Union Rheinische Petroleum Inc., a West German company, for $440,000. The well at the time showed some prospect of becoming a commercial producer but has since been plugged. Wright's trustee then sold the Speaker's interest in Mallightco for $350,000, less $80,000 to pay off debts to the firm -- a handsome profit from a hopeless dry hole. Wright insists he knew...
Sunbathers are concerned about protecting their skin these days, but nobody likes to handle greasy, gritty suntan-lotion bottles. One entrepreneur's answer is Sun Center, a vending machine that dispenses tanning oil with a spray applicator. A customer activates the spritzer by depositing 50 cents. A hand-held nozzle then emits a light mist for 40 seconds, generally enough to cover those hard-to-reach places...