"Dean Hits Cheney Task Force, But Had Own" John Solomon, AP writer

[flpoljunkie]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36475-2003Dec28.html

By JOHN SOLOMON
The Associated Press
Sunday, December 28, 2003; 3:37 PM

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean has demanded release of secret deliberations of Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force. But as Vermont governor, Dean had an energy task force that met in secret and angered state lawmakers.

Dean's group held one public hearing and after-the-fact volunteered the names of industry executives and liberal advocates it consulted in private, but the Vermont governor refused to open the task force's closed-door deliberations.

In 1999, Dean offered the same argument the Bush administration uses today for keeping deliberations of a policy task force secret.

"The governor needs to receive advice from time to time in closed session. As every person in government knows, sometimes you get more open discussion when it's not public," Dean was quoted as saying.

...more....
__________________________

Different rules for Dr. Dean, no doubt, his supporters will opine--not the same, they will echo.

[bushclipper]

1. I saw a similar story on Vermont tax cuts...

Vermont reports decry Dean-era tax cuts

Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean criticizes President Bush for giving unneeded tax breaks, but as Vermont governor, he supported a program critics say did much the same for corporations.

The Vermont Economic Progress Council, which Dean signed into law in 1998 to provide tax credits to businesses promising to expand, has approved more than $80 million in such credits, according to a report by the state auditor. Companies had claimed about $25 million of those credits by the end of the 2001 tax year.

Both this year's report by Auditor of Accounts Elizabeth Ready and one by her predecessor, Edward Flanagan, in 2000, said the credits have significantly reduced Vermont's corporate tax receipts and have been given without sufficient scrutiny on two fronts:

http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/lateststories/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/1072621440119350.xml

I haven't been a big Dean detractor. I kinda like the guy. But these stories keep surfacing showing his actions that are similar to what a lot of dems have criticized Bush for.

[mmm]

3. I hope some of this turns out to be untrue

If he turns out to be our guy, we gotta back him.

[bushclipper]

11. Yes we do...

But the way some of this is rationalized here is quite funny.

We can squabble over the fine details but the overall situations in both these articles are identical.

Either is is good for the Republicans or bad for us.

[bearfartinthewoods]

27. i was sooo sure we had a winning issue with the cheney bit

now dean has tossed it out the window by making the same claim for privacy for the executive branch. thanks a bunch doctor

[blm]

2. Dean the Deregulator is Cheney-lite.

How any Democrat can trust ANY politician who tried to push electricity deregulation is beyond me.

No doubt the Koch brothers were happy with the deal that Dean gave to them on Vermont Yankee. The details of which he has kept under seal.

Koch brothers = BFEE loyalists.

[Melinda]

4. Kinda sorta like Hillary Clinton's secret health task force?

But of course, that was different.

[KittyWampus]

19. What In God's Name Does Hillary Clinton Have To Do With Anything?

she's NOT RUNNING.

[SahaleArm]

22. Doesn't matter - No answer means divert the subject n/t

[killbotfactory]

5. I like this part of the article:

Dean's campaign said it was "laughable" to compare the two. "Governor Dean confronted and averted an energy crisis that would have had disastrous consequences for the citizens of Vermont by bringing together a bipartisan and ideologically diverse working group that solved the problem. Dick Cheney put together a group of his corporate cronies and partisan political contributors, and they gave themselves billions and disguised it as a national energy policy," spokesman Jay Carson said Sunday.

[JNelson6563]

7. but, but, but!!!

That can't be!! They must be the same!!!

<snarf>

Julie--laughing at desperate measures by some

[sandnsea]

14. Conservation Law Foundation didn't think so

The oldest environmental watchdog group in New England. This actually was a very big deal in Vermont and there are still complaints about the rate increases this caused Vermonters.

"In a motion protesting the move filed with the Public Service Board last week, the environmental group said the move toward secrecy would not protect Vermont ratepayers.

CLF senior attorney Mark Sinclair said a special protective order, as requested by Yankee’s attorneys, would all but make any meaningful review of the proposed sale to Entergy Nuclear Inc. of Jackson, Miss., impossible.

“CLF would be denied a meaningful opportunity to contradict, rebut and otherwise introduce countervailing evidence into the record regarding whether the Entergy bid is the best possible result for Vermont ratepayers,” Sinclair wrote."

http://timesargus.nybor.com/Archive/Articles/Article/38163

[Raya]

28. Is there ANYTHING in Dean Campaign that is REAL?

[Scott Lee]

6. And now for a dose of reality

Unless you can show that Dean was integrally wrapped up in said energy entities involved in the meetings, then this story has no relation to the Cheney Energy meetings. Dick Cheney is a well known energy company whore, having led Halliburton himself and continued to pimp government contracts for them at every opportunity.

Can the same be said of Howard Dean? Upon which energy companies' boards did Howard Dean sit? Was Howard Dean ever the CEO of any of the energy organizations counseled in said meetings?

[mmm]

8. I certainly think the two cases are dissimilar and unrelated

Still, I have to wonder: were the meetings secret; are the records sealed; were these deals consummated in the best interest of
his constituents?

[Scott Lee]

12. You raise good questions.

And to answer them I can only go to Dean's record as governor.

It is clear by his record that the welfare of the citizens of Vermont were his primary concern. He has fought tirelessly to raise his state's lifestyle. He has tried to bring in business while not allowing the harm that comes from the excesses of such business. He has stood up for civil rights, even in the face of a nation that balks at it (Gay civil union issues). He has stood against an immoral, illegally, ugly war even though most citizens have been hornswaggled into accepting it. His past behavior indicates to me that I have nothing to fear in his closed meetings or his records.

Can we say the same about Dick Cheney?

[TeacherCreature]

9. Great Job Scott

I think I will go give Dean a few more bucks in honor of you and those like you, defending Dean against spammed propaganda.

[Scott Lee]

13. Aww thanks, TC! We all do our part.

[Justice]

10. When Does Reality Matter?

What about the news accounts about the financial support Dean received from the energy industry as he kicked off his campaign. He may not be as entrenched as Cheney - but the news accounts - fact or fiction - do try to show similiarities.

I may agree with you that the two are different. But I am not the person you need to convince - it is the person who doesn't take the time to read and understand the differences. It is the person who reads the headline of the WP and nothing more - then remembers only that the two are the same.

Will clever <snarfs> be enough to explain the differences?

[dsc]

15. Yet another liar I see

The parallels between the Cheney and Dean task forces are many.

Both declined to open their deliberations, even under pressure from legislators. Both received input from the energy industry in private meetings, and released the names of task force members publicly.

Dean's group volunteered the names of those it consulted with in its final report. While Cheney has refused to formally give a list to Congress to preserve the White House's right to private advice, known as executive privilege, his aides have divulged to reporters the names of many of those from whom the task force sought advice.

end of quote

The bold statement is an out and out lie as his own article shows. Cheney never, as it not ever, relased those names. His aids released "many" of the names. That is not the same thing yet John the liar says it is. Are there any reporters who can tell the truth?

[FrenchieCat]

16. So let's see...

This is supposed to be who we are going to support?

Locked up Governor records
Raised property taxes by 87%
Secret Energy meetings
Nuclear waste ok to be dumped in minority communities
Flip/flop on AA
I found Jesus and confederate flags
I'll take my voters and go home
Osama Flip/Flop
VP - oh, oh....biggo hole in my resume (ignore that, get VP)
War resolution Flip/Flop
Medicare Flip/flop
wants to raise taxes accross the board
New Englander to bipass the south...where 5 senate seats are at play
Clinton and DlC are bad
Washington full of coackroaches

And many wonder why there is panic with 75% of Democrats setting in?

duh.....

[Bread and Circus]

20. You are being irrational...

quiet down and take your medicine (/end sarcasm)

Frenchie, you and I see it the same way.

[blm]

21. Make that three.

This is EXACTLY what I've been saying for almost a year. Dean cannot present a record that matches his election year rhetoric coopted from internet message boards.

[Donna Zen]

31. Four

I have been active and watching the political landscape for years, and I have never seen anything quite like this. All of this news that should be raising red flags everywhere is brushed aside. They have eyes but would not see.

I'm not even sure what the election year rhetoric amounts to. What are we taking the Democratic Party back to? Dean is center-right; is that where we are suppose to go?

Now if anyone questions a secret energy task force, they are accused of "bashing" and then someone wants me to "look over there" at Hillary. We are truly fucked.

[rucky]

17. I can't believe the media is talking about the Cheney Energy Task Force

Great News!

[Hep]

18. I'm having my own energy crisis.

I can hardly keep up with all of the Dean threads!

[Cocoa]

23. trickery by this writer

Solomon had to clean up what Cheney did, big time, in order to make it appear similar to Dean.

I hope other non-Dean-supporters will join me in seeing that it's not good for ANY of us to tolerate this crap from the press.

Is it worth it to get a shot at Dean, if it means letting Cheney's record be distorted in his favor?

[stickdog]

24. Yep. You said it, Cocoa.

I don't have a problem with criticizing Dean.

However, I have a huge problem with attacking any Dem candidate in a way that makes the Bush Misadministration look better in comparison.

Dems shouldn't applaud when media whores do this -- regardless of which candidate they're currently supporting.

[dsc]

25. Worse than trickery it was lying

He lied when he claimed that Cheney publicly released the names of the people on his task force. Cheney only released some of the names not all of them.

[Hep]

30. For a lot of people here,

yes, it is worth it.

[TLM]

26. Desperate...

The folks who met with Dean regarding energy, and the commission they set up was open to anybody, their names are public.

Cheney's task force was neither open to the public nor where the names of those who did attend made public.


Thanks for playing... do make sure to let us know when Kerry comes up with something to campaign on besides attacks on Dean.

[KaraokeKarlton]

29. It wasn't a "task force", it was a group doing a study to submit a report

Some utility companies wanted to join forces and come up with a long term plan to save money for electricity. There was legislation that had passed that was going to affect the utilities and Dean put together a focus group to do a study and submit a report to him. That report never led to any policy being put in place, either. It was nothing more than having a group of people sit down and discuss the issues and offer their take on things. No policy was formed as the result of the report or group.

This is just another lame attempt at making something out of nothing.
:shrug:

[Padraig18]

32. Thank you for the repost!

I hadn't wquite committed this to memory yet; thanks for the chance to read the words again.

:hi: