"White House Must Be Investigated for Role in Enron’s Fraud"

[ProSense]

Blind Faith: How Deregulation and Enron’s Influence Over Government Looted Billions from Americans
Sen. Gramm, White House Must Be Investigated for Role in Enron’s Fraud of Consumers and Shareholders
December 2001
http://www.citizen.org/documents/Blind_Faith.PDF

President Bush’s presidential campaign received significant financial support from Enron ($1.14 million).

Upon assuming office in 2001, Bush promptly scrapped plans put into place by former President Bill Clinton to significantly limit the effectiveness of these countries as tax and bank regulation havens. This action came at the height of high West Coast energy prices, probably allowing Enron to siphon billions to its offshore accounts.

At the same time, the Bush administration and certain members of Congress waged a legislative and public relations campaign against the imposition of federal price controls in the Western electricity market. Such price controls remove the ability of companies exercising significant market share to price-gouge by effectively re-regulating the market. Bush’s opposition to price controls unnecessarily extended the California energy crisis and cost the state billions of dollars.

Require testimony or written answers from key Bush administration officials. These should include Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, to answer questions about whether Enron representatives or their agents discussed policies regarding treaties with tax haven nations; political adviser Karl Rove, to answer questions about Enron’s influence over Bush energy policy; Republican National Committee chairman Marc Racicot, to answer questions about his lobbying efforts before FERC and Congress as a paid lobbyist on behalf of Enron; Vice President Dick Cheney to answer questions about his secret meeting with Enron chief executive Kenneth Lay; and finally, President Bush, to answer questions about his knowledge of Enron’s efforts to influence policy on energy and offshore tax/banking havens.

The Bushes and Lehman Brothers

In the arms race by private-equity firms to line up ever-higher profile "advisers," Lehman Brothers may have just taken the lead. The investment bank hired former Florida governor and presidential son and brother Jeb Bush for its in-house investing arm.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118860733605915338.html

George Herbert Walker IV (born April 1969) is the Chairman and CEO of Neuberger Berman. Formerly a Partner and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, Walker was recruited to rival investment bank, Lehman Brothers, to head its Investment Management Division, of which Neuberger was a part. Following Lehman's bankruptcy and the announcement of the sale of Neuberger, Walker assumed his present position.

<...>

Walker began his career on Wall Street when he joined Goldman Sachs in the Merger Department in 1992 and six years later, in 1998, became of one of the firm's youngest partners ever.[4] He held several senior positions at Goldman, including co-head of the firm's Wealth Management business, and head of Alternative Investment strategies. In May 2006, Walker resigned from Goldman Sachs to become global head of Lehman Brothers' Investment Management.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Herbert_Walker_IV

Why can't Obama be more like Bush? Who is missing Dubya?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024828575

[Fumesucker]

1. Political cartoonists are missing Dubya big time

[HooptieWagon]

2. Yea, Obama has been aggressive with Wall St....

[ProSense]

3. Wait

"Yea, Obama has been aggressive with Wall St...."

...are you laughing because you realize that the claim about Bush being "tougher" was beyond idiotic?

[HooptieWagon]

6. Neither has been tough on Corporate America...

Whom do you think pulls their puppet-strings? Neither shows much interest in prosecuting economic fraud, neither shows much interest in prosecuting pollution, neither shows much interest in protecting worker safety. It remains to be seen if Obama will do anything more than talk inre to union rights, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[ProSense]

8. This is

"Neither has been tough on Corporate America...Whom do you think pulls their puppet-strings? Neither shows much interest in prosecuting economic fraud, neither shows much interest in prosecuting pollution, neither shows much interest in protecting worker safety. It remains to be seen if Obama will do anything more than talk inre to union rights, but I wouldn't hold my breath."

...nonsense. After people jumped on the bandwagon to claim that Bush, who was responsible for the worst financial crisis in more than 70 years, was "tougher," now the claim is "neither shows much interest in protecting worker safety"?

Not only did Bush stand in the way of prosecutions, he did everything to facilitate the abuses, gutting regulations (http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024828575) and opposing efforts by Congress to address the issues (http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024828575#post4)

Hey, Matt Tabbi.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024832738

There is no friggin comparison.

There is no question that Dodd-Frank was a strong bill—the strongest in three generations. I didn’t have a chance to vote for it because I wasn’t yet in the Senate, but if I could have, I would have voted for it twice.

http://www.warren.senate.gov/files/documents/AFR%20Roosevelt%20Institute%20Speech%202013-11-12.pdf

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024812296

[Cali_Democrat]

4. Bush's DU fan club won't like this

Apparently they are nostalgic for the days when corporate America was brought to its knees under Dubya's Justice Department.

[ProSense]

5. Forgot to mention Neil Bush

who has been involved in every financial scandal since the S&L crisis.

[HooptieWagon]

7. You do know there were over 100 successful prosecutions for fraud from the S&L crisis?

That was small potatoes compared to the scale of fraud committed leading up to the recent crash. Yet Obama Admin has failed to bring a single prosecution. Not one.

[ProSense]

9. Was Neil Bush prosecuted?

"You do know there were over 100 successful prosecutions for fraud from the S&L crisis?"

The S&L crisis was before Glass-Steagall was repealed. President Obama is cleaning up Bush's mess.

Brown, Warren Urge Fed To Address Risks Associated With Bank Ownership Of Physical Commodities
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024831309

[HooptieWagon]

12. Clinton did not persue criminal charges...

However, Neil Bush was fined $50,000, prohibited from involevment in banking industry, and he and other directors of the S&L settled out of court for $2.5 million in a suit filed by the RTC. So there were actions taken in civil court. What actions has Obama taken, other than giving the criminals more money and jobs in his administration?

[okaawhatever]

17. The BIG DIFFERENCE. Our economy could survive shutting down all the Savings and Loans. Many more

tellers and lower rung employees lost their jobs than the fat cats who did the damage. There was a calculation made by the Bush admin and Congress that allowing the banks to fail would be worse to the average American than the bailout. We will never know what the consequences of allowing the banks to fail would have been. We do know that thousands more tellers and support staff would have been out of work than fat cat bankers. We don't know if other countries would have loaned us money or what the interest rates would be. We don't know how the loss of investment income would have affected the retirement funds of state and municipal employees, unions, and individual IRAs. If the justice dept, SEC or FBI get criminal charges against a bank tomorrow the bank will lose it's banking license in this country and shut down. Will it be worth it?

[Iliyah]

11. No worries they are here right now

Note, vote!

[alcibiades_mystery]

15. It's like living in Bizarro World - then when you call them on their absurdities

they yabber that *YOU* have "cognitive dissonance" and that *YOU'RE* a "cheerleader."

These people are off the deep end in Obama-hate for serious.

[annm4peace]

10. Thank YOU!

and disclose the info from the Energy summit meetings Cheney had with the Energy CEO's just before the man made energy crisis.

As someone who survived the Central Valley, CA energy crisis and know 1st hand business closed, elderly and sick died because of the heat and children suffered.. it has been something I hope to see. Cheney should be charged as a traitor to his country for what he did.

[okaawhatever]

18. Amen to that. Elizabeth Warren is bringing up a new push to divest banks and investment companies

from owning commodities. Let's try to support the effort. If I see any stories about legislation I'll post them here.

[MohRokTah]

13. You make MAtt Taibbi has a sad.

[SidDithers]

14. DUrec...

but Taibbi's fanbois and fangrrls here aren't going to like it.

Sid

[randome]

16. Maybe Taibbi, like some on DU, is frustrated with the pace of change.

And at not being in the center of it. So they lash out in a new direction hoping to score points. Big fail on Matt's part. It remains to be seen whether he admits that or doubles down on the crazy statements.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font][hr]

[sheshe2]

19. KnR and thanks!

[gratuitous]

20. Wow

Talk about a low bar to clear, but no doubt, the Obama administration isn't quite as hand-in-glove with nearly as many corrupt business interests as the Bush administrations. You may color us all really impressed down here.

Doesn't address squat-ah with what is currently going on, but the aid and comfort lent is no doubt greatly appreciated in certain quarters.