HEADS UP = PBS NOW - 11.23.07 - Oil, Politics & Bribes

11.23.07 - Oil, Politics & Bribes - http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/347/index.html
NOW investigates the bribes, the connections to Big Oil and the payoffs to obtain friendly tax policies.

Video: Oil, Politics & Bribes
http://www.pbs.org/now/rss/redir/http://www-tc.pbs.org/now/rss/media/NOW-347.mp3

About the Show
NOW shines a bright light on the scandalous connection between VECO Corporation—an Alaska-based oil services company—and Alaska's old-boy Republican network. Two state legislators have been convicted in Federal court for accepting bribes from VECO. The FBI has video and audio evidence that reveal VECO executives shockingly handing out cash to those legislators in exchange for promises to roll back a tax on the oil industry. But that may only be the tip of the oily iceberg. NOW's Maria Hinojosa learns that dozens more lawmakers are being eyed in the growing scandal, including one of the country's most powerful politicians, Alaska U.S. Senator Ted Stevens.

Oil Corruption Unraveling in Alaska
Q&A with Alaska Public Radio Reporter David Shurtleff
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/347/oil-corruption.html


NOW talked to David Shurtleff, a reporter with the Alaska Public Radio Network, to learn more about the wheeling and dealing going on between VECO—an oil services company—and Alaska state lawmakers. While the investigation has thus far been limited to the Alaska State Legislature, he said some expect the investigation to reach the highest levels of government. His coverage of the Alaska corruption trials has also been featured on National Public Radio.

NOW: Were you surprised by the content of the FBI tapes of Bill Allen making deals with Alaska state lawmakers in a hotel in Juneau?

David Shurtleff: You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who wasn't at least partially stunned by what was on the FBI surveillance tapes and videos. While this investigation has exposed corruption within Alaska politics, it has also given us an insider's look at the world of backroom wheeling and dealing that has become part of the American political process. It's certainly not pretty.

Imagine witnessing some of the most powerful people in your state accept bribes. Even more appalling was how these people acted when they thought no one else was watching: extreme drunkenness, sexism, back-stabbing, over-the-top use of profanity. You really get the sense that these politicians felt invincible.

NOW: A recent Washington Post article on the Allen scandal mentioned that an Anchorage coffeehouse now sells "Corrupt Bastards Coffee"



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Big Oil's Influence in Washington . NOW | PBS = $82 million to candidates
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I'll be watching it again tonight or Sunday morning.