[CTRL] Cheney Wants Navy To Foot His Electric Bill!

[William Shannon]

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/17/politics/17MANS.html?todaysheadlines July 17, 2001 Cheney Calls on Navy to Pay Bill to Light His Home By PHILIP SHENON WASHINGTON---Millions of Americans are struggling to cope with sky-high electricity bills for their homes. Among them, it turns out, is Vice President Dick Cheney, the Bush administration's point man on energy policy, whose home is a 33- room mansion on the leafy grounds of the Washington Naval Observatory. Now, the White House has cited the large and unpredictable energy bills of the vice president's official residence in urging Congress to relieve him of using any of his official budget to pay for electricity. The entire electric bill — an estimated $186,000 this year — would be shifted to the Navy, which owns the house. Mr. Cheney's personal encounter with energy costs came as the White House stepped up efforts today to sell its energy strategy, which has so far not stirred the public as oil prices have fallen from their peaks in the spring. Mr. Cheney and cabinet members fanned out across the country to appeal for support for the strategy in town hall meetings. Mr. Cheney supports the move to spare his official budget the electric bills. Language to transfer the cost is contained in an appropriations bill that is expected to be debated and approved on Tuesday by the House Appropriations Committee, which is controlled by Republicans. Democrats denounced the budget transfer as hypocrisy on the part of Mr. Cheney, who has been accused along with President Bush of doing too little to help consumers cope with a sharp rise in electricity prices in much of the country. They are vowing to block the transfer when the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is controlled by Democrats, considers its version of the bill later this summer. In a report to the appropriations committees, the White House said that "the rationale for the requested transfer of responsibility is based on the fluctuating and unpredictable nature of utility costs and the relative small annual appropriation" for the vice president's residence. A spokesman for Republicans on the House committee, John Scofield, said that the shift was a "minor accounting change" that would simplify federal bookkeeping. "This is a naval facility, so it's not unusual for them to cover the expense," Mr. Scofield said. A Navy spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the issue. The appropriations bill also includes a provision that allows the Navy — on Mr. Cheney's behalf — to accept from corporate donors or others "consumable items, or funds for them," for use at official functions at the residence. The White House is allowed to accept gifts like food or liquor, but such gifts are barred at the vice president's mansion and other official residences as potentially illegal gratuities. The White House said in a letter to the House and Senate committees that the donations would "help relieve the taxpayers of the cost of providing such items." The statement listed "consumable items" as "food, beverage, table centerpieces, flowers or temporary outdoor shelter." Electricity costs for the vice president's residence are now shared by Mr. Cheney's official budget and the Navy, which maintains the 72-acre observatory site that borders Washington's Embassy Row. Electricity costs at the residence have jumped in recent years, more than doubling in the three years since a meter was installed on the property. According to the White House, electricity costs rose from $83,800 in fiscal year 1999 to $136,500 last year to an estimated $186,000 this year. Last year, Congress appropriated $42,600 from the vice president's budget for electricity bills, leaving the Navy responsible for the other $93,900. Asked tonight about comparable figures for the White House, a spokeswoman was not immediately able to come up with them. By transferring all of the vice president's costs to the Navy, the White House said, there would be no need for the administration to return to Congress to ask for emergency appropriations for Mr. Cheney in the event of "an exceptional cold winter or hot summer." Mr. Cheney was traveling today in Pennsylvania to rally support for the administration's energy plan, which calls for a sharp increase in energy production. A spokeswoman for the vice president, Margita Thompson, said plans for a transfer of the electricity bills to the Navy began during the Clinton administration. "This was not Mr. Cheney's idea," Ms. Thompson said. She said it was unclear why electricity bills were rising so sharply this year at the mansion since Mr. Cheney and his wife, Lynne, had done their best to hold down energy use. Electricity use in the mansion was down by about a third this year over the same period last year, when the residence was occupied by Vice President Al Gore. Regulated electricity prices in much of the Washington area have actually declined this year. A spokesman for Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee, David Sirota, said that an effort to shift electrical costs from the vice president's office to the Navy was "a very neat solution" for Mr. Cheney. "I think a lot of people would like to have their energy problems solved as painlessly as the vice president is trying to solve his own," Mr. Sirota said. "It would all be a lot easier to swallow if he expressed greater sympathy and more willingness to act on behalf of those on the brink because of high utility prices." Some of Mr. Cheney's past comments on that issue could come back to haunt him. Several weeks ago, Mr. Cheney said consumers should decide for themselves whether or not they wanted to conserve electricity, based on their ability to pay their utility bills. "If you want to leave all the lights on in your house, you can," Mr. Cheney said. "There's no law against it. But you will pay for it." He has also appeared to belittle conservation efforts at times, though he has recently softened that tone. "Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy," he said in the spring. Democrats said that the move to allow Mr. Cheney to accept food and other gifts for the mansion would open the vice president to new accusations that he is too close to corporate donors and that he is allowing the official residence to be used for political purposes. Mr. Cheney was harshly criticized by Democrats when he allowed the mansion to be used in May for a reception for large Republican donors. Ms. Thompson, the vice president's spokeswoman, said that the donations would be used only for official functions, like diplomatic receptions, and not for political fund- raisers. "It's official use only, and the gifts would become the property of the Department of the Navy," she said. "It allows you the perfect opportunity to display American wares — Florida grapefruit, California raisins, Texas chili." N, July 16 —