Another One Bites the Hand, page 1

Bobby L. Maxwell was a government auditor and very good at it. He was often praised by his Department of the Interior superiors during his 22 year carreer. But in 2005 his job was eliminated. Coincidentally this came one week after his role in a major lawsuit against a big oil company was made public.

www.truthout.org

Less than two years later, the Interior Department eliminated his job in what it called a "reorganization." That came exactly one week after a federal judge in Denver unsealed a lawsuit in which Mr. Maxwell contended that a major oil company had spent years cheating on royalty payments.

But Mr. Maxwell has hardly disappeared. Instead, he is at the center of an escalating battle with both the oil industry and the Bush administration over how the federal government oversees about $60 billion worth of oil and gas produced every year on federal property. In the process, he has become one of the most nettlesome whistle-blowers Big Oil has ever encountered, a face-off that offers an inside look at how the industry and the government do business together.

Several of the nation's biggest oil producers, including Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell and ConocoPhillips, failed in an effort to block Mr. Maxwell's suit, arguing before an appellate judge that his case would "open the floodgates" to suits by other federal auditors. But the court rejected their pleas, and a trial is set to start on Jan. 16.

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How many times, during the present administration has this happened? Someone who is very good at their job has been terminated? Auditors and procurement officers that are checking up on graft within the corporate or political arenas seem to be the main targets. This guy was making the oil giants pay their fair share. Contracts were negotiated and royalties were established and the bully oil magnates wanted more. This guy was protecting the little guy and our own government cut his job. Whose side are they on?

There is an all too clear pattern of choosing big business over the average citizen. Rather than providing a bloated CEO with a golden parachute these funds could be used to reduce taxes, or reduce the deficit or fund social programs. We are constantly told to get training for the new economy, fund that. This is a very clear reminder that there is a class war going on in America. Our elected officials would rather be chummy with the big wigs than represent us. If what is routinely being done to exemplary employees for doing their job, blowing the whistle on graft and greed, isn’t illegal it is highly unethical.

So now another one of the good guys gets the axe. Did we get the message? Don’t screw with the Multi-Nationals and their political lackeys or you will pay. Actually we have been paying through the nose. It’s about time Americans stood up against this type of hatchet job and demanded better for the ‘real’ public servants not the pretenders in Washington.