IP: Connect the Enron Dots to Bush

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 11:12:47 -0800
> From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger () ultradevices com>
> To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>,
>    Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Subject: Connect the Enron Dots to Bush
>
>
> Connect the Enron Dots to Bush
> http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-000098235dec11.column?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
> Robert Scheer
> December 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?
>
> <snip>
>
> This emerging scandal makes Whitewater seem puny in comparison;
> clearly there ought to be at least as aggressive a congressional
> inquiry into the connection between the Bush administration and the
> Enron debacle.  Facts must be revealed, beginning with the content of
> Lay's private meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney to create the
> administration's energy policy.
>
> What was Lay's role in the sudden replacement of Curtis Hebert Jr. as
> Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman? As the New York Times
> reported, Hebert "had barely settled into his new job this year when
> he had an unsettling telephone conversation with Kenneth L. Lay, [in
> which Lay] prodded him to back ... a faster pace in opening up access
> to the electricity transmission grid to companies like Enron." Lay
> admits making the call but in an unctuous defense of his influence
> peddling said, "The final decision on [Hebert's job] was going to be
> the president's, certainly not ours." Soon after, Hebert was replaced
> by Texan Pat Wood, who was favored by Lay.
>
> Other questions: Was there any conflict of interest in the roles
> played by key Bush aides? Political advisor Karl Rove owned as much as
> $250,000 in Enron stock. And economic advisor Larry Lindsay and Trade
> Representative Robert B. Zoellick went straight from Enron's payroll
> to their federal jobs.
>
> <snip>
>
> *
>
> Robert Scheer writes a syndicated column.
>
> --
> Robert J. Berger - UltraDevices, Inc.
> 257 Castro Street, Suite 223 Mt. View CA. 94041
> Voice: 650-237-0334 VoiceMail: 408-882-4755 Fax: 408-490-2868
> Email: rberger () ultradevices com  http://www.ultradevices.com

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