Article: Has President Bush unplugged his energy secretary?

[John Jacobus <crispy_bird@YAHOO.COM>]

The following appeared in today's Washington Post.



--------------

 Energy Without Visibility

 

 By Dana Milbank

 

  Has President Bush unplugged his energy secretary?

 

   When Bush went to Ohio last week to highlight his

energy legislation, Spencer Abraham was nowhere to be

seen. When Bush went last month to see a power plant

in Michigan -- the state Abraham represented in the

Senate -- the Cabinet member was  also absent. After

the blackout Aug. 14, Bush did not mention Abraham's

name in public until Aug. 19, even as the president

praised  blackout-related efforts of other Cabinet

members, such as Tom Ridge and Tommy G. Thompson.

 

 Abraham has not traveled with Bush in nearly 13

months. White House officials say he is nearly as

scarce in the West Wing as an Enron executive these

days. In May, Bush announced he was sending Abraham to

the Philippines in advance of Bush's trip there;

Bush's trip came and went without such a trip by

Abraham.

 

 For a president who lavishes praise on his

subordinates, "his silence is deafening," said one

insider. The omission seemed particularly striking

when Bush, facing reporters on Aug. 1  after a Cabinet

meeting, praised the House and the Senate for passing

versions of energy legislation -- but did not utter

Abraham's name.

 

 The White House and the Energy Department insist

there has been no cooling between Bush and Abraham.

Jeanne Lopatto, the department spokeswoman, said

Abraham was on the Hill lobbying for the energy

legislation when Bush went to Ohio, in London when the

blackout hit, and at an energy conference in Vienna

when Bush went to Michigan. His long-awaited

Philippines trip comes next month. 

 

 Lopatto pointed out that Abraham, an Arab American,

was at Bush's Iftaar -- a dinner celebrating the

Ramadan holiday -- last week and recently represented

the administration at  meetings with Arab Americans in

Detroit. She said the contact between Bush and his

energy secretary  is typical. "I don't see [Defense

Secretary Donald H.] Rumsfeld with him every time he

mentions the war," Lopatto said.

 

 But others interpret the public distance as a sign

that Bush thinks Abraham has not done all he could do

to get the long-stuck energy legislation through

Congress. Word is that Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin

(R-La.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce

Committee, has complained to Vice President Cheney

about the energy secretary's energy level.

 

 Dan Brouillette, the committee's staff director,

acknowledged that Tauzin called Cheney two weeks ago

"to tell him things were heading south" in energy

negotiations between the two chambers and the

administration "needed to get its team engaged." But

Brouillette said Tauzin was not faulting Abraham.

 

 White House communications director Dan Bartlett said

Abraham's year-long absence from Bush trips is

strictly coincidental.  "The president has been very

satisfied with the work of Secretary Abraham," he

said.

 

. . .   



 

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=====

+++++++++++++++++++

"One test result is worth one thousand expert opinions."

Wernher von Braun



-- John

John Jacobus, MS

Certified Health Physicist

e-mail:  crispy_bird@yahoo.com



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