Bush-dog dem Heath Schuler, who is beloved by some in east TN from his time as starting quarterback with the TN Vols, got a seat on the House transportation committee’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment when he got to Washington as a NC rep. Now, prior to running for congress, Schuler became part of a development group known as The Cove at Blackberry Ridge.
Why am I laying this all out for you? Today’s local paper is reporting that Bush-dog Schuler is profiting from his Congressional position on the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment, as this committee is one of two in the US House that oversees TVA. The Cove at Blackberry Ridge wanted access rights to Watts Barr Resevoir. While this profiting may be indirect, as he, err, his spokesman, states Schuler had no “direct” talks with TVA, he will be profiting nonetheless.
TVA has approved a water-access deal for a development group whose investors include U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., who sits on a committee that exercises oversight of the federal utility.
On June 3, TVA CEO Tom Kilgore approved a transaction that provides 145 feet of water-access rights along the shoreline of Watts Bar Reservoir in Roane County to an entity called The Cove at Blackberry Ridge LLC. In exchange, The Cove agreed to relinquish 150 feet of water-access rights in Rhea County and also provide approximately $15,000 for a bank stabilization project at a different location on Watts Bar Reservoir.
Investors in The Cove at Blackberry Ridge include Shuler, a first-term Democrat from western North Carolina who is a former star quarterback for the University of Tennessee football team. Shuler sits on the House transportation committee’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment, one of two congressional panels that provide formal oversight of TVA.
A financial disclosure statement filed by Shuler for 2007 showed his investment in The Cove fell in a range between $5 million and $25 million.
This is a pretty substantial investment, and the approval by the TVA for the land swap will greatly increase the lining of Bush-dog Schuler’s pockets. This has the stinky feel of Frist’s sell-off of HCA stock — I knew but I’m saying I didn’t know.
I’d love to see someone with more resources than I do some serious investigating on this.
“Public service” has become nothing but a way to profit for so many of these elected officials.
Mountain Sage