Bush's relationship with Enron and the two convicted criminals

[IChing]

I'm starting this thread hoping that we can get the news out.
Please feel free to add your own.

Ahnuld, Ken Lay, George Bush, Dick Cheney and Gray Davis
by Jason Leopold

Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t talking. The Hollywood action film star and California’s GOP gubernatorial candidate in the state’s recall election has been unusually silent about his plans for running the Golden State. He hasn’t yet offered up a solution for the state’s $38 billion budget deficit, an issue that largely got more than one million people to sign a petition to recall Gov. Gray Davis.

More important, however, Schwarzenegger still won’t respond to questions about why he was at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills two years ago where he, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and junk bond king Michael Milken, met secretly with former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay who was touting a plan for solving the state’s energy crisis. Other luminaries who were invited but didn’t attend the May 24, 2001 meeting included former Los Angeles Laker Earvin “Magic” Johnson and supermarket magnate Ron Burkle.

While Schwarzenegger, Riordan and Milken listened to Lay’s pitch, Gov. Davis pleaded with President George Bush to enact much needed price controls on electricity sold in the state, which skyrocketed to more than $200 per megawatt-hour. Davis said that Texas-based energy companies were manipulating California’s power market, charging obscene prices for power and holding consumers hostage. Bush agreed to meet with Davis at the Century Plaza Hotel in West Los Angeles on May 29, 2001, five days after Lay met with Schwarzenegger, to discuss the California power crisis.

At the meeting, Davis asked Bush for federal assistance, such as imposing federally mandated price caps, to rein in soaring energy prices. But Bush refused saying California legislators designed an electricity market that left too many regulatory restrictions in place and that’s what caused electricity prices in the state to skyrocket. It was up to the governor to fix the problem, Bush said. However, Bush’s response appears to be part of a coordinated effort launched by Lay to have Davis shoulder the blame for the crisis. It worked. According to recent polls, a majority of voters grew increasingly frustrated with the way Davis handled the power crisis. Schwarzenegger has used the energy crisis and missteps by Davis to bolster his standing with potential voters. While Davis took a beating in the press (some energy companies ran attack ads against the governor), Lay used his political clout to gather support for deregulation.>>>snip
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0817-07.htm

Letters from Ken to George

While the White House has repeatedly described former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay as simply a "supporter" of George W. Bush, extensive correspondence between the two men paints a far cozier picture of their relationship, according to copies of letters obtained this afternoon (2/15) by The Smoking Gun.

The pages of correspondence, exchanged during the years Bush served as governor of Texas, were released today in Austin by the state archives in response to Freedom of Information requests filed by TSG and other news organizations.

The Bush-Lay material touches on both personal matters (birthday greetings and Bush's knee surgery) and public concerns of Lay and Enron, such as energy legislation and tort reform, and reflects the kind of jocular relationship that reportedly saw the nickname-happy Bush call the Enron boss "Kenny Boy." The Houston-based energy firm, Bush's leading career political contributor, is now bankrupt and the target of a multitude of criminal and congressional probes.

We've arranged the Bush-Lay letters into several batches and, where applicable, have followed an original letter with the recipent's reply. TSG will upload the correspondence as quickly as we can scan the documents. You'll find the first 15 letters below along with links that will get you to the additional pages.

>>>>>snip http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/bushlay1.html

W.'s First Enron Connection: Update on the Bush-Enron Oil Deal


Did George W. Bush once have a financial relationship with Enron? In 1986, according to a publicly available record, the two drilled for oil together--at a time when Bush was a not-too-successful oil man in Texas and his oil venture was in dire need of help. Bush's business association with Enron, it seems, has not previously been reported.

In 1986, Spectrum 7, a privately owned oil company chaired by Bush faced serious trouble. Two years earlier, Bush had merged his failing Bush Exploration Company (previously known as Arbusto--the Spanish word for shrub) with the profitable Spectrum 7, and he was named chief executive and director of the company. Bush was paid $75,000 a year and handed 1.1 million shares, according to "First Son," Bill Minutaglio's biography of Bush. Under this deal, Bush ended up owning about 15 percent of Spectrum 7. By the end of 1985, Spectrum's fortunes had reversed. With oil prices falling, the company was losing money and on the verge of collapse. To save the firm, Bush began negotiations to sell Spectrum 7 to Harken Energy, a large Dallas-based energy firm owned mostly by billionaire George Soros, Saudi businessman Abdullah Taha Baksh and the Harvard Management Corporation.>>>>>snip

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?pid=21

[IChing]

1. Bush and Ken Lay: Slip Slidin' Away

By Sam Parry
February 6, 2002

George W. Bush is trying to rewrite the history of his and his family’s relationship with Enron Corp.’s disgraced former Chairman Kenneth Lay. So far, Bush has enjoyed fairly good success as the U.S. news media has largely accepted the White House spin.

But the reality, as established by a wealth of historical record and recent disclosures, is that Lay and Enron were instrumental in Bush’s rise to power – and Bush played an important behind-the-scenes role in advancing Enron’s aggressive deregulation agenda, which helped the energy trader ascend to its lofty perch as the seventh-biggest U.S. company.

The Bush-Lay coziness earned the Enron chief a nickname from Bush as "Kenny Boy." But more importantly for Enron, Bush pitched in as governor and president whenever the energy trader wanted easier regulations within the U.S. or to have U.S. taxpayers foot the bill for loan guarantees or risk insurance for Enron's overseas ventures.

The Bush-Lay relationship helped Enron extend its reach across the globe, with the appearance of a successful company, as it pulled in billions of dollars in investment money from tens of thousands of unwary investors.

Now, in trying to insulate Bush from the spreading Enron scandal, White House aides have emphasized that administration officials rebuffed Lay and other Enron executives who sought a federal bailout to save their corporate skin. But the documentary record paints a different picture, showing that the administration did what it could last year to help Enron, until the Houston energy trader's collapse was so far advanced that its deceptive bookkeeping could no longer be kept out of public view.
Last year, Vice President Dick Cheney and his energy task force held six secret meetings with Lay and other Enron officials while developing an administration program that contained special favors for Enron. Bush named Lay’s allies to key regulatory positions, such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which pushed for other pet Enron projects.>>>>.snip

http://www.consortiumnews.com/Print/020602.html

[IChing]

10. Enron gave millions to the Taliban..

ENRON GAVE TALIBAN $MILLIONS

The Enron Corporation gave the Taliban millions of dollars in a no-holds-barred bid to strike a deal for an energy pipeline in Afghanistan -- while the Taliban were already sheltering terror kingpin Osama Bin Laden!

Enron executives even met with Taliban officials in Texas, where they were given the red-carpet treatment and promised a fortune if the deal went through.

That's the bombshell finding of an exclusive ENQUIRER investigation into the collapse of the company that ripped off Americans for millions of dollars. The ENQUIRER has also uncovered that some of the Enron money wound up supporting Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda terrorist network!

"Enron would do business with the devil if it would make the company money!" said a member of a Congressional committee investigating the company's collapse.

And Atul Davda, who worked as a senior director for Enron's International Division until the company's collapse, confirmed to The ENQUIRER: "Enron had intimate contact with Taliban officials. Building the pipeline was one of the corporation's prime objectives.">>>>>snip

http://www.apfn.org/apfn/WTC_millions.htm

[klook]

71. Hmmm...sure wish this was from a better source

than the National Enquirer. I checked Google using "Atul Davda," Enron, and Taliban as search terms and found this article, which has some possible good sources for related info in the footnotes section:
http://www.world-crisis.com/analysis_comments/977_0_15_0_C33/

[Octafish]

72. ENRON and UNOCAL invited Taliban to Texas

Hope this passes the critical muster:

A Creeping Collapse in Credibility at the White House:
From ENRON Entanglements to UNOCAL Bringing the Taliban to Texas and Controlling Afghanistan

By Tom Turnipseed
Counterpunch
January 10, 2002

The Bush Administration's entanglement with ENRON is beginning to unravel as it finally admits that Enron executives entered the White House six times last year to secretly plan the Administration's energy policy with Vice-President Cheney before the collapse of the Texas-based energy giant. Meanwhile, even more trouble for our former-Texas-oil-man-turned-President is brewing with reports that unveil UNOCAL, another big energy company, for being in bed with the Taliban, along with the U.S. government in a major, continuing effort to construct pipelines through Afghanistan from the petroleum-rich Caspian Basin in Central Asia. Beneath their burkas, UNOCAL is being exposed for giving the five star treatment to Taliban Mullahs in the Lone Star State in 1997. The "evil-ones" were also invited to meet with U.S. government officials in Washington, D.C.

According to a December 17, 1997 article in the British paper, The Telegraph, headlined, "Oil barons court Taliban in Texas," the Taliban was about to sign a "£2 billion contract with an American oil company to build a pipeline across the war-torn country. ... The Islamic warriors appear to have been persuaded to close the deal, not through delicate negotiation but by old-fashioned Texan hospitality. ... Dressed in traditional salwar khameez,Afghan waistcoats and loose, black turbans, the high-ranking delegation was given VIP treatment during the four-day stay."

At the same time, U.S. government documents reveal that the Taliban were harboring Osama bin Laden as their "guest" since June 1996. By then, bin Laden had: been expelled by Sudan in early 1996 in response to US insistence and the threat of UN sanctions; publicly declared war against the U.S. on or about August 23, 1996; pronounced the bombings in Riyadh and at Khobar in Saudi Arabia killing 19 US servicemen as 'praiseworthy terrorism', promising that other attacks would follow in November 1996 and further admitted carrying out attacks on U.S. military personnel in Somalia in 1993 and Yemen in 1992, declaring that "we used to hunt them down in Mogadishu"; stated in an interview broadcast in February 1997 that "if someone can kill an American soldier, it is better than wasting time on other matters." Evidence was also developing which linked bin Laden to: the 1995 bombing of a U.S. military barracks in Riyadh which killed five; Ramzi Yuosef, who led the 1993 World Trade Center attacks; and a 1994 assassination plot against President Clinton in the Philippines.

Back in Houston, the Taliban was learning how the "other half lives," and according to The Telegraph, "stayed in a five-star hotel and were chauffeured in a company minibus." The Taliban representatives "...were amazed by the luxurious homes of Texan oil barons. Invited to dinner at the palatial home of Martin Miller, a vice-president of Unocal, they marveled at his swimming pool, views of the golf course and six bathrooms." Mr. Miller, said he hoped that UNOCAL had clinched the deal.

Dick Cheney was then CEO of Haliburton Corporation, a pipeline services vendor based in Texas. Gushed Cheney in 1998, "I can't think of a time when we've had a region emerge as suddenly to become as strategically significant as the Caspian. It's almost as if the opportunities have arisen overnight. The good Lord didn't see fit to put oil and gas only where there are democratically elected regimes friendly to the United States. Occasionally we have to operate in places where, all things considered, one would not normally choose to go. But we go where the business is." Would Cheney bargain with the harborers of U.S. troop killers if that's where the business was?

CONTINUED...

http://www.counterpunch.org/tomenron.html

PSYCHO NAZI

[Octafish]

73. Robert Parry: ''Bush's ENRON Lies''

Parry's dad, Robert, has a bit to add...

Bush's Enron Lies

By Robert Parry
May 26, 2006

Four years ago, when the taboo against calling George W. Bush a liar was even stronger than it is today, the national news media bought into the Bush administration’s spin that the President did nothing to bail out his Enron benefactors, including Kenneth Lay.

SNIP...

Contrary to the official story, the Bush administration did almost whatever it could to help Enron as the company desperately sought cash to cover mounting losses from its off-the-books partnerships, a bookkeeping black hole that was sucking Enron toward bankruptcy and scandal.

As Enron’s crisis worsened through the first nine months of Bush’s presidency, Lay secured Bush’s help in three key ways:

--Bush personally joined the fight against imposing caps on the soaring price of electricity in California at a time when Enron was artificially driving up the price of electricity by manipulating supply. Bush’s resistance to price caps bought Enron extra time to gouge hundreds of millions of dollars from California’s consumers.

--Bush granted Lay broad influence over the development of the administration’s energy policies, including the choice of key regulators to oversee Enron’s businesses. The chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was replaced in 2001 after he began to delve into Enron’s complex derivative-financing schemes.

--Bush had his NSC staff organize that administration-wide task force to pressure India to accommodate Enron’s interests in selling the Dabhol generating plant for as much as $2.3 billion.

CONTINUED...

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/052506.html

Nice thread you've thrown here, IChing. Truly appreciate your and the other contributors' excellent work.

The Little Turd
from Crawford

[earth mom]

2. Wow-thanks for posting! K & R! eom

[IChing]

3. California Crisis

While Cheney was hammering out his energy plan and Lay was discussing energy options with FERC, a full-scale energy crisis was sweeping California. In a partially deregulated market served by Enron and other energy traders, electricity prices soared 800 percent in one year. Rolling blackouts crisscrossed the state.

A recently released memo from Lay to Cheney advised the administration last April not to use price caps to spare Californians from soaring energy costs, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "The administration should reject any attempt to re-regulate wholesale power markets by adopting price caps or returning to archaic methods of determining the cost-base of wholesale power," the memo said.
The Bush administration adopted Enron’s position in its political battle with California Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat. Many California politicians and consumers came to suspect that the energy traders were manipulating the shortages to inflate prices and boost profits. Davis has suggested that Enron "gamed" the system.

Early last summer, the political showdown ended in a draw when the FERC accepted limited price caps. Aggressive conservation by consumers and a cool summer also brought the crisis under control.
In August, with three years left on his term, FERC Chairman Hebert abruptly resigned. He offered as a lame explanation a desire "to seek other opportunities." While it appears that Bush engineered Hebert's resignation, it remains unclear how much progress Hebert's inquiry made in penetrating the secrets of Enron's complex financial instruments.

With Hebert gone, Bush filled the commission with pro-Enron allies who pushed an agenda favoring faster deregulation of the nation's energy grids. Bush promoted former Texas Public Utilities commissioner Pat Wood III, whom Bush named to the FERC in March 2001, to be FERC chairman. With Wood in charge and another new Republican appointee, Nora Mead Brownell, on the commission, the consolidation of the nation's energy markets moved to the front burner.

>>>>snip

http://www.consortiumnews.com/Print/020602.html

[katty]

11. it certainly did sweep us-and Waxman has been on this from

day one for millions in payback and damages to CA

[catzies]

83. And he will be a Committee Chair when the Dems thake Congress back in Nov!

:bounce: Congressman Waxman is a true :patriot:

[Nikki Stone1]

44. Bush has made FERC a frigging joke

These people are really evil

[mod mom]

4. Thanks for posting this.

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. This arnold thing needs a criminal probe.

[joeunderdog]

6. This is well beyond politics. It's crime by any standard.

Bush and Ahnold were both installed by a process unlike what we know as fair election. they have polluted the country for their corrupt pals and thirsty bank accts. This incestuous group should all rot in general pop in prison.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

7. here's a 5th vote, i hope it helps you get the word out

[IChing]

8. Lay was the only energy executive to meet privately with Vice President

to help shape the administrations' new energy policy
CNN.....

For years, Ken Lay and George Bush have been joined at the hip, two free-wheeling Texas buddies. One helped the other succeed in "bidness;" the other helped his pal make it big in politics.

Consider the Bush-Enron connections. Enron could never have happened anywhere but Texas. It was only able to grow so big, so fast, because of the deregulation of energy companies instituted by then-Gov. George W. Bush.

And Ken Lay rewarded his friend. He and Enron together were Bush's biggest contributor, giving $2 million to his campaigns for governor and president. Lay also loaned Bush his corporate jet. In 2000, Lay sent a memo to company employees, suggesting that they contribute personal funds to Bush through the company's political action committee: $500 for low-level managers; $5000 for senior executives.

Once in the White House, Bush responded generously.

Ken Lay was the only energy executive to meet privately with Vice President Dick Cheney to help shape the administration's new energy policy -- which included a recommendation to break up monopoly control of electricity transmission networks, a longtime Enron goal.
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/12/12/column.billpress/index.html

[IChing]

9. Rove had a 100,000 dollars of ENRON stock (and others good jpg.) WP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/articles/keyplayers_political.html


On edited the picture appeared at first and is now gone.
Rove:
Bush's senior political adviser owned more than $100,000 worth of Enron stock before Bush took office. He later sold the stock to comply with federal ethics rules

[underpants]

12. Compare these "friends of the President" to the McDougals

That would be an interesting juxtaposition.

[IChing]

13. Bush Did Try to Save Enron

As Enron’s crisis worsened through the first nine months of the Bush presidency, Ken Lay got Bush’s help in three principal ways:

1--Bush personally joined the fight against imposing caps on the soaring price of electricity in California at a time when Enron was artificially driving up the price of electricity by manipulating supply. Bush’s rear-guard action against price caps bought Enron and other energy traders extra time to gouge hundreds of millions of dollars from California’s consumers.

2--Bush granted Lay broad influence over the administration’s energy policies, including the choice of key regulators to oversee Enron’s businesses. The chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was suddenly replaced in 2001 after he began to delve into Enron’s complex derivative-financing schemes.

3--Bush had his National Security Council staff organize an administration-wide campaign to pressure the Indian government to accommodate Enron, which wanted to sell its generating plant in Dabhol, India, for $2.3 billion. Bush administration pressure on India over the Dabhol plant continued even after Sept. 11, when India’s support was needed for the war on terrorism. The administration’s threats against India on Enron’s behalf didn’t stop until Nov. 8.

>>>>>snip

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2002/052902a.html

[WiseButAngrySara]

35. This is so damning! How do these people get away with their

crimes, cronies and greedy corporate connections?

[fooj]

14. That's why we Californians are saddled with Ahnuld...

it was all a set up from the very start. I hate these people. I really do.

[phoebe]

15. Bush got $774,100 from Enron for 2 gubernatorial campaigns

and then some..

http://www.tpj.org/Lobby_Watch/enron.html

snip

Last year the Center for Public Integrity identified Enron as the single largest patron of George W. Bush’s political career. A frequent flier on Enron corporate jets, Bush received $774,100 from Enron’s PAC and executives—including $312,500 for his two gubernatorial campaigns.3

Bush’s greatest gubernatorial gifts to Enron were:

Deregulating state electric markets in 1999;
Indulging “grandfathered air polluters;” and Laws protecting businesses from lawsuits.
Enron (which has given $103,250 to Texans for Lawsuit Reform) is now suing its would-be corporate rescuer, Dynegy, even as it faces a slew of investor lawsuits.4
In the Bush White House, Enron Chair Ken Lay reportedly is the only executive who got a private audience to discuss the administration’s energy policy with Vice President Dick Cheney. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Curt Hebert also resigned shortly after he said that Lay told him that he would lose Enron’s support in the White House if he kept opposing open access to privately owned power lines. Bush promptly replaced Hebert with Texas Public Utility Commis-sioner Pat Wood, who had Enron’s blessing.

Governor Rick Perry, who received the next largest chunk of Enron money, appointed former Enron de Mexico President Mario Max Yzaguirre as Public Utility Commission chair in June 2001.

more on Enron here
http://www.publicintegrity.org/report.aspx?aid=104&sid=300

snip

Enron spent more than $5 million on lobbyists, both in-house and from outside firms, since 1997.

Former federal legislators who lobbied for or represented the company include Sen. J. Bennett Johnston (D-La.), who chaired the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Rep. Mike Andrews, D-Texas, and Rep. Ed Bethune, R-Ark.

Enron also hired a large number of officials who had previously served in the executive and legislative branches of government. Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III; former Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher; Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to George Bush Sr.; Wendy Gramm, former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and wife of Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas; former Clinton treasury official Linda Robertson; former FERC Chief Elizabeth Moler; and Marc Racicot, chairman of the Republican National Committee and former governor of Montana, have all worked for the company as either lobbyists, consultants, or members of its board of directors. Enron also hired opinion makers—both Paul Krugman, the Princeton economist who writes an opinion column for the New York Times, and Bill Kristol, the editor of the Rupert Murdoch-owned Weekly Standard, were paid for consulting work for the company.

At least three members of the Bush administration, Secretary of the Army Thomas White Jr., Bush economic adviser Lawrence B. Lindsey, who resigned Dec. 6, 2002, and Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick, worked for Enron. Lindsey, while advising Bush on economic issues during the last presidential campaign, was also a consultant to Enron.

Don't forget that Enron jets were used during the 2000 election to ferry lawyers and others to Florida..

snip

Internal Revenue Service revenue records show that the Bush campaign used Enron's corporate jets during the Florida election controversy. Bush's Recount Fund paid more than $13,000 to Enron for the use of the company's jets, but political campaigns typically are required to pay only a fraction of the actual costs for the flights.

[IChing]

16. Not one peep, not one from the media if this was whitewater

You know they would have been over it like cats and catnips. This company defrauded millions of people just like this administration has done.
These are the kind of people that the Bushenfurher considers friends.

The trail is just too big to ignore, but ignore it they do. Thanks for everyone for helping keeping this thread alive.
You need not be reminded that the American publics' memory and retention for information
is as short as the commercials on American Idol.

I don't expect, but maybe they will fool me, the printed press or the television press to put this together for the American Public's consumption again
These are some of the major players and convicted criminals of the Bush regime.

[robbedvoter]

17. Enron inquiry probes White House ties

   Enron inquiry probes White House ties

Tuesday, 5 March, 2002, 10:47 GMT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_1855000/1855400.stm
Cheney's taskforce met Enron at least six times last
year
Collapsed US energy giant Enron's political ties with
the
White House look set to come under the spotlight in
the
latest US Congressional hearings into the failure of
the
company.
The man spearheading an historic lawsuit against the
White House is to appear as a witness at the hearings.
Congressional
investigators will get the
chance to question David
Walker, from the General
Accounting Office (GAO) -
the watchdog arm of
Congress.
He has been at the
forefront of a number of
lawsuits trying to force the
White House to release
details of Vice President
Dick Cheney's contacts with
Enron and other companies
when he was formulating
an energy policy last year.
At issue is whether Enron
got undue influence over
that policy because of its substantial donations to
Bush
campaign funds.
Generous donors
Enron and its chief executive Kenneth Lay were
generous donors to the election campaign of President
George W Bush, although the firm showered money on
senators and representatives from both parties.
The General Accounting
Office wants the Vice
President, Dick Cheney, to
release information about
the special energy taskforce
he headed.
But White House officials
have refused to hand over
records.
President Bush and his Vice
President, Mr Cheney, have
vowed to fight the lawsuit,
arguing that to release
details of conversations with
company bosses would
damage their ability to get
candid advice from outside
experts.
The GAO investigation is
quite separate from official
inquiries into the collapse of
Enron over debt and
accounting irregularities, and
began as long ago as April
2001.
Mr Walker, who is Comptroller General, has impeccable
Republican credentials, and was a volunteer working
for
the presidential campaign of George Bush Sr.
Despite this partisan background, Mr Walker said his
team was ready "to do our job", arguing that the GAO
had the right to get the information, because the
energy task force

[robbedvoter]

18. Enron, Cheney and the Taliban connection

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12525
The Enron-Cheney-Taliban Connection?
Ron Callari, Albion Monitor
February 28, 2002
Enron is a scandal so enormous that it's hard to wrap your mind around it. Not just a single financial disaster, it's actually a jigsaw of interlocking scandals, each outrageous in its own right.
There's Enron the Wall St. con game, where company bookkeepers used slight of hand to turn four years of steady losses into stunning profits. There's Enron the reverse Robin Hood, which stole from its own employees even as its executives were hauling millions of dollars out the backdoor. There's Enron's Ken Lay the Kingmaker, who used the corporation's fraudulent wealth to broker elections and skew public policy to his liking. And then there are the Enron coverups, as documents are shredded and the White House seeks to conceal details about meetings between Enron and Vice President Cheney. more

[robbedvoter]

19. Bush, Lay kept emotional distance

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2002/02/26/usat-bushlay.htm
snip

On that autumn day, George W. Bush asked Lay to be finance chairman of his campaign in Harris County, which includes Houston. Lay told Bush he had a lot of affection for his parents. He promised he'd donate $12,500 to the campaign. But no, he said, he couldn't accept Bush's offer. Instead, Bush gave the job to his second choice, Richard Kinder, Enron's president and Lay's rival inside the company.

Loyalty is a prized commodity in the Bush family, and they're famous for their long memories. Lay's rejection of George W. Bush's offer created a distance between them that was never really bridged, a dozen associates of both Bushes said in interviews. Although the current President Bush and Lay are contemporaries — Bush is 55, Lay 59 — Lay was always closer to the senior George Bush than his son, the associates said.

As anyone following the Enron saga knows, Lay's snub didn't end his relationship with the younger Bush. Lay wrote that $12,500 check and many more. Enron and its executives became Bush's No. 1 patrons. more

[Jeffersons Ghost]

20. this thread is a BOOKMARK BONANZA! good stuff here, thanks

[robbedvoter]

21. Subject: Enron's Lay Told Workers of Respect for Bush

   Subject: Enron's Lay Told Workers of Respect for Bush

------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20020225/pl/enron_bush_lay_dc_1.html
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay told employees
he believed in the
character, integrity and policies of President Bush in the month ahead
of 2000 election,
according to a videotape cited by a lawmaker on Monday.
Bush, a former oilman whose campaigns were supported by Enron Corp., has
sought to play
down his relationship with Lay, former head of the energy trading
company that filed a record
U.S. bankruptcy on Dec. 2.
Rep. Henry Waxman, who has been probing Enron's connections with the
Bush administration,
released excerpts from the Enron videotape on Monday.
Lay has shunned interviews and refused to testify to Congress as the
Enron debacle unfolds.
In an Oct. 3, 2000, meeting of Enron employees, Lay spoke frankly of his
political and financial
backing for Bush, a Republican, and noted that he previously had
supported Bush's father.
``I strongly believe in his candidacy,'' Lay said in the videotape
obtained Waxman, a California
Democrat. ``I strongly supported him when he ran for governor of Texas
both times. I strongly
supported his father back before that.
``But, indeed, I believe in both his character and integrity, as well as
the policies he's
proposing,'' Lay added in the meeting in Houston.
He noted that Enron's political action committee had made more donations
to Republicans than
Democrats because Republicans tended to be friendlier to the company's
agenda favoring
deregulating markets and reducing corporate taxes.

[robbedvoter]

22. Six Degrees of Enron - Ties between the Company and the Bush WH

http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/editorial/2730098.htm
Posted on Sat, Feb. 23, 2002

Six Degrees of Enron
Ties between the company and the Bush White House
Over the past month, it has become obvious that Enron executives have been financial supporters of George W. Bush during his political career. The specifics of such a relationship are worth laying out in detail.
Beyond the $700,000 in political contributions from Enron employees and the vast amount of correspondence between Bush and former Enron CEO Ken Lay (nicknamed "Kenny Boy" by Bush), the links go beyond the president, stretching throughout the administration.
As The Washington Post noted last month, "There has been no indication that the administration's ties to Enron are illegal, and the giant company had similar connections to several Democrats and Republicans in Congress. But the sheer volume of Enron connections to the executive branch offers a study in the long reach of a powerful campaign contributor and aggressive corporation."
Dick Cheney
Vice president
While formulating national energy policy, met with Enron executives six times last spring. California Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman says that "it seems clear that there is no company in the country that stood to gain as much from the White House plan as Enron." Also smoothed relations between India and Enron over power plant.
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby
Vice President Cheney's chief of staff
Former Enron stockholder (between $1,000 and $15,000)
John D. Ashcroft
Attorney general
Got more than $55,000 in campaign contributions from Enron in 2000 race for Senate. Has recused himself from investigations.
David Ayres
Ashcroft's chief of staff at Justice Department
Was campaign manager during Ashcroft's 2000 run for Senate. Has recused himself from investigation.
Larry D. Thompson
Deputy attorney general
Partner in a law firm, King & Spalding, that represented Enron.
Spencer Abraham
Energy secretary
Called Lay on Nov. 2. According to the Los Angeles Times, an "aide called it a 'very short conversation. Mr. Lay did not ask for any help from the secretary or the department. Nor did Secretary Abraham offer any.'" As a senator from Michigan, also received small campaign contributions from the company.
Donald L. Evans
Commerce secretary
Got calls from Lay in October asking for help from the administration as Enron was sinking. According to a spokesman, Evans offered no help.
Paul H. O'Neill
Treasury secretary
Former CEO of Alcoa got calls from Lay in October asking for help from the administration as Enron was sinking. According to a spokesman, O'Neill offered no help.
Pat Fisher
Undersecretary of the Treasury
Received six to eight phone calls from Enron asking for help. Would not comment whether he had flagged regulatory agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, to possible problems with company.
Karl Rove
White House senior adviser
Enron stockholder (between $100,000 and $250,000). Price dropped to $68,000 by the time he sold last year. Also, reported to have secured an Enron consulting job for former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed.
Thomas E. White
Secretary of the Army
Vice chairman of an Enron subsidiary, earning $5.5 million. Former Enron stockholder (between $25 million and $50 million).
Tom Ridge
Homeland security director
While governor of Pennsylvania, Ridge was called by Bush on behalf of Lay, who wanted Enron involved in that state's energy deregulation.
Lawrence B. Lindsey
White House economic adviser
He and his company got more than $1.1 million in consulting fees from Enron in 2000, the same year that Lindsey was involved in Bush's presidential campaign.
Robert B. Zoellick
U.S. trade representative
Enron Advisory Board member. Made $50,000 in advisory fees. Former Enron stockholder (between $15,000 and $50,000).
Marc F. Racicot
Republican National Committee chairman
Lobbied for Enron for employer, Bracewell & Patterson
Harvey L. Pitt
Securities and Exchange Commission chairman
His law firm represented Andersen and other Big 5 accounting firms in the past. Recused himself from Enron investigations but has not recused himself from matters regarding the audit firm Andersen.
William G. Schubert
Maritime administrator
Minor Enron consultant (less than $5,000)
Theodore W. Kassinger
Commerce Department general counsel
Partner at Vinson & Elkins law firm; advised Enron.
Patrick H. Wood III
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman
Lay recommended Wood's appointment to George W. Bush, first to the Texas Public Utility Commission and later to FERC. Of his relationship with Lay, Wood says: "People are saying I'm a protege of Ken Lay. A protege? I met the guy four times in my life. I don't know where he lives. I never had a beer with the man."
Charlotte L. Beers
Undersecretary of state for public diplomacy
Enron stockholder (between $100,000 and $250,000)
Nicholas Calio
White House director of legislative affairs
Enron stockholder (between $1,000 and $15,000)

[bdamomma]

23. great articles

[robbedvoter]

24. GAO sues Cheney - AP report

GAO Sues Vice President Dick Cheney
Fri Feb 22, 2:27 PM ET
By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional investigators on Friday sued Vice President
Dick Cheney wants to require the administration to identify the
executives - including some from now-collapsed Enron Corp. - who met with
last year with the task force while a national energy policy was being
developed.
But Bush has refused to hand over the documents, saying to do so would
encroach on his ability to get outside views.
The White House also argues that the GAO has overstepped its authority by
asking the vice president for information on the task force.
The GAO, Congress's investigative unit, says oversight of energy policy and
investigation of Enron, a Houston-based energy trading company, are
"important institutional prerogatives" of Congress. Enron was the largest
single corporate benefactor of Bush's political career.
The dispute began last April but gained political traction once Enron,
entered into bankruptcy on Dec. 2.
The lawsuit names only Cheney as defendant, but both as vice president and
as chairman of Bush's energy task force. It was filed in U.S. District
Court in Washington.

PDF of GAO suit
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/photos/gaosuit.pdf

------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48790-2002Feb21?language=printer
GAO Lawsuit Seeks Energy Information
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 22, 2002; Page A04
The White House, on the eve of the filing of a congressional lawsuit
seeking information about
its dealings with energy industry executives, signaled yesterday it is
ready to mount a
high-level and protracted legal challenge.
The White House disclosed it would be represented in its battle against
the General
Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, by Solicitor
General Theodore B. Olson,
the government's top litigator, and by Robert D. McCallum Jr., the
assistant attorney general
in charge of the Justice Department's Civil Division.
A senior White House official said the top lawyers were selected to
remove "any question
about how seriously we take this principle." The administration objects
to the GAO's demand
for a list of those who met with the administration task force that
drafted President Bush's
energy policy, arguing it would inhibit the executive branch's ability
to solicit confidential
advice.

[robbedvoter]

25. Ties between Jeb Bush and Enron explored further

http://www.newscoast.com/frontpage/story.cfm?ID=62517
Ties between Jeb Bush and Enron explored further
posted 02/16/02
AP PHOTO
By MICHAEL POLLICK and CHRIS DAVIS
STAFF WRITERS
Gov. Jeb Bush has spent the past few weeks trying to distance himself from Enron and its efforts to break into Florida's water and energy markets.
But the governor's advocacy of privatizing water supplies -- a path Enron pursued for profit -- shows up not only in speeches by his chief environmental officer, but in early 1997 in the work of the think tank Bush founded.
The Foundation for Florida's Future, which Bush created in 1995, published "Florida Water Law: Bureaucratic to the Last Drop," in February 1997.
This policy analysis favored a free-market approach to water allocation for Florida. It was written by a woman who two years later became a registered Florida lobbyist for the Enron water unit, Azurix.
Bush's press office said last week that the energy giant lobbied Bush but got nothing.
Similarly, said Bush Director of Communications Katie Baur, Bush was lukewarm to Azurix, which spent 1999 and 2000 trying to turn Florida water into a tradeable commodity.
"They had a meeting. They left, and nothing happened," Baur said of Azurix. "I know it sounds sexy. Enron made a push; we didn't agree with what they were selling."
However, a document issued by Bush's think tank and obtained by the Herald-Tribune shows that, at the very least, his think tank and Enron shared a common philosophy.

[robbedvoter]

26. From Faux: Letters Show Lay Urged Bush Support on Deregulation

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,45756,00.html

Friday, February 15, 2002
AUSTIN — Former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay urged George W. Bush in
repeated letters
throughout his governorship to support restructuring the state's
electric market, according to
documents released Friday.
In a Nov. 16, 1998, letter to Bush, Lay asked for continued support for
electric deregulation,
which would benefit the now-fallen energy giant.
"By passing such a bill, your administration would be responsible for
providing the citizens of
Texas with the equivalent of a tax cut which could immediately amount to
$1.7 billion or more
annually," Lay wrote. "Please have your team let me know what Enron can
do to be helpful in not
only passing electricity restructuring legislation but also in pursuing
the rest of your legislative
agenda."
In his two Texas gubernatorial campaigns, Bush received $312,000 from
Enron officials,
including Lay, who was one of his biggest donors.
Bush received more than $100,000 from Enron officials for his
presidential campaign. Lay was
one of the Bush "pioneers" who raised at least $100,000 for his
presidential run.
Although Bush signed a law deregulating the electricity market in 1999,
the documents do not
appear to show that Bush responded in print to Lay's interest in the
issue.
In other correspondence, Lay asked Bush to push for stricter tort reform
laws. Bush had made
clear during his first gubernatorial campaign that tort reform would be
a top priority. He signed
a sweeping bill into law in 1995.
The two also exchanged friendly birthday, holiday and get-well wishes.
Much of the
correspondence came from Lay, while a few letters originated from Bush's
desk.
State archivists released the correspondence following requests by news
organizations and
others under the Texas Public Information Act. The 350 pages cover
Bush's governorship from
January 1995 until he resigned in December 2000 to become president.
In many of the letters, Lay asked Bush to appear at events or attend
meetings, including one
with the prime minister of Romania. Other documents include schedules
and minutes from the
Governor's Business Council, which Lay chaired, proclamations from Bush
and reports from
Enron officials.
In an April 3, 1997, letter, Lay wrote Bush about Enron's negotiations
for a $2 billion joint
venture with Neftegas of Uzbekistan and Gazprom of Russia to develop
Uzbekistan's natural gas
and transport it to markets in Europe, Kazakhstan and Turkey. According
to the note, Bush was
scheduled to meet with Uzbekistan's ambassador to the United States just
a few days later.
"This project can bring significant economic opportunities to Texas, as
well as Uzbekistan," Lay
wrote.

[robbedvoter]

27. Subject: Bush, Lay shielded errant TX businesses from lawsuits

   Subject: Bush, Lay shielded errant TX businesses from lawsuits
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: this website has databases of campaign contributions to Bush and other Texas officials. Also take note of the hypocrisy; lawsuits are frivilous unless the moguls have a bone to pick. See Lay's suit on behalf of his daughter.
http://www.tpj.org/Lobby_Watch/enrontlr.html
Bush, Lay Shielded Errant TX
Businesses From Lawsuits
With a thicket of high-profile lawsuits pending against Enron and its henchmen, it's time to review President Bush and Ken Lay's ménage a trois with tort reform.
In a January 1994 speech following his election as chair of Houston's leading business booster group, "Kenny Boy" Lay raised the topic of lawsuit abuse in conjunction with his lifelong obsession with defending shareholder interests. Denouncing run-away litigation, Lay warned that, "Many of us who love this city and state wonder whether it is prudent for our shareholders to keep operations or headquarters in this state."
Later that year, Lay wrote two things that kept Enron in Texas: (1) His first check to the newly formed Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC; and (2) A letter to newly elected Governor George W. Bush urging him to slash legal liabilities to prevent corporate flight from Texas. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
Although neither one of them advertises it now, Bush and Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR) both count Ken Lay among their top donors. The largest single source of Bush's gubernatorial money was Enron's PAC and executives ($312,500). Another 10 percent of the $41 million that Bush raised for his gubernatorial races came from the tort-reform lobby-led by TLR.
Bush gave Lay and other tort-sensitive big donors a fast payback after he won his first election with just 53 percent of the vote. In his first months in office, Governor Bush fast-tracked tort reform by declaring it a legislative "emergency."

[Hubert Flottz]

28. Fraud Traced to the White House

By Katherine Yurica

This story begins with the California energy crisis, which started in 2000 and continued through the early months of 2001, when electricity prices spiked to their highest levels. Prices went from $12 per megawatt hour in 1998 to $200 in December 2000 to $250 in January 2001, and at times a megawatt cost $1,000.

One event occurred earlier. On July 13, 1998, employees of one of the two power-marketing centers in California watched incredulously as the wholesale price of $1 a megawatt hour spiked to $9,999, stayed at that price for four hours, then dropped to a penny. Someone was testing the system to find the limits of market exploitation. This incident was the earliest indication that the people and the state could become victims of fraud. The Sacramento Bee broke the story three years later, on May 6, 2001.

Today, Californians are still paying the costs of the debacle while according to state officials the power companies who manipulated the energy markets reaped more than $7.5 billion in unfair profits.

During those early months of the Bush administration, and even during the prior transition period, Dick Cheney was deeply involved in gathering information for a national energy policy. The intelligence he gathered would provide justification for a war against Iraq but would also place White House footprints all over a fraud scam. This is how it all happened.

Enter the Lead Villain...

http://www.yuricareport.com/PoliticalAnalysis/FraudinWhiteHouse.htm

[BrklynLiberal]

91. WOW! What a great article. Katherine Yurica is fantastic.

[robbedvoter]

29. White House briefing about CA price caps (FERC)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/briefings/Enron
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 31, 2001
Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer
The James S. Brady Briefing Room

Q Yesterday, the President would not answer a question posed to him
about his thoughts on Governor Gray Davis's threats to sue FERC over price
caps. What is the White House's position on those threats?
MR. FLEISCHER: Again, the President makes the case that the last
thing that anybody should do at a time of energy shortage is to make the
shortage worse. And that price caps will result in increased demand and in
lower supply and therefore have the exact worse effect you could want to
have, if your goal is to help people, and if your goal is to protect the
economy.
Q I know that boilerplate argument. But this idea of suing FERC,
is there legal ground to sue FERC for price caps, given their finding that
electricity prices in California were not just and reasonable?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think that's a question you need to address to
attorneys or address to the state of California. Obviously, there was a
case brought by some legislators in California that a circuit court just
threw out last week.
Q Does the President think that Governor Davis is posturing
politically? Does he have a legal leg to stand on here?
MR. FLEISCHER: You just asked that question about legal legs and I
have referred you to the place where you can get an answer.
Q What about an answer to the political aspect of that? Do you
believe it's political posturing?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President is not interested in looking at the
situation in California with an eye toward posturing or an eye toward blame
or an eye toward finger-pointing.
Q Or the 2002 election?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President's position is to solve the problem, and
that's why he has taken the position he has on price caps, as well as on a
long-term fundamental energy approach to help the country.
Q If price caps are bad, why then it is one of the remedies listed
within FERC's own guidelines? The Governor of California maintains that
FERC simply isn't following its own guidelines. He'd like to use a
lawsuit, if necessary, to force them to do so. Is there any thought here
about trying to change FERC's own guidelines and --
MR. FLEISCHER: FERC is an independent agency, and makes its
determinations based on what it views as right or wrong. But let me remind
everybody here, that this issue is not new to this administration. In
early January, Californians came calling to Washington, in the last days of
the Clinton administration -- and as you know, the Clinton administration
was rather busy in its final days -- and they, too, sought price caps. And
price caps were not granted by the Clinton administration at that time.
So it is notable that the same argument that was received by -- we
presume, much more receptive ears, but they made a decision also based on
facts and on merits, and had taken the same position that President Bush
has taken. So this is nothing new coming from California. But the
President's position will remain the same, that he wants to be helpful to
California. And one of the worst things you can do is make the situation
worse in that state.

[robbedvoter]

30. Novak: Using Enron to bash Bush (Reed paid by Enron to campaign)

Back to List  Prev    Next 

   Subject: Using Enron to bash Bush
Created by Robbedvoter on 05 Feb 2002 01:11:45
Delete this discussion 
1 Message #1 of 1: Date Posted: 05 Feb 2002 01:11:45 by  Robbedvoter
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak04.html
February 4, 2002
BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
About three weeks ago, rookie White House aide Adam
Levine went to senior Bush
adviser Karl Rove with a strange story. John Weaver,
longtime adviser to Sen.
John McCain, had encountered him in a Washington
bar, said Levine, and told him
Rove surreptitiously placed conservative political
activist Ralph Reed on the Enron
payroll in 1997 to mask his support for George W.
Bush's presidential campaign.
According to Levine, Weaver thought of Levine as a
McCain-friendly, Democratic
producer for MSNBC's ''Hardball'' program, which he
had just left. Two weeks after
this encounter, the same story that Levine had
passed on to Rove was
emblazoned in the New York Times, written by their
top political reporter. The
assumption at the White House: Weaver was the
source. ''That is absolutely,
categorically untrue,'' Weaver told me. He also
denied the conversation reported
to Rove by Levine.
Somebody is not telling the truth, and the
determination is significant. This little
episode is important for two reasons. First, the
Times report of Jan. 24, whistling
through Washington's whisper tunnel, is cited by
President Bush's critics as proof
of his corrupt alliance with scandal-scarred Enron.
Second, the idea fostered by
the newspaper's story that Reed was given a phony
placeholder's job on the giant
energy firm's payroll to hide his Bush connection is
false. In truth, there was no
attempt to disguise Rove's relationship with Reed,
former president of the
Christian Coalition and now Republican state
chairman of Georgia. Reed's
Atlanta-based political consulting firm fulfilled a
multimillion-dollar contract with
the Bush campaign and was indispensable in getting
out the conservative vote.
Reed and Rove combined to help deliver the crucial
South Carolina primary for
Bush, and diehard McCain backers such as Weaver are
still bitter over their rough
tactics.

[robbedvoter]

31. Lay gave List of Favored Names to White House for Energy Panel

> http://www.truthout.com/02.03D.Lay.List.htm
> By MARCY GORDON
> Associated Press
>
> WASHINGTON - 02.01.02 | A few months after the
> White House got a list of
> recommended candidates from former Enron Chairman
> Kenneth Lay, a friend and backer
> of President Bush, two of them were appointed to a
>
> federal energy commission.
>
> Lay gave the list of names to Clay Johnson,
> Bush's personnel director, White House
> spokeswoman Anne Womack said Thursday. Among the
> eight or so names were Pat
> Wood, now chairman of the Federal Energy
> Regulatory
> Commission, and Nora Brownell, a
> member of the commission. "It was one of many,
> many
> recommendations that he
> (Johnson) received" from industry executives,
> members of Congress and state officials,
> Womack said in an interview.
>
> Confirmation of Lay's recommendations to the
> White House last spring comes as
> congressional panels investigate the relationship
> between Houston-based Enron Corp.,
> which filed for bankruptcy Dec. 2, and the Bush
> administration.

ew Enron scandal link to Bush
http://www.guardian.co.uk/enron/story/0,11337,643729,00.html
Two given energy jobs after firm's
former head suggested them to
White House
Duncan Campbell in New Orleans
Saturday February 2, 2002
The Guardian
The former head of Enron, Kenneth Lay,
gave the White House a list of his
personal recommendations for key federal
energy posts and two of the people
on his list were appointed, it emerged
yesterday, providing the strongest
evidence so far of the political
influence wielded by President Bush's biggest
financial backer.
The revelation is likely to increase
pressure on the Bush administration to
open the books on its contacts with Mr
Lay and his associates. The Enron
scandal is now threatening to reach to
the heart of the White House.
Mr Lay put forward his list of suggested
members of the federal energy
regulatory commission last spring. Two
of the people he suggested, Pat
Wood, a Texas Republican who now chairs
the commission, and Nora
Brownell, were appointed by the
president.
Mr Lay himself disclosed details of the
list in an interview recorded last
May but only broadcast yesterday. "I
brought a list, we certainly presented a
list," Mr Lay told the PBS channel. "As
I recall, I signed a letter which, in
fact, had some recommendations as to
people we thought would be good
commissioners."

[robbedvoter]

32. Archived on DU: Bush-Enron chronology

http://www.democraticunderground.com/cgi-bin/duforum/duboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=13998&forum=DCForumID5

[robbedvoter]

33. Buzzflash interview with Robert Waxman

------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/2002/01/Congressman_Waxman_013102.html
January 31, 2002
A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW WITH CONGRESSMAN HENRY WAXMAN
There are many Democrats who aren't backing down over the Enron
scandal. One of our favorites is Congressman
Henry Waxman (29th District, CA). Waxman is the ranking minority member
of the House Government Reform
Committee and he is fighting for the American public's right to know
what happened in Enron's secret meetings with
Vice President Cheney, and why the Bush administration is afraid of the
public knowing what was discussed.
BUZZFLASH: Congressman Waxman, we have just a few questions. The
General Accounting Office is
apparently filing suit to obtain information in the Vice President's
energy panel. What is your reaction? Do
you think the suit will be successful?
CONGRESSMAN WAXMAN: I regret the fact that the Vice President feels
that the energy task force should
operate in secrecy. The General Accounting Office has made a routine
request for information. I think
they're entitled to it. They've received some information from other
administrations that are quite similar.
And I regret that now the GAO has to file a lawsuit to find out what
special interest groups, what heavy
contributors were saying to the energy task force. Who met with the
Vice President and what they wanted
ought to be public information, as far as I'm concerned.

[robbedvoter]

34. Bush Defends White House's Handling of Enron Crisis

uesday January 22 1:39 PM ET
BELLE, W.Va. (Reuters) - President Bush on Tuesday defended the
administration's handling
of Enron Corp.'s collapse, declaring that the White House did ``the
exact right thing'' and
challenging critics to ``let me know'' about any allegations of
wrongdoing.
``Our administration has done the exact right thing,'' Bush told
reporters traveling with him
in West Virginia.
The president also expressed ``outrage'' at the treatment of
shareholders, noting that the
first lady's mother, Jenna Welch, had bought stock in the company last
summer. ``It's not
worth anything,'' Bush said.
Bush's team has close ties to Houston-based Enron and its chairman,
Kenneth Lay, a major
Bush campaign contributor. Last autumn, Lay called Treasury Secretary
Paul O'Neill and
Commerce Secretary Don Evans, Bush's 2000 campaign manager, to warn them
of Enron's
mounting financial problems.
Enron President Lawrence ``Greg'' Whalley also called Treasury
Undersecretary Peter Fisher
in late October and early November seeking help for the beleaguered
energy-trading giant,
which filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 2.
Bush noted a ``couple of contacts'' between members of his Cabinet and
Enron executives,
but said their response was, ``No help here.'' Bush said anyone with
``an accusation about
some wrongdoing just let me know.''

[robbedvoter]

36. Guardian - flash - who's who in Enron web of intrigue

http://www.guardian.co.uk/flash/0,5860,634489,00.html

[robbedvoter]

37. Bush, Enron Chief - a long alliance - NY T

> January 12, 2002
>
> Bush, Enron Chief: A Long Alliance
> By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
>
>
> Filed at 1:29 p.m. ET
> http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Bush-Lay.html
> WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush bestowed the nickname ``Kenny Boy'' on
> embattled Enron executive Kenneth Lay back when the two were up-and-comers in
> Texas.
> That doesn't mean they are best buddies; Bush dispenses nicknames freely and
> not just on intimates. Yet as their careers soared, their interests became
> more intertwined, whether in business, politics or baseball.
> Bush's largest financial benefactor, Lay found him to be a friend of the
> energy industry when Bush was Texas governor. And Bush made a special trip to
> Houston during his presidential campaign to attend the Astros' first game at
> Enron Field, as Lay threw out the first pitch.
> They've enjoyed ``quality time,'' Lay has said.
> How close their friendship grew has come under scrutiny since Enron, the
> Houston-based energy giant, filed the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history last
> month.
> It has since been disclosed that Lay contacted officials in the Bush
> administration, which has at least 15 high-ranking members who owned stock in
> the company last year. Several Cabinet members acknowledged contacts from
> Enron but said they did not tell Bush or take any action.
> The president calls Lay a ``supporter,'' in recognition of the money poured
> into his campaigns over the years by Lay, his company and its employees.
> But he denies speaking with Lay about the company's financial problems and
> says his administration will aggressively investigate the failure of the
> company. Enron's fall cost thousands of jobs and vaporized the retirement
> savings of many employees.
> ``My sense is that Bush cares about him,'' said Bill Miller, a political
> consultant in Austin, Texas, who witnessed Lay's ascent in the corporate
> world and Bush's rise to governor, then president.
> ``It was a friendship-friendship, not just a business friendship.''
> White House and Enron officials insist the two were never all that close. Any
> idea that Lay is a ``close intimate'' of Bush is ludicrous, said Bush adviser
> Karl Rove

[robbedvoter]

38. Robert Scheer: Bush to Lay: What Was Your Name Again?

  


>
> Bush to Lay: What Was Your Name Again?
>
> http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-
> 000003681jan15.story
>
> COMMENTARY
>
> Bush to Lay: What Was Your Name Again?
>
> Robert Scheer
>
> January 15 2002
>
> If you believe President Bush, Kenneth Lay--one of
> his top financial backers and his "good friend"--was
> merely an equal-opportunity corrupter of our
> political system, buying off Democrats and
> Republicans as needed. It is a convenient claim
> designed to unlink Bush from the biggest bankruptcy
> in U.S. history.
>
> But, as the good ol' boys in Texas--and now Bush
> spokesman Ari Fleisher--like to say, "That dog won't
> hunt."
>
> On Friday, Bush attempted to distance himself from
> the Enron scandal by stating that CEO Lay "was a
> supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994,"
> obscuring the fact that Lay gave Bush three times as
> much money as he did the Democratic gubernatorial
> incumbent whom Bush was trying to unseat. Bush added
> that he really did not get to "know" Lay--the man he
> nicknamed "Kenny Boy"--until after he won the
> governor's race. I can't speak to the varying levels
> of intimacy of their relationship, but Bush had
> considerable contact with Lay two years earlier when
> the Enron leader served as the chair of the host
> committee for the 1992 Republican convention in
> Houston, where Bush the senior was nominated for his
> second term as president.

[robbedvoter]

39. WaPo: White House Aided Enron in Dispute

>
>
>
> By Dana Milbank and Glenn Kessler
> Washington Post Staff Writers
> Friday, January 18, 2002; Page A01 As presidential candidate George W.
> Bush's top economic adviser in 2000, Lawrence B. Lindsey was also a
> paid consultant to Enron Corp. At one point, those two roles merged.
> For $50,000 a year, Lindsey attended meetings in 1999 and 2000 of the
> energy company's economic "advisory board." In those sessions, Enron
> Chairman Kenneth L. Lay convinced Lindsey of the wisdom behind one of
> Enron's businesses, a consulting operation that advised companies on
> energy efficiency.
> "It stuck with me," Lindsey said in an interview yesterday.
> In fact, Lindsey incorporated Lay's ideas into the Bush campaign's
> energy policy. During the campaign, Lindsey described Lay's
> contribution as key.
> The cozy relationship -- in which a Bush campaign adviser, being paid
> by Enron, placed an Enron idea on the candidate's agenda -- served as
> one more reminder of the political influence and reach of the
> once-giant energy company. Its ties extend deep into President Bush's
> staff, appointments, Cabinet members, friends, family -- and his own
> past.
> According to financial records, 35 administration officials have held
> Enron stock. A few, such as top Bush political adviser Karl Rove, had
> six-figure holdings. Several others -- Lindsey, U.S. Trade
> Representative Robert B. Zoellick, Commerce Department general counsel
> Theodore W. Kassinger, Maritime Administrator William G. Schubert --

[robbedvoter]

40. From NYT: 2 of the Bush-Kenny love letters:

April 14, 1997
Mr Kenneth Lay
2121 Kirby Drive
Houston, Texas 77019
Dear Ken:
One of the sad things about old friends is that they seem
to be getting older - just like you!
55 years old. Wow! That is really old.
Thank goodness you have such a young, beautiful wife.
Laura and I value our friendship with you. Best wishes to
Linda, your family, and friends.
Your younger friend,
<signature>
George W. Bush
----------------------------
and 2nd letter
from Lay to Gov & Mrs Bush dated Dec 21, 1999
with ENRON letterhead. Lay thanks Bush for a
gift - "Tejano Santa" print signed by Bush with the
official seal.
Lay also has a hand-written additional note at bottom
half of letter. Cant make it all out but this is what
it looks like -
------------------------
George & 2 Laura -
Linda & I are so proud of both of you and look forward
to seeing both of you in The White House. Hope you have
a great Christmas with your family,
Warmest & regards,

[robbedvoter]

41. Enron exec met W one day before he denied help to Cali

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   Subject: Enron exec met W one day before he denied help to Cali
Created by Robbedvoter on 12 Jan 2002 22:39:16
Delete this discussion 
1 Message #1 of 1: Date Posted: 12 Jan 2002 22:39:16 by  Robbedvoter
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan Brown: We need to investigate
Enron ties to government
Published Jan 12 2002
Enron executives have disclosed that they met with
the Bush administration
just one day before the administration determined
not to assist California
in its Enron-created energy crisis, by not
imposing price caps and allowing
Enron to further gouge Californian energy
consumers, potentially bankrupting
California energy providers and endangering the
stability of the government
of California.
The White House has disclosed that Enron
executives met with at least two
Cabinet-level Bush administration officials prior
to the Enron collapse and
discussed the precarious Enron financial
situation. These Bush administration
officials have a fiduciary duty to oversee U.S.
pension accounts, yet those
officials determined to "do nothing."
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/1026258.html

[Jeffersons Ghost]

42. a kick to keep the kickers kicking

[robbedvoter]

43. Robert Scheer: Connect the Enron Dots to Bush

Dec 11, 2001
Enron is Whitewater in spades. This isn't just
some rinky-dink
land investment like the one dredged up by
right-wing enemies
to haunt the Clinton White House--but rather it
has the makings
of the greatest presidential scandal since the
Teapot Dome.
The Bush administration has a long and intimate
relationship
with Enron, whose much-discredited chairman,
Kenneth L. Lay,
was a primary financial backer of George W.
Bush's rise to the
presidency.
It was Enron that provided the model for the
administration's
trickle-down attempt to revive an economy
that's been in steep
decline during Bush's tenure. That model gives
the fat-cat
corporate hotshots everything they want in
return for
bankrolling political campaigns. Not to worry
about the rest of
us because, hey, what's good for Enron is good
for America.
That it hasn't been is now painfully clear.
What did Enron get in return for its
contributions? It got its way
on deregulation, for one thing. Remember when
the
administration refused to assist California and
other states
during the energy crisis, and consumers paid
the steep price?

[robbedvoter]

45. Molly Ivins: Enron's Connections With Bush Go Way Back

> http://www.commondreams.org/views01/1207-08.htm
> Enron's Connections With Bush Go Way Back
> December 7, 2001
> by Molly Ivins
>
> HAIL and farewell, o Enron! What a flameout. The Establishment media,
> sucking its collective thumb with unwonted solemnity, is treating us to
> meditations on two themes: ``How the mighty have fallen,'' and, ``Who would
> have thunk it?'' Pardon me while I snort, in lieu of ruder noises, and
> offer two themes of my own: ``What took so long?'' and, ``Anyone with an
> ounce of common sense.'' If you want to know what this story is about,
> pretend Bill Clinton is still president. Pretend Clinton's long-time,
> all-time biggest campaign contributor, a guy for whom Clinton has carried
> water for over the years, a guy with unparalleled ``access,'' a shaper of
> policy -- imagine that this guy's worldwide empire has tumbled into
> bankruptcy in just three months amid cascading reports of lies, monumental
> accounting errors, evasions, iffy financial statements, insider deals, a
> board of directors rife with conflicts of interest, top executives bailing
> out with millions while regular employees see their life savings shrink to
> nothing -- imagine all this back in the day of Bill Clinton.
>
> We'd have four congressional investigations, three special prosecutors, two
> impeachment inquiries and a partridge in a pear tree by now. Republicans
> would be drumming their heels on the floor in full tantrum.
>
> But this is not President Clinton, it is President Bush -- so of course
> different standards must apply. The fact that Ken Lay, Enron's chairman,
> has been Bush's chief money man since he first went into politics is
> mentioned only in passing. The media don't want to be impolite.

[robbedvoter]

46. There was an Enron Magazine with Bush's pic on the cover on E-Bay

The link is unfortunately dead - I didn't know how to download images to my computer at the time. If someone did - it would be nice.
I also remember the Smiking Gun having a link to the complete correspondence Bush-kenny - I couldn't find it in my archives though :-(

[robbedvoter]

47. White House: Enron Official Phoned

------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20020110/ts/enron_investigation_3.html
White House: Enron Official Phoned
By KAREN GULLO, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Enron Chairman Kenneth
L. Lay reached out to two of President Bush
(news - web sites)'s Cabinet officers when
the energy company was collapsing, the
White House disclosed Thursday as the
Justice Department (news - web sites)
opened a criminal investigation of Enron's
bankruptcy.
Bush, who received significant campaign
contributions from Lay and other Enron
executives, said he himself has never
discussed Enron's financial problems with
its
embattled corporate chairman. The
president said he last saw Lay in Texas at
spring fund-raiser for former first lady
Barbara Bush's literacy foundation.
Lay also was among a group of some 20
business leaders who came to the White
House early in the Bush administration to
discuss the state of the economy, Bush said.

[robbedvoter]

48. Mr. Enron & His Buddy Mr. President

>
> http://www.nydailynews.com/2002-01-
> 14/News_and_Views/Beyond_the_City/a-138173.asp
>
> Mr. Enron & His Buddy Mr. President
>
> 1/14/02
>
> Not long ago, President Bush was so close to the man
> that he called him Kenny Boy. His name was Kenneth
> Lee Lay, and he was smooth in a Texas country club
> way. His hair had thinned over the years, but
> according to a man who often saw him at the River
> Oaks Country Club in Houston, he seemed to shave
> three times a day and wore perfectly tailored suits.
> He will surely look elegant, if irritated, if and
> when the feds hand him an orange jumpsuit.
>
> "He was smooth, not slick," said a Houston friend of
> mine, who used to see Lay at fund-raisers, museum
> openings and charity balls. "Good manners, low-key.
> Everybody respected him. Or deferred to him. For one
> thing, he was smarter than all of them. And more
> important, he was richer."
>
> Kenny Boy was certainly not a typical hard-nose
> primitive from the oil patch. Born and raised in
> Missouri, where he took a B.A. from the University of
> Missouri, he moved to Texas at the end of the 1960s,
> and found work with Exxon. He earned a doctorate in
> economics from the University of Houston in 1970 and
> then learned the ways of Washington in the time of
> President Richard Nixon. He taught economics at
> George Washington University and worked for Nixon's
> Department of Interior and the Federal Power
> Commission. Day after day, theory was tested against
> actual practice.
>
> When the Nixon administration began unraveling with
> the Watergate scandals, Lay chose to move on. In
> 1974, he started work as a vice president of the
> Florida Gas Co. in Winter Park and within two years,
> at 32, he was president. By then, Lay was certain of
> the fundamental truth of the gospel of deregulation.
> Capitalism could only work with absolute freedom,
> unhobbled by governmental constraint. If big
> businesses were to expand in a truly modern way, then
> most regulations must be scrapped. Only politicians
> stood in the way.

remarkable last paragraph too:

> There are now eight investigations ó criminal, civil
> and congressional ó into this gigantic swindle, the
> largest bankruptcy in world history. From his current
> hideout, wherever it is, Dick Cheney will be forced
> to release minutes of his six meetings with Lay.
> Accounting records, appointment calendars, phone
> logs, e-mails, voice mails ó all will be subpoenaed
> and scrutinized. Small fry will implicate big shots
> to get out of prison time. What is coming will
> certainly be at once entertaining and vile.
>
> But when it all starts to reach critical mass, when
> the hearings are being televised every day, and
> reporters are finding more and more examples of the
> con, we should be ready. That's when the dog will be
> wagged and bombs will fall on Iraq.

[OneGrassRoot]

49. Enron part of Cheney's infamous Energy Commission?

Forgive me...I can't remember nor keep up with anything any more, and it's much easier to ask you brilliant people here specific questions than sort through Google hits....but can someone please tell me if Ken Lay or Enron execs were part of that energy meeting Cheney had which has been kept secret this whole time? Does anyone have a link which summarizes Cheney's secret energy meetings - what we know, what we think, what Bushco has done to keep it a secret.

As always, many thanks!

[robbedvoter]

51. Enron execs wrote the energy bill, met with Dick 7 times

Many of the articles posted here cover this. Try to read the time-line which covers it all
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1281329&mesg_id=1283672

[OneGrassRoot]

52. Thank you! n/t

[savemefromdumbya]

79. Is someone going to remind the media about this?

[robbedvoter]

50. Daily News: Veep Tried to Aid Enron

http://www.nydailynews.com/2002-01-18/News_and_Views/Beyond_the_City/a-138620.asp
Key role in India debt row
(See Matalin's snip in 8th paragraph)
By TIMOTHY J. BURGER
Daily News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON
ice President Cheney tried to help Enron
collect a $64
million debt from a giant energy project
in India,
government documents obtained by the
Daily News show.
"Good news is that the veep mentioned Enron in
his meeting with
Sonia Gandhi
yesterday," a National
Security Council aide wrote in a June 28
e-mail.

[robbedvoter]

53. Waxman report: White House Energy Plan Benefitted Enron]

http://www.house.gov/reform/min/pdfs/pdf_inves/pdf_admin_enron_jan_16_rep.pdf


> ------------------------------------
>
> This report, which was prepared at the request of Rep. Henry A. Waxman,
> examines the White House energy plan prepared by the White House energy task
> force under the direction of Vice President Cheney and compares the policies
> in the White House energy plan to those advocated by Enron.
>
> The analysis in the report is based on testimony of Enron officials before
> Congress, other public statements by Enron officials, Enron lobbying
> materials distributed to Congress, lobbying disclosure reports filed by Enron
> lobbyists, and news accounts of Enron positions.
>
> The White House energy task force was formed on January 29, 2001, under the
> name the White House National Energy Policy Development Group (NEPD Group).
> The President released the White House energy plan that the task force
> developed on May 17, 2001.
>
> According to the Office of the Vice President, the task force met six times
> with Enron executives. The first meeting took place on February 22, 2001,
> about three weeks after the formation of the task force. On April 17, 2001,
> the Vice President met personally with Enron CEO Kenneth Lay to discuss the
> energy policy.
>
> The last meeting between task force officials and Enron executives apparently
> took place on October 10, 2001, less than one week before Enron announced the
> $1.2 billion reduction in shareholder value that precipitated Enronâ?™s
> collapse.
>
> The analysis in this report reveals that numerous policies in the White House
> energy plan are virtually identical to the positions Enron advocated. In
> total, there are at least 17 policies in the White House energy plan that
> were advocated by Enron or that benefited Enron financially.
>
> These policies fall into four general categories:
> (1) policies that promote the deregulation of the electricity market;
> (2) policies that promote energy derivatives and commodities markets;
> (3) policies that expand natural gas and oil production; and
> (4) other policies that benefited Enron.
>
> In the area of electricity deregulation, the White House energy plan supports
> an expansive form of the controversial policy of â?œopen access,â?* which
> guarantees energy traders like Enron access to the transmission lines of
> electric utilities. In 1999, Enron told members of Congress that this policy
> was Enronâ?™s â?œsingle most important initiative.â?*
>
> The White House plan also supports the repeal of the Public Utility Holding
> Company Act (PUHCA), an action that would have enabled Enron to increase its
> ownership of electric utility companies. In February 2000, Enron lobbied
> Congress for â?œa provision granting FERC-certified transmission projects the
> power of eminent domainâ?* so that power lines could be constructed more
> expeditiously.
>
> The White House energy plan endorses this policy, even though it conflicts
> with traditional state authority over transmission sitting decisions. In
> addition, the plan includes several other deregulation initiatives supported
> by Enron, including one provision that would help energy traders like Enron
> gain new rights of access to the power lines maintained by the Bonneville
> Power Administration.
>
> In the area of energy derivatives, the plan endorses trading in energy
> derivatives, one of Enronâ?™s core businesses. The plan calls unregulated
> over-the-counter derivatives -- the kind sold by Enron -- â?œsophisticated and
> customizable.â?* And it recommends that â?œthe U.S. government should continue
> to support the development of efficient derivatives markets.â?*
>
> Other provisions of the White House plan would facilitate Enronâ?™s ability to
> expand its existing natural gas pipelines in the United States or build new
> ones. The energy plan even offers U.S. backing for natural gas development in
> India, where Enron has a major natural gas fueled power plant that has been
> embroiled in financial difficulties.
>
> Even in areas where Enron did not get every policy it advocated, the White
> House energy plan is helpful to the company. In the area of global warming,
> for example, the plan does not support the mandatory controls on carbon
> dioxide emissions sought by Enron. But the plan does direct federal agencies
> to identify â?œmarket mechanismsâ?* to address global warming, which would help
> develop the type of market in carbon credits sought by Enron.
>
> The policies in the White House energy plan did not benefit Enron
> exclusively. And some of the policies may have independent merit.
> Nevertheless, it is unlikely that any other corporation in America stood to
> gain as much from the White House energy plan as Enron.

[robbedvoter]

54. Bush team studied possible failure of Enron last fall (Sept 2001?)

> http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-ustest172554566jan17.story
> ?coll=ny%2Dtop%2Dheadlines
> A Worry at White House
> Bush team studied possible failure of Enron last fall
>
> By James Toedtman
> CHIEF ECONOMIC CORRESPONDENT
>
> January 17, 2002
>
> Washington - White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey, a one- time
> $50,000-a-year consultant to Enron Corp. and member of the com- pany's
> advisory board, led a White House study last fall of the possible economic
> consequences of an Enron failure, presidential press secretary Ari Fleischer
> disclosed yesterday.
>
> That review was launched in mid-October as the now-bankrupt company's stock
> spiraled from $90 to less than $20 a share and, Fleischer insisted, "not in
> reaction to any phone calls from any Enron officials."
>
> "As they took a look at what was publicly known at the time with the
> collapse of Enron, they asked the very logical question: Could this have a
> broader impact on the economy?" Flei- scher said.
>
> Administration officials said their primary concern was the impact of a
> collapse on the energy markets until Enron declared bankruptcy and the Labor
> Department began looking into management of the company's retirement funds.
>
> The Lindsey sessions, which went on for several weeks, coupled with several
> other cabinet-level discussions of Enron's plight late last year, highlight
> again the array of connections Enron had with the Bush administration. They
> also suggest that concern for the company and the consequences of its
> collapse were more widely discussed than the White House has been willing to
> acknowledge.
>
> There is no evidence that the administration took any action that benefited
> the Houston-based energy trading company, despite a number of overtures from
> Enron chief executive Kenneth Lay, a longtime friend of President George W.
> Bush's and one of the biggest contributors to his political campaigns.
>
> Lindsey said he received $50,000 from Enron in 2000 for providing
> "macroeconomic advice" as a member of the company's advisory council.
>
> Fleischer mentioned the Lindsey meeting at his daily briefing yesterday, one
> day after he announced that the White House was making no effort to canvass
> contacts with Enron officials and that he would no longer answer questions
> unless they were precise or involved allegations of possible wrongdoing.
>
> Lay's calls in late October and early November to Treasury Secretary Paul
> O'Neill, Commerce Secretary Don Evans, Office of Management and Budget
> Director Mitch Daniels and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan prompted
> a review at both Treasury and Commerce, Evans and O'Neill said.
>
> Evans also described several meetings with O'Neill, Lindsey and White House
> Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Bolton where Enron was discussed in the context
> of economic policy. "We all would talk collectively about Enron from time to
> time, but they were pretty short conversations," Evans said Sunday on NBC's
> "Meet the Press." "The energy markets were pretty stable and that was fine,"
> he said.

[robbedvoter]

55. Newsday Enron chronology

2001
o Jan. 20 - Bush sworn in; Enron and chairman Kenneth Lay each
contribute
$100,000 to inaugural committees.
o Feb. 1 - Jeffrey Skilling named CEO.
o Feb. 22 - Enron officials meet with V.P. Dick Cheney.
o March 7 - Enron officials meet with White House energy task force.
o April 7 - Enron-Cheney meeting.
o May 7 - Energy task force report adopts many Enron proposals.
o May 18 - Lou Pai, CEO of Enron subsidiary, begins selling shares worth
$353 million.
o July 31 - Lay completes sale of $101 million worth of stock over
nine-month period.
o Aug. 14 - Skilling resigns after only six months as CEO.
o Late August - Enron vice president Sherron Watkins warns Lay that
Andersen's accounting reports won't hide shaky Enron deals.
o Sept. 27 - Enron e-mails employees saying 401(k) accounts will be
frozen
as of Oct. 19 because of administrative change. Actual date was Oct. 26.
o Oct. 10 - Enron-Cheney staff meeting.
o Oct. 16 - Enron reports $618 million quarterly loss.
o Oct. 22 - SEC inquiry disclosed into possible Enron partnership
conflicts
of interest.
o Oct. 23 - Andersen's lead Enron auditor, David Duncan, begins effort
to
destroy documents, Andersen later says.
o Oct. 24 - Andrew Fastow ousted as Enron chief financial officer.
o Oct. 31 - SEC upgrades inquiry to formal investigation.
o Nov. 8 - Enron admits overstating profits by $586 million over five
years.
o Nov. 8 - Dynegy Inc. agrees to buy Enron.
o Nov. 28 - Dynegy pulls out of deal.
o Nov. 29 - SEC expands investigation to Andersen.
o Dec. 2 - Enron files for bankruptcy.
o Dec. 3 - Enron announces 4,000 layoffs.
o Dec. 12 - Andersen CEO Joseph Berardino tells Congress Enron might
have
violated securities law.
2002
o Jan. 9 - Justice Department says it has begun criminal investigation
of
Enron.
o Jan. 10 - Andersen reveals destruction of documents.
o Jan. 15 - Andersen fires Duncan.
Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.

[robbedvoter]

56. Enron contributions to Bush - NYT, AP

>
> Enron Contributions to Bush
> By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
> http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Bush-Lay-Glance.html
>
>
> Filed at 2:02 p.m. ET
> President Bush has received more money from Enron, its employees and their
> relatives over his political career than from any other source. The
> contributions supported Bush's unsuccessful House campaign in 1978, his two
> campaigns for Texas governor, renovation of his governor's office, last
> year's presidential race, his inaugurations and his presidential recount fund.
> Among the contributions:
> -- Texas governor's races: at least $312,500, including $122,500 from Enron
> CEO Kenneth Lay and his wife, Linda Lay; at least $160,000 from other Enron
> employees and their relatives; at least $30,000 from Enron political action
> committee.
> -- 2000 presidential campaign: at least $113,800 from Enron's PAC, its
> employees and their relatives, including $2,000 each from Kenneth and Linda
> Lay.
> Kenneth Lay also raised at least $100,000 for the campaign as a member of the
> Bush ``Pioneers.''
> -- Presidential inaugural gala: $100,000 from Enron; $100,000 from Kenneth
> and Linda Lay; $100,000 from then-Enron President Jeffrey Skilling.
> -- Bush presidential recount: $5,000 each from Kenneth and Linda Lay; $500
> from Enron employee Hal Elrod.
> Sources: Center for Public Integrity; Center for Responsive Politics; Texans
> for Public Justice.

[robbedvoter]

57. Good old MWO: Did Bush Lie About Kenneth Lay & Enron?

>
> -- from Media Whores Online: http://www.mediawhoresonline.com/
>
> Did Bush Lie About Kenneth Lay & Enron?
>
> It Sure Looks That Way!
>
> Bush's Big Lie
> Caught Red-Handed in Lie to American People!
> Will the News Media Wake UP??!
>
> Yesterday, in his press appearance about Enron,
> George W. Bush stated flatly that Kenneth Lay, CEO
> of the bankrupt Enron Corporation, supported his
> opponent, Ann Richards, in the 1994 Texas governor's
> race, and that he, Bush, only got to know Lay after
> that election.
>
> But easily obtained reports and records directly
> contradict Bush's statements. The sources for this
> information are the Federal Election Commission, the
> Center for Public Integrity, the Center for
> Responsive Politics, Newsweek, the Boston Globe, the
> Atlanta Journal Constitution, the New Yorker, and
> the Nation.
>
> These reports show that Dubya and Lay go back a very
> long time.
>
> Lay contributed handsomely to Bush's 1978
> congressional campaign: a full SIXTEEN YEARS before
> Bush told the press he got to know the man.
>
> Enron and the family's of its top executives donated
> at least $100,000 to Dubya's gubernatorial campaign
> in 1994 -- the year, Bush told the press, that Lay
> supposedly supported Ann Richards. Although Lay may
> have given money to Richards, he strongly supported
> Dubya.
>
> Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, is an old friend
> and financial beneficiary of Kenneth Lay.
>
> After the 1992 election left Secretary of State and
> Secretary of Commerce (and Bush pals) James Baker
> and Robert Mossbacher jobless, he signed as
> consultants for Enron.
>
> An article by Seymour Hersh in 1993 disclosed that
> Neil Bush, another presidential son (hard to keep up
> with all the members of the Bush Crime Family: Neil
> is the one cited by federal regulators for
> conflict-of-interest violations regarding a failed
> savings and loan), had attempted to do business with
> Enron in Kuwait.
>
> Yesterday, Bush sat in the White House and told the
> American people, in effect, "I had no relationship
> with that man, Mr. Lay before I became governor in
> 1995. He was a supporter of my opponent in 1994."
>
> OK, news media: will you call Bush and Ari Fleischer
> on this outrageous lie? Or will you sweep it under
> the rug?
>
> (Once Again: Imagine if Bill Clinton had done
> something like this. IMAGINE!!)
>
> Sources: Newsweek, 5/1/00; Boston Globe, 10/3/99;
> Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 4/27/00; Center
> for Public Integrity, THE BUYING OF THE PRESIDENT
> 2000; Center for Responsive Politics, website
> www.crp.org;FEC Records; The Nation, 11/21/94;
> Democratic Policy Committee, SPECIAL INTEREST

[robbedvoter]

58. Huston Chronicle on Ari's lies:

: 13 Jan 2002 00:06:31 by  Robbedvoter
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/editorial/1206915
Jan. 10, 2002,
6:23PM
Your tar and
feathers ready?
Mine are.
By CRAGG HINES
Ari Fleischer, that simpering
twit of a White House
spokesman, urged Thursday
that the Enron debacle not be
turned into a partisan witch
hunt. OK, Ari, let's make it a
bipartisan witch hunt.
But all the news seems so
Republican-specific at the
moment. You know they're
getting edgy at the White House
when both President Bush and
Fleischer -- within about 30
minutes of each other -- try to
blame Enron Chief Executive
Officer Ken Lay (the single
largest contributor to Bush's
political career) on Ann
Richards. Whoever wrote that
talking point needs to be sent
to the correspondence pool. It,
at least, was not a good day to
try the line.
Let's wade right in on the
Justice Department's criminal
investigation. That would be the
same Justice Department
headed by Attorney General
John Ashcroft, who it seems
was one of many politicians who
benefited from the largesse of
Lay, other Enron executives and
the company's political action
committee.
In addition to some other
contributions sent Ashcroft's
way, Lay gave $25,000 to a
political action committee that
Ashcroft headed when he was a
U.S. senator from Missouri
(before he was defeated in
2000 by a dead Democrat).
Ashcroft recused himself
Thursday (and his top Justice
aide followed suit) from the
Enron investigation, but only
after the contributions were
cited by the Center for Public
Integrity.
Fleischer, even before the
recusals, did the usual tap
dance: "The president has full
faith and confidence in the
professional prosecutors of the
Department of Justice and in
the attorney general to do what
is right. ... " Prosecutors, sí;
Ashcroft, no.
Now back to Fleischer and the
witch hunt. The spokesman's
latest whining came as the Bush
administration battled to stay
centimeters ahead of the Enron
conflagration (an effort
manifested by Bush's
announcement of a federal
study of bankruptcies and
pensions. Duh.)
And just moments later -- this
is rich -- Fleischer himself had
to correct (he'd say "clarify")
the record regarding
administration contacts with
Enron.
On Wednesday, Fleischer said he
was "not aware of anyone in the
White House" who discussed
Enron's troubles with company
executives. (That's to separate
company-specific contacts
from Enron's six meetings over
the last year with the office of
Vice President Dick Cheney
about supposedly strictly
energy-biz stuff. The veep's
staff finally disclosed those
sessions to Congress this
week.)
Unless you take a narrow,
quibbling (Nixonian? Clintonian?)
view of what constitutes "the
White House," Ari's knowledge
was severely limited about
administration contacts.
As it turns out, and as
Fleischer disclosed Thursday,
two Cabinet secretaries -- Paul
O'Neill at Treasury and Donald
Evans at Commerce -- were
telephoned last fall by Lay
about the coming implosion.
Fleischer said Lay told O'Neill
about Enron's impending
bankruptcy and "wanted the
secretary to be aware so that
the Long Term Capital
experience could be a guide."
What is Fleischer telling us?
That Lay was looking for a
bailout, such as the one Long
Term Capital Management got in
the 1990s? The hedge fund
received a private-sector
bailout organized by the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York.
At any rate, Fleischer said
Evans and O'Neill agreed that
"no action should be taken" to
intervene. At least they seem
to have gotten that part right.
Fleischer said neither O'Neill nor
Evans mentioned the Lay calls
to Bush. Only refracting that
claim through what we've
learned over the last quarter
century about "plausible
deniability" does that seem at
all, well, plausible.
It was very thoughtful of Lay to
be in touch with the
administration, and possibly to
be shopping for a bailout. But
due diligence only goes so far. I
bet that a lot of Enron
employees and shareholders
would have liked a similar
ringy-dingy about Oct. 28 or
Nov. 8 (the dates that Treasury
spokeswoman Michelle Davis
said Lay called O'Neill).

[robbedvoter]

59. White House told to hold to Enron papers

Fri Feb 1, 9:38 PM ET
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20020202/ts_nm/enron_dc_4
By Peter Cooney
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush unveiled reforms Friday to
protect workers like those who lost their pension savings in the
collapse of Enron Corp., while the Justice Department ordered the
White House to hold onto documents dealing with the fallen energy
trader.
The White House said it would comply with
the request, which covers all written notes,
letters and computer records related to
Enron's financial condition and business
interests since Jan. 1, 1999.
A Justice Department task force and the FBI
have been conducting a criminal investigation
into the collapse of Enron -- Bush's top
political contributor.
Separately, a judge ordered a White House
energy task force to explain why it will not
release details of meetings with Enron
executives.
Bush announced the pension reforms at a
Republican Party retreat at White Sulphur
Springs, West Virginia, underscoring his
party's concern that the demise of Enron
could hurt Republicans in the Nov. 5
congressional elections.
The administration denies it gave any special
favors to Enron, which made some $623,000
in contributions to Bush's campaigns since
1993.
White House Must Save Enron Papers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&u=/ap/20020202/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/enron_investigation_287
Fri Feb 1, 7:13 PM ET
By RON FOURNIER, AP White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department ordered the White House
and other federal departments Friday to preserve all documents
relating to conversations with Enron executives about the firm's
financial condition.
The order, announced by the White House,
covers all documents including e-mails,
letters, computer records and notes since
Jan. 1, 1999, nearly two years before
President Bush took office.
Bush, a longtime friend of former Enron
Chairman Kenneth Lay, has sought to distance
himself from the gathering financial scandal
surrounding the collapse of the Texas-based
company and the loss of life-savings of
thousands of workers and stockholders.

[robbedvoter]

60. NYT: Article on Lay interviewing prospects for FERC

Power Trader Tied to Bush
------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.mindfully.org/Energy/Bush-Enron-Hebert.htm
Finds Washington All Ears
Lowell Bergman and Jeff Gerth / New York Times 25may01
Curtis Hébert Jr., Washington's top electricity regulator, said he
had barely settled
into his new job this year when he had an unsettling telephone
conversation with
Kenneth L. Lay, the head of the nation's largest electricity
trader, the Enron
Corporation.
Mr. Hébert, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
said that Mr. Lay,
a close friend of President Bush's, offered him a deal: If he
changed his views on
electricity deregulation, Enron would continue to support him in
his new job.
Mr. Hébert (pronounced A- bear) recalled that Mr. Lay prodded him
to back a national
push for retail competition in the energy business and a faster
pace in opening up
access to the electricity transmission grid to companies like
Enron.
Mr. Hébert said he refused the offer. "I was offended," he
recalled, though he said he
knew of Mr. Lay's influence in Washington and thought the refusal
could put his job in
jeopardy.
Asked about the conversation, Mr. Lay praised Mr. Hébert, but
recalled it differently. "I
remember him requesting" Enron's support at the White House, he
said of Mr. Hébert.
Mr. Lay said he had "very possibly" discussed issues relating to
the commission's
authority over access to the grid.
As to Mr. Hébert's job, Mr. Lay said he told the chairman that "the
final decision on this
was going to be the president's, certainly not ours."
Though the accounts of the discussion differ, that it took place at
all illustrates
Enron's considerable influence in Washington, especially at the
commission, the agency
authorized to ensure fair prices in the nation's wholesale
electricity and natural gas
markets, Enron's main business.
Mr. Lay has been one of Mr. Bush's largest campaign contributors,
and no other energy
company gave more money to Republican causes last year than Enron.
And it appears that Mr. Hébert may soon be replaced as the
commission's chairman,
according to Vice President Dick Cheney, the Bush administration's
point man on
energy policy.
Mr. Lay has weighed in on candidates for other commission posts,
supplying President
Bush's chief personnel adviser with a list of preferred candidates.
One Florida utility
regulator who hoped for but did not receive an appointment as a
commissioner said he
had been "interviewed" by Mr. Lay.

[robbedvoter]

61. Buzzflash: Bush Incorporated, in bed with the Enron bandits from day one

http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/bcentral.html
BuzzFlash Editorials
Bush Incorporated, in bed with the Enron bandits from day one
February 8, 2002
Political battles are often won or lost depending upon who defines the terms of the debate to their advantage. Right now the White House has successfully argued that Bush Incorporated is innocent of wrongdoing because they did nothing for Enron after being notified of its impending bankruptcy last fall.
But that is the wrong lens through which to judge their Enron complicity: the question is what did the Bush administration do to help Enron try to avoid bankruptcy from January 20th until the fall of 2001?
The answer to that question, of course, is that as soon as Bush raised his right hand at his inauguration, it was hard to tell whether the White House was a subsidiary of Enron or Enron was a subsidiary of the White House.
There have been reports that Enron insiders were aware of a looming collapse for months and even perhaps a year or more prior to the announcement of the formal bankruptcy. That means that Ken Lay and other Enron officials, including those who ended up as White House appointees, probably knew from the moment Bush was sworn in the actions that needed to be taken to try and stave off the company's implosion.
The Enron bandits needed help from Bush Incorporated beginning with Day One - and the got it. Here is what BBC investigative reporter Greg Palast told BuzzFlash in an interview we are posting on February 8 on BuzzFlash.com:
"In December 2000, Bill Clinton was about to take his bow and leave office. In response to Enron's laying siege to California, Clinton issued through the Energy Department, an order which effectively barred Enron from trading into California. It effectively put Enron out of business for a while on their biggest trades. The day after George Bush took office, which means, he was still hung over and, you know, sweeping out the confetti out of the Oval Office, he had the Energy Department issue an order overturning Clinton's order, putting Enron back into the speculation game in power. I'd like to know how that happened. How did they make that decision in hours of taking office? Who set that up and when? That's one of the first questions."
It wasn't just that Ken Lay had immeasurable influence on the secretive, "Skull and Bones" Dick Cheney energy industry energy committee. The record shows that the Bush administration fought privately and publicly, on a number of fronts, for key measures that would advance the economic well-being of Enron and perhaps stave off its economic collapse.
Take for example the way in which the head of FERC was eased out because Ken Lay wanted someone who would more aggressively push for energy deregulation. The current chairman of FERC was first a Ken Lay/Bush appointment when Bush was governor of Texas. The hijacking of FERC by Ken Lay (through Bush) is a key example of how the White House did everything it could for Enron to help them forestall bankruptcy. (see Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle and BuzzFlash)
By the time the White House allegedly received notice of Enron's imminent bankruptcy in the fall, it wasn't a question of whether or not the White House did anything at that time. The reality is that there was nothing left that they could do. That doesn't make them virtuous. It just means they had exhausted all their efforts to assist Enron.
They had given Enron the keys to America's energy policies, appointed former Enron officials to key positions, had the Vice President and the Treasury Secretary openly advocate for policies favorable to Enron, and let Ken Lay throw his weight around D.C. like an 800 pound guerilla who had the President of the United States on the end of his leash.
Among other publicly aggressive efforts to shore up Enron, Cheney threatened that states might have land seized under eminent domain to provide right of ways for power grids (sought by Enron.) Secretary O'Neill (who on February 7th sobbed under withering questioning by Senator Robert Byrd, and bizarrely claimed he was born into a ditch) fought tougher offshore banking regulations (which would have limited Enron's offshore corporate scams). The Secretary of the Army, the former head of one of Enron's "troubled" divisions, was urging the privatization of utilities for the army, with you-know-who as the likely contract recipient. Dick Cheney tried to assist Enron in getting out of a jam involving an India power station. Cheney and the White House stridently adopted Enron's position that no price caps be imposed during California's energy crisis. Well, the list goes on and on.
All along, during the first months of the Bush administration, Ken Lay and has band of corporate bandits were desperate. They knew they were headed for a hard landing if the man they helped bankroll to the White House (with a final boost from the Supreme Court) didn't give them everything they wanted. They got their wish. But in the end, their corruption was so entrenched that their Jerry-rigged sleazy multi-billion dollar scam collapsed of its own weight. Their fall 2001 calls were nothing more than a courtesy to the White House to allow the Bush scrubbers time to build a cover story before the Enron sign fell onto the Houston pavement and smashed the stock portfolios and retirement funds of tens of thousands of Americans into smithereens.
The press and the Senate Democrats are debating the wrong point. They are looking for a smoking gun after Enron's autumn calls to Bush administration officials. But the smoking gun has been right there for them to see all along. It was an Enron starter's gun fired off on Inauguration day.
By October of 2001, the ball game was already over. Even the old general manager of the Texas

[robbedvoter]

62. (Jeb)Bush took call of Enron chief

Bush took call of Enron chief
No sign governor was closely linked
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/2619874.htm
BY JONI JAMES
[e-mail]
TALLAHASSEE - Six months before Enron came under the scrutiny of federal regulators, Gov. Jeb Bush took a call from Kenneth Lay as the energy giant's then-chairman flew in the company jet.
The topic: Congressional proposals for deregulating the nation's energy market and how Florida's market might be affected.
''I'd love to meet with Ken,'' the governor wrote on March 7 in response to an email from Enron's Tallahassee lobbyist, Bill Bryant, who had written to say Lay wished to fly to Tallahassee to discuss the topic with Bush.
It was more than a month -- April 17 -- before the two men spoke, and it was over the phone, according to documents released Wednesday by the governor's office in response to a public records request from The Herald.
The half-inch-thick stack of documents does not provide any evidence that Bush's involvement with Enron was particularly close.
In Washington, the governor's brother, President Bush, and Vice President Dick Cheney have come under fire from Congress for not releasing the records of meetings Cheney conducted with Lay and other Enron executives as he drafted federal deregulation proposals. A former top advisor to Cheney, Kathleen Shanahan, is now Jeb Bush's chief of staff.
Enron and Lay have been key supporters of the Bush family since the governor's father, former President George Bush, sought the White House. During 1998, the company, its affiliates and personnel gave Jeb Bush's campaign $6,500 as part of more than $120,000 the company spent in the state.
''We have had little to nil contract with Enron and its subsidiaries,'' Katie Baur, the governor's spokeswoman, said Wednesday. ``I think the documents bear that out.''
But exactly what Jeb Bush's conversation with Lay entailed wasn't clear Wednesday. Last week the governor told The Herald he didn't recall ever talking with Enron executives concerning deregulation. In an e-mail late Wednesday, the governor wrote, ``I don't recall speaking to Ken Lay. I would have gladly done so, but I don't recall doing it.''
Bush, who serves as chairman of the three-member State Board of Administration that oversees the state's retirement fund, has authorized lawsuits against Lay and other Enron directors as well as the board of Arthur Andersen, Enron's auditors. The state's public employee pension fund lost $325 million because of the Enron collapse.
The Jeb Bush-Lay conversation occurred about three weeks before the 2001 legislative session wrapped up, but long after Bush and other top Republicans had backed off proposals to deregulate Florida's wholesale electricity market in the wake of the California deregulation debacle. The governor says he still supports ''a cautious move'' toward deregulation, but neither he nor Senate President John McKay or House Speaker Tom Feeney have made it a priority for the 2002 session underway.

 

   Subject: Enron CEO and Jeb Bush phone discussion April 2001
A possible connection to the massive purchase of stock by the Florida Retirement System?
Of note:
1. Jeb Bush did not "recall" meeting or talking with anyone from Enron during his tenure as governor,
2. A member of the Enron board of directors also worked for the money management firm that bought most of the Enron stock for Florida -- although the stock was purchased after that executive had left the money management firm.
http://www.newscoast.com/frontpage/story.cfm?ID=61726
Governor, Enron CEO had phone discussion
By GARY FINEOUT, CAPITAL BUREAU
02/07/02
TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush spent up to a half-hour on the phone last April with Kenneth Lay, the former chairman of Enron Corp., the now-bankrupt Houston-based energy conglomerate that had an interest in breaking open Florida's energy market to outside companies.
The disclosure that Bush talked to Lay was revealed in public records made available to several news organizations Wednesday.
Bush said late last month he did not "recall" meeting or talking with anyone from Enron during his tenure as governor, although he said he had met with representatives of an Enron subsidiary.
Lay, who this week refused to voluntarily testify to Congress about the demise of his corporation, and Enron were one of the largest donors in the 2000 election to President George W. Bush, the older brother of Florida's governor.
Several Enron officials -- including Lay -- also donated money to Jeb Bush's 1998 campaign for governor.
A Bush spokesperson downplayed the significance of the telephone call between Lay and Bush, pointing out that the records showed that officials in the governor's office have had very limited contacts with anyone representing Enron.
"The governor has an excellent memory, but not an infallible memory," said Katie Baur, director of communications for Bush. "This has to be the most anticlimatic public records request you have received."
Before its demise, including allegations of auditors shredding records, Enron was a major proponent of deregulating the electric industry in this country. It was one of a handful of outside companies hopeful that Florida would follow the lead of Texas and California and allow competition among electricity companies.
Florida does not allow consumers to choose their own electric company. Plus the state has rigid laws that limit the ability of out-of-state companies to build power plants here.
During his time as governor, Bush has been supportive of deregulation and he created a study commission to look at whether Florida could allow competition among electric companies. That commission produced recommendations it wanted legislators to enact last spring when Lay and Bush talked.
The Energy 2020 Commission, as it is known, was headed by Coral Gables businessman Walter Revell, who was appointed by Bush. Revell was friends with Lay when Revell worked for a Florida natural gas company.

[robbedvoter]

63. California crisis cronology (Clinton did help, Ari dear)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.johnlaxmi.com/CADateline.htm
2/8/01
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Here are the key events in
California's power crisis, which
has its origins in a landmark 1996 law that deregulated the state's
power markets.
The law prohibited utilities from passing through all increases in
wholesale power costs until
spring 2002, and barred them from negotiating long-term supply
contracts.
March 31, 1998 - California opens its electricity markets to
competition after a delay due to
computer glitches.
July 1999 - Customers of Sempra Energy unit San Diego Gas and Electric
become the first in
the nation to pay free market prices without a safety net after price
freeze lifted. Rates
remain frozen for customers of the state's two other investor-owned
utilities, PG&E Corp. unit
Pacific Gas and Electric and Edison International subsidiary Southern
California Edison (SoCal
Edison).
Late spring 2000 - Wholesale power prices start to soar as supplies
struggle to keep pace with
surging demand linked to a buoyant economy.
June 2000 - San Diego customers get a harsh free market lesson when
higher wholesale power
prices triple their rates.
June 14 - A localized series of blackouts is ordered in the San
Francisco Bay Area due to a
power shortage. California lurches through a series of power
emergencies during the summer
amid soaring demand for air conditioning during heat waves.
Sept. 6 - Calif. Gov. Gray Davis signs into law a rate cap for San
Diego Gas and Electric
customers after public outcry.
Nov. 17 - SoCal Edison files with state regulators to raise customers
rates by 9.9 percent,
effective January 1, 2001, to help recover billions of dollars in
uncollected power costs.
Nov. 22 - PG&E files to raise rates by 16.5 percent, effective January
1, 2001.
Nov. 29 - Consumers file a $1 billion class action lawsuit accusing 14
energy companies of
manipulating prices.
Dec. 4 - California utilities ask consumers to refrain from turning on
Christmas lights until
after 8 p.m. to save power.
Dec. 7 - The California Independent System Operator (ISO), which
operates most of the state's
power grid, issues its first ever highest-level Stage Three alert, but
rolling blackouts across
the state are narrowly averted after the federal government takes
emergency action to boost
power supplies.
Dec. 13 - The Clinton administration takes rare action of invoking
emergency powers to prevent
blackouts in California after a dozen power generators refuse to sell
electricity to state
utilities due to concerns about credit worthiness.
Dec. 15 - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) orders
California utilities to begin
negotiating long-term contracts of up to 20 years instead of relying on
volatile spot market
and rejects calls for a regional wholesale price cap.
Dec. 27 - U.S. natural gas futures hit a record high $10.10 per million
Btu, about four times
above year-ago prices.
Dec 28. - Green party leader Ralph Nader says the state's financially
strapped utilities should be
allowed to fail.
Jan. 4, 2001 - The California Public Utility Commission (PUC) orders
independent audits of PG&E
and SoCal Edison and approves an average 10 percent increase in retail
rates. But action seen
as too little, too late on Wall Street.
Jan. 5 - Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's downgrade PG&E
and SoCal Edison
credit ratings to one level above junk bond ratings. Fitch cuts ratings
even lower.
Also, the state treasurer proposes long-term plan to create a new state
authority able to issue
up to $10 billion in bonds to help utilities build power plants and
transmission lines.
Meanwhile, U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson extends through Jan.
10 emergency order
mandating that power generators and marketers sell power to California
to prevent blackouts.
Jan. 5 - SoCal Edison says it will cut 1,450 jobs, or 13 percent of its
workforce, over the next
few months, bringing to 1,850 the total number of job cuts for the
company since the
California power crisis began.
Jan. 8 - In his State of the State address, Gov. Davis calls the
state's electricity deregulation a
"colossal and dangerous failure". He vows to save the state's two
biggest utilities from
bankruptcy, proposing a new California power authority and a crackdown
on price-gougers.
Jan. 9 - Davis flies to Washington to press his plan with utility
executives, federal regulators
and the Clinton administration's top economic officials. Washington
calls the meeting to prevent
reverberations throughout the U.S. economy from California's severe
power shortage. PG&E
and SoCal Edison have run up some $12 billion in power costs in recent
months.
After the meeting, a vaguely-worded statement is issued for ways to
solve the crisis, including
helping utilities negotiate long-term contracts to buy electricity.
Jan. 10 - PG&E asks Gov. Davis for help to buy natural gas for
customers, saying it does not
have enough cash coming in to pay its bills. Meanwhile, FERC Chairman
James Hoecker, a
Democrat, announces his resignation, effective January 18.
Jan. 11 - The California ISO says up to two million residents will lose
power in an unprecedented
series of rolling blackouts, but the state is rescued by emergency help
from Canada and the
Pacific Northwest
Jan. 12 - The governors of California, Oregon and Washington urge
federal energy officials to
impose "effective price controls" to stabilize the western states'
chaotic wholesale power
market.
Jan. 16 - California declares a statewide Stage Three alert for the
third time, citing a severe
power shortage, but averts rolling blackouts. Meanwhile, SoCal Edison
says it cannot pay some
$596 million it owes creditors. The state's top two utilities see their
credit ratings cut to low
junk status by leading rating agencies, putting them in default of bank
loans and credit lines and
moving them closer to bankruptcy.
Jan. 17 - Rolling blackouts are ordered statewide for the first time
ever in a desperate bid to
avoid overloading the state's power grid. Also PG&E says it defaults on
$76 million of
commercial paper, the second California utility to default.
Jan. 18 - A fresh wave of blackouts hit parts of northern and central
California for a second
straight day. Some two million Californians have experienced rolling
blackouts.
Jan. 19 - President Bill Clinton declares a natural gas supply
emergency in California and orders
out-of-state suppliers to continue selling gas to PG&E after the
utility says several energy
firms refuse to sell it gas on credit because of fears they will not be
paid.
Also, Republican Curtis Hebert is appointed by President George W. Bush
to head the FERC.
Jan. 23 - The Bush administration extends emergency orders forcing
out-of-state companies to
supply electricity and natural gas to California utilities through Feb.
6, but warns there will be
no further extensions. The emergency orders were extended several times
by the outgoing
Clinton administration.
Jan. 24 - California concludes the state's first-ever electricity
"auction". Weighted average of
bids is 6.9 cents per kilowatt hours (kWh), or $69 per megawatt hour
(MWh).
Jan. 25 - U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says the
California energy crisis could
undermine economic growth and affect the rest of the economy if not
urgently addressed.
Jan. 28 - President George W. Bush says it is up to the state to dig
itself out of a self-inflicted
hole.
Jan. 29 - Officials say California has already burned through its $400
million energy emergency
fund in less than two weeks, forcing the state to begin scrounging for
more public money to
keep the electricity flowing.
Jan 29 - The California PUC releases results of audit into SoCal Edison
that reveals a company
hemorrhaging red ink and deep in debt -- but one which, until recently,
still managed to disburse
billions of dollars in dividends to shareholders.
Jan 30 - PG&E audit reveals that officers were slow to recognize signs
pointing toward the
energy crisis and did not act to develop steps to conserve cash until
only last month.
Feb. 2. Gov. Davis signs a bill to allow the state to sign long-term
energy contracts with
suppliers and sell up to $10 billion of bonds to buy power.
Feb. 8. - The state treasurer proposes buying the transmission lines
from California's two
nearly bankrupt utilities. Lawmakers have also mulled taking over the
utilities' hydroelectric
plants or having the state issue bonds to ease their debt in return for
stock warrants.
Also, Gov. Davis orders an expedited approval process for new power
plant construction, saying
it would help bring 20,000 megawatts of new generation on line by July
2004. He also eased
emissions controls on older plants.
Meanwhile, California faces a Stage Three emergency for the 24th
consecutive day

[robbedvoter]

64. Conyers asked Rove to itemize links with Enron - Febr 2002

A Democratic congressman asked White House
political adviser
Karl Rove on Tuesday to detail any contacts he had involving
Republican operative
Ralph Reed's consulting contract at Enron.
The White House has confirmed that Rove recommended Reed to
Enron for a job
in 1997. Reed was hired by Enron in September, shortly after he
resigned as
executive director of the Christian Coalition. Bush, who was
considering a
presidential run at the time, wanted Reed to help him court
conservative voters for
the 2000 election.
Rep. John Conyers, ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary
Committee, asked
Rove to specify "all Enron personnel and representatives you
contacted regarding
Mr. Reed's consulting agreement."<snip>

[robbedvoter]

65. Enron Disclosures Weigh On Bush

> Enron Disclosures Weigh On Bush
>
> Sunday February 3, 2002 10:20 PM
>
> WASHINGTON (AP) - A Republican committee chairman said Sunday the Bush
> administration probably will end up revealing information about its energy
> meetings, amid reports of more contacts with Enron and other power companies.
>
> ``I suspect ... the president and the vice president are going to disclose
> more and more of this information simply as a political matter,'' Rep.
> Billy Tauzin, R-La., chairman of the House Energy and
> Commerce Committee, said on NBC's ``Meet the Press.''
>
> Tauzin and another Republican, Jim Greenwood of Pennsylvania, said they
> were sympathetic to Vice President Dick Cheney's view that his task force,
> which formulated the administration's energy policy last spring, is
> entitled to keep its contacts confidential.
>
> The president and vice president are protecting ``the presidency itself,''
> making sure that ``Congress is not being unconstitutional in demanding
> certain documents,'' Greenwood said on CNN's ``Late Edition.''
>
> Appearing on CNN with Greenwood, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said it's
> ``better to have everything out than to have things done secretly. That's
> what makes good government.''
>
> Cheney's office said last month that Enron representatives met six times
> with the vice president or his aides to discuss the nation's energy policy.
>
> On Sunday, Newsweek reported it had found a seventh meeting, in which
> Cheney's top energy aide met March 29 with the Clean Power Group - five
> power companies, including Enron.
>
> The companies sought support for trading of ``pollution credits'' among
> corporations, a practice from which Enron could have made money.
>
> The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, says it
> will sue to get the information. A federal judge in another lawsuit has
> directed the administration to explain by Tuesday why its contacts with the
> energy industry should remain secret.
>
> Time magazine, meanwhile, said electric utility lobbyists Marc Racicot and
> Haley Barbour met with Cheney's task force May 3 and that the head of coal
> company Peabody Energy met with Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Bush
> economic adviser Larry Lindsey in March. Racicot is GOP chairman and
> Barbour is a former GOP chairman.

[robbedvoter]

66. Alberto Gonzales also tied with Enron

------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nydailynews.com/2002-02-10/News_and_Views/Beyond_the_City/a-140876.asp
Sunday, February 10, 2002
New Bush Tie to Enron
White House lawyer got 35G while in Tex.
By BOB PORT
Daily News Staff Writer
Yet another White House official has a long history
with Enron.
White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, who has been
mentioned as a possible Bush nominee for the Supreme
Court, received more than $100,000 in political
contributions from the energy industry in recent years
as a justice on the Texas Supreme Court.
Enron and Enron's law firm were Gonzales' biggest
contributors in his 2000 judicial election, giving
$35,450. Gonzales also worked for Enron's law firm
from 1982 through 1992.
In addition, Gonzales served as special counsel to the
host committee for a 1990 world economic summit held
in Houston. Former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay was chairman
of that committee.
Now Gonzales is the White House advocate for keeping
secret the roster of people who helped Vice President
Cheney devise the administration's energy policy.
Congress plans to go to court to force the release of
that information. When the White House position is
tested there, Gonzales will be fighting a
precedent-setting case.
"I think the administration will lose in court if it
goes that far," said Philip Schiliro, chief of staff
for Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who started the
congressional inquiries.
White House spokeswoman Anne Womack said, "We're very
confident of our position."
Gonzales, 45, a Harvard Law School graduate, has grown
to become one of the President's most trusted
advisers.
As governor, George W. Bush chose him to be general
counsel. In 1997, Bush named him Texas secretary of
state, and two years later appointed him to a vacancy
on the state's high court.
Texas elects judges. Within two weeks of being sworn
in as a justice, Gonzales got his first $5,000
campaign check from Vinson & Elkins, the Houston law
firm that has Enron as its biggest client and
represents Haliburton, the energy services company
where Cheney used to work.
In May 2000, Gonzales was author of a state Supreme
Court opinion that handed the energy industry one of
its biggest Texas legal victories in recent history.
In Bernal vs. Southwestern Refining, Texas justices,
voting 6-3, threw out a class-action suit by 885
Corpus Christi, Tex., homeowners whose families were
harmed and property damaged by heat, smoke and toxic
fumes in a 1994 refinery tank explosion.
Texas law gives lower courts final say whether a
lawsuit qualifies as a group action. Such suits let
average people pool resources to hire lawyers and
experts.
But Gonzales said the Texas Supreme Court could take
over the Corpus Christi case on a technicality.
"We were just outright flabbergasted," said William
Bonilla, the Corpus Christi lawyer who started the
suit. "It was just grossly unfair, and these people,
to this day, haven't gotten a dime."
Bonilla said Gonzales' opinion "blocks any plaintiffs
from bringing a personal injury claim as a class
action in Texas." He said Gonzales, given his history
with V&E, Enron and Haliburton, should have recused
himself.

[robbedvoter]

67. MWO: ENRON SECRETLY FUNDED ATTACKS ON DEMOCRATS

In a shocking new development in the Enron scandal, Newsweek
has divulged that
Enron gave $50,000 to its $700,000 a year lobbyist and
prominent G.O.P.
Operative Ed Gillespie to make alliances with conservative
groups in order to launch
partisan attacks against Democrats.
The bombshell report demolishes the Republican argument, used
to deflect
criticism about Enron, that both parties were equally tainted
by the collapsed corrupt
energy giant.
It is well known that three-quarters of Enron's campaign money
went to Republicans
and that, according to the Democratic National Committee, the
amount of money
that Enron gave to GWB alone greatly surpassed that given to
all Democrats
combined.
But now we know that the Enron-GOP partisan alliance went far
beyond that -- into
targeting Democrats and their pro-environment supporters for
direct political attack.
The story first emerged two weeks ago, when the Los Angeles
Times reported on
Gillespie's 21st Century Energy Council, a consortium of energy
companies and
conservative groups (including Grover Norquist's American
Conservative Union) that
formed in 2001.
According to the Times, Gillespie aimed to use the group in
order, as he said in
one secret memo, to "Carterize the Democrats," and make them
into "the 'eat your
peas' party," as a means to push the Bush Administration's
energy plan and
disarm environmental protection.

www.mediawhoresonline.com
link to LATimes story:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-021102memo.story
Link to this week's Newsweek article:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/709395.asp?cp1=1
 

[IChing]

68. Thank you so much for contributing to this thread robbedvoter and others

Had to take care of other things,
man this list is long maybe the administrators
could put this in the research forum also.

[robbedvoter]

70. Glad my archive finally came to good use

At the time I thought - like many others that Enron will be the end of Bushco...so I saved every scrap...

[robbedvoter]

69. All the love letters Kenny-W from smoking gun

as posted on the other thread
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/bushlay1.html
also, keep in mind #33 - it has the overview

[Octafish]

75. Bush ALWAYS has to put the other person down. Even Kenny Boy.

When he's not patting Jeff Gannon or other bald men on the head,
or commenting on a man's personal beauty,
Bush enjoys putting people down.

Below he does the "Me-Up, You're-Down" on Kenny Boy.

"Your younger friend."

Another sign of psychosis, eh, Herr Doktor?



http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0708042lay1.html

[proud patriot]

74. Thank You

that 2003 common dreams article is going to help
oust the gropenator this fall :patriot:

[Octafish]

76. Remember when Smirko called to strong-arm Argentina on ENRON's behalf?

The record shows the BFEE MeisterTurd Bush went to bat for KennyBoy Lay in 1988:

Don't Cry for Bush, Argentina

News: George W. may not recall the names of world leaders, but when it comes to foreign affairs, he knows the value of his own family's name.

By Louis Dubose and Carmen Coiro
Mother Jones
March/April 2000 Issue

Texans watched with interest last winter as Governor George W. Bush was home-schooled on international affairs by former Secretary of State George Shultz and other veterans of his father's foreign-policy team. Even Carl Bildt, the former prime minister of Sweden, was brought in for a tutorial at the governor's mansion, in the hope that his recent U.N. experience in the Balkans could help Bush understand that Kosovars are not "Kosavarians" and that Greeks are not "Grecians."


SNIP...

In 1988, Terragno was considering two proposals for the $300-million pipeline, one from an Italian firm called Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi and the other from Pérez Companc, an Argentine company working in partnership with Dow Chemical. After a year of consideration, the minister was close to making a decision when Enron, the largest pipeline company in the United States, suddenly entered the bidding.

At the time, the Houston-based Enron had no experience in Argentina. It had formed a business relationship with Westfield, a small Argentine firm, but Westfield wasn't much of a player either. El Boletín Oficial -- the Argentine equivalent of the Federal Register -- reported that Westfield's only asset in 1988 was $20, its corporate filing fee. Westfield was a prestanombre, literally a "borrowed name" used to provide a domestic front for a foreign firm.

SNIP...

A few weeks after the U.S. presidential election in 1988, Terragno received a phone call from a failed Texas oilman named George W. Bush, who happened to be the son of the president-elect. "He told me he had recently returned from a campaign tour with his father," the Argentine minister recalls. The purpose of the call was clear: to push Terragno to accept the bid from Enron.

"He was taking a moment to call me because he knew that I was dealing with this," says Terragno, adding that Bush told him that he "viewed with some concern the slow pace of the Enron project." According to Terragno, the president-elect's son noted that a deal with Enron "would be very favorable for Argentina and its relations with the United States."

CONTINUED...

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2000/03/argentina.html

Sad to see that these turds thought they could get away with ripping off the entire planet.
Sadder still they almost got away with it.

CRAZY MONKEY

[flyarm]

80. yes people should read Greg Palasts " GLOBALIZATION"

JEB helped enron steal Argentina's oil for pennies to the dollar

i believe Argentinas crisis was practice for what they are doing to this nation now...
it was the world bank , jeb, and enron

now who did little lord pissy pants put in charge of the world bank???yep...
it was a practice run!!

fly

[Octafish]

77. Death of Cliff Baxter was MOST convenient for Lay 'n' Bush.

For the Bush Crime Family, people who represent "a problem" are put into a state where they no longer present "a problem." Death.

The strange and convenient death of J. Clifford Baxter

Enron executive found shot to death

By Patrick Martin
WSWS.org
28 January 2002

Without anything that can be called a serious investigation, local authorities in a wealthy Houston suburb have whitewashed the death of former Enron vice chairman J. Clifford Baxter, calling it a suicide. Baxter, 43, was found shot to death in his Mercedes Benz in the early hours of Friday morning, January 25, near his home in Sugar Land.

Baxter’s body was discovered inside his Mercedes Benz, which was parked in a turnaround on a street near his home. Officials in Sugar Land moved swiftly to label Baxter’s death a suicide. Local Justice of the Peace Jim Richard initially declared that Baxter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and no further inquiry was required. But within hours he reversed himself, citing the intense public interest in the death, and ordered an autopsy.

SNIP...

Neither the perfunctory official probe nor the media coverage has addressed the obvious suspicions aroused by the death of a critically important witness in the investigation into the criminal activities at Enron, the biggest corporate fraud in American history. Baxter quit as vice chairman of the company last May, after reportedly come into conflict with other top executives over the phony accounting gimmicks used to plunder billions of dollars.

The most disturbing account of Baxter’s last days comes from a former business associate who spoke to the New York Times but was not identified by the newspaper. This person spoke with the former Enron vice chairman two days before his death and congratulated him “for being named among those people who complained about Enron.”

According to the Times account, the unnamed associate added that Baxter “was talking about perhaps needing a bodyguard, though I’m not sure where that idea came from.”

CONTINUED...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/jan2002/enro-j28.shtml

[IChing]

81. I totally forgot about that odd piece of news which almost slipped

under the radar at that time. thanks octafish.

[robbedvoter]

86. I hace a whole slew of articles on him - the lack of autopsy, his wish

to hire a bodyguard before his 'suicide" etc. I only posted the articles that directly connect Kenny to W as per topic, but there's much, much more

[savemefromdumbya]

78. at the next Bush press conference will a reporter ask about Ken and George

I don't know Lay, I don't know Abramoff.

[dweller]

82. during the initial Enron meltdown

i remember reading that the crooked E had in the works to obtain the exclusive water rights for the whole planet ... can you imagine what that would mean?

wish i had saved the link, but i bet it's out there.

dp

[cosmicdot]

84. what's Pug Winokur and Wendy Gramm doing these days?

Bear Left!: Special Enron Page
http://www.bear-left.com/Enron.html

Enron and its conniving CEO, Kenneth Lay, were wired directly to the top: They were the largest money backers of George W's campaigns; they rushed money to Florida to help Bush's lawyers ramrod him into the presidency; they helped pay for his inaugural party -- and they even flew Daddy and Momma Bush to George's inauguration on an Enron jet.- Jim Hightower, January 25, 2002

Enron Board of Directors - 2001
````````````````````````````````

http://web.archive.org/web/20001015015351/

FIRSTROW, FROM LEFT, Ken L. Harrison, John A. Urquhart, Robert A. Belfer, Norman P. Blake, Jr., Robert K. Jaedicke, Ronnie C. Chan, Jeffrey K. Skilling, Kenneth L. Lay and Wendy L. Gramm. Second Row, from left, Bruce G. Willison, John H. Duncan, Joe H. Foy, Charls E. Walker, John Wakeham, Jerome J. Meyer, Herbert S. Winokur, Jr. and Charles A LeMaistre.

Robert A. Belfer (1,3)
New York, New York
Chairman,
Belco Oil & Gas Corp.

Norman P. Blake, Jr. (3,4)
Memphis, Tennessee
Chairman, President
and CEO, Promus Hotel Corporation

Ronnie C. Chan (2,3)
Hong Kong
Chairman,
Hang Lung Development Company Limited

John H. Duncan (1*,4)
Houston, Texas
Former Chairman
of the Executive
Committee of Gulf & Western Industries, Inc.

Joe H. Foy (1,2)
Houston, Texas
Retired Senior Partner,
Bracewell & Patterson,
and Former President
and COO, Houston
Natural Gas Corp.

Wendy L. Gramm (2,5)
Washington, D.C.
Former Chairman,
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Ken L. Harrison
Portland, Oregon
Vice Chairman, Enron Corp., Chairman and CEO, Portland General Electric Co.,
and Chairman of
Enron Communications

Robert K. Jaedicke (2*,4)
Stanford, California
Professor of Accounting (Emeritus) and Former Dean, Graduate School
of Business, Stanford University

Kenneth L. Lay (1)
Houston, Texas
Chairman and CEO,
Enron Corp.

Charles A. LeMaistre (1,4*)
Austin, Texas
President Emeritus, University of Texas, and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Jerome J. Meyer (3,5)
Wilsonville, Oregon
Chairman and CEO,
Tektronix, Inc.

Jeffrey K. Skilling (1)
Houston, Texas
President and COO,
Enron Corp.

John A. Urquhart (3)
Fairfield, Connecticut
Senior Advisor to the Chairman, Enron Corp., President, John A.
Urquhart Associates,
and Former Senior Vice President of Industrial
and Power Systems,
General Electric Company

John Wakeham (2,5)
London, England
Former U.K. Secretary
of State for Energy and Leader of the Houses of Lords and Commons

Charls E. Walker (3,5*)
Potomac, Maryland
Chairman, Walker & Walker, LLC, and Former Deputy Secretary of
the U.S. Treasury

Bruce G. Willison (2,3)
Irwindale, California
President and COO,
Home Savings of America

Herbert S. Winokur, Jr.(1,3*)
Greenwich, Connecticut
President, Winokur Holdings, Inc., and
Former Vice President,
Penn Central Corporation

(1) Executive Committee
(2) Audit Committee
(3) Finance Committee
(4) Compensation Committee
(5) Nominating Committee
* Denotes Committee Chairman

http://tinyurl.com/n2lw8

[Tin Man]

85. Great SmokingGun letters... oddly, Lay rec'd reading Thomas Friedman

Thomas Friedman is a NYTimes columnist and best-selling author of "The World is Flat" (2005) and "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" (1999) - two tomes investigating the rise of globalization in this era of rapid advancements in electronic technologies.

I find it interesting that Kenny-Boy wrote a note recommending that Governor Georgie-Boy read Friedman's 1999 piece on globalization in the NYTimes Sunday Magazine. I also find it funny that Kenny couldn't manage to consistently spell 'Friedman' correctly in the letter (he was 1 for 3 - not bad for a batting average, but pretty poor for the CEO of a powerful corporation).

March 31, 1999
Dear George,

I quite intentionally do not send you things to read knowing quite will that you probably have much more to read than you have time to read it. But I have made an exception with respect to the attached article by Tom Freidman(sic), which appeared in the New York Times magazine this past Sunday.

I believe Freidman's (sic) article concerning globalization is an exellent overview of most of the major issues concerning international financial markets and trade. Although the article is somewhat longer than it could be and includes some of Friedman's own biases toward particular safety nets, the overall content makes it well worth spending a few minutes to review.

My very best to you and Laura. Sincerely, Ken

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/bushlayb6.html

[Gregorian]

87. The media is totally to blame for all of this.

WE knew why Schwarznegger was installed. But the lack of media allowed it to happen. Cruz Bustamonte had an impending lawsuit, and installation of Schwar* would quash that. WE knew he met with Milken. WE knew. But everyone else didn't know. They come home, have their beer, and flip the tv on, maybe. And even if they did, all they got was NOTHING, maybe lies.

[robbedvoter]

89. There were Ahrnuld movies on every channel and Davis was excoriated

Still, I don't have excuses for the morons who don't make the effort to stay informed. Still, to feel better, there was a lot of diebolding in select counties in California, with no name candidates getting hundreds of thousands of Davis vote.
As for Bustamante - he helped them as sure as Nader did. There was no reason for a recall.

[Gregorian]

94. That's right. It's the people. The buck stops with the people.

I keep forgetting that. Vietnam was stopped by the people. Impeachment of Nixon was begun by the people. All of it would have been swept under the rug, like much that is happening now.

The people can wake up the easy way, or the hard way. That's particularly important with global warming, more than any of this. But anyways...

Thank you for reminding me.

[robbedvoter]

88. NY Post cover - Bad Lay

[progressoid]

90. This thread is depressing

Because it isn't going to get out to the people at large. I'll eat my shorts if any MSM even attempts to expose this.

[Octafish]

92. Bill Press: ''ENRON makes Whitewater look like peanuts''

Bill Press said this ENRON stuff was REAL, unlike Whitewater.

What's missing are an honest Congress, Judiciary and press.

ENRON makes Whitewater look like peanuts

By Bill Press
Tribune Media Services
December 12, 2001 Posted: 2:31 PM EST (1931 GMT)

EXCERPT...

But Enron may be more than the world's biggest corporate disaster. It could also be the world's biggest case of corporate criminality.

SNIP...

Even as the company started falling apart, other executives were rewarded. Just days before filing for bankruptcy, Enron handed $55 million out to some 500 senior officials: an average $110,000 bonus for screwing up.

Yes, something smells rotten in Houston. But something smells rotten in Washington, too -- because both the rise and fall of Enron are closely linked to the political fortunes of George W. Bush.

For years, Ken Lay and George Bush have been joined at the hip, two free-wheeling Texas buddies. One helped the other succeed in "bidness;" the other helped his pal make it big in politics.

Consider the Bush-Enron connections. Enron could never have happened anywhere but Texas. It was only able to grow so big, so fast, because of the deregulation of energy companies instituted by then-Gov. George W. Bush.

CONTINUED...

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/12/12/column.billpress/index.html

Course, that was back in 2001.

[phusion]

93. You all must watch Democracy Now! today (May 26)

It focuses on this relationship and the scope of the whole Enron thing. Very good piece...

http://www.democracynow.org