Politics, Enron, And The Non-Distorted Truth
By John David Powell (07/13/04)
The federal indictment of former ENRON honcho Ken Lay created another opportunity for Bush bashers to apply the broad brush of blame to the current administration for its association with the so-called crooked E. This eager quickness to tarnish every Republican for any involvement with ENRON provides an equal opportunity to point out some details certain folks would rather suppress or forget.
This morning’s email contained a link to The Center for American Progress (www.americanprogress.org), a candidly anti-Conservative site. Candid because the home page carries a link to the site’s Claims vs. Fact Database that will chart “conservatives’ dishonesty – and compare it with the truth. In this database, each conservative quote will be matched against well-documented facts, so that users can get a more accurate picture of the issues.” The passage goes on to ask for submissions, just in case “we’re missing a lie or distortion.”
Among the site’s non-distorted truths are passages about Lay meeting privately with Vice President Cheney in April 2001 to discuss energy; Lay’s eight points for why the government should not impose price caps or other measures to stabilize California’s electricity prices; the appointment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) of two individuals included in lists submitted by several energy industry leaders, including Lay; and information regarding ENRON and Lay contributions to George W. Bush campaigns for governor and president.
Not included are the following non-distorted truths.
What do senators Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and representatives Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.), Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), and Jesse L. Jackson (D-Ill.) have in common? Each is a recipient of ENRON political contributions. In fact, Jackson Lee received $38,000 and DeLay received $28,900.
From 1989 through its bankruptcy in 2001, ENRON made $5.8 million in campaign donations, with most of it contributed through 1998, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (www.opensecrets.org). Do not go looking on its web site for the most recent information, however. It took a search on Google to come up with a news release (www.commondreams.org/news2001/1109-03.htm) that contained a link to the more inclusive contribution list. The web site information is good as of January 2001, while the news release links to an internal site with information obtained from the Federal Election Commission in November 2001.
There is more for those willing to search. In February 1995, the New York Times described how the Commerce Department set up an “economic war room” to advance ENRON's interests in India; how State and Energy were brought on board to help; how the U.S. ambassador to India “constantly cajoled” Indian officials; and how the CIA investigated rival British companies. Time magazine reported how Clinton wrote a note to chief-of-staff Mack McLarty (an old friend of Lay), telling him to help with the project.
The Mozambique News Agency (www.poptel.org.uk/mozambique-news) reported that Mozambique gave ENRON permission to build a pipeline to South Africa after National Security Advisor Anthony Lake threatened to withhold aid to the country.
The Weekly Standard reported in January 2002 that ENRON received more than $4 billion from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Export-Import Bank during the Clinton administration for projects in Turkey, Bolivia, China, the Philippines, and other countries. And, according to the publication, on July 11, 1995, six days after ENRON donated $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee, ENRON swells were on a trade mission with Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor to Bosnia and Croatia where ENRON signed a $100 million contract to build a 150-megawatt power plant. Lay also made other trips with Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary.
It is a fact that political money buys political muscle. A study by the Center for Public Integrity (www.publicintegrity.org) found ENRON, U.S. West, McDonald Douglas, and other big U.S. firms donated a combined $536,000 to the Democratic party in 1993 and 1994 and received government help in securing $2.6 billion in foreign contracts. The Boston Globe reported 27 firms donated $2.3 million to the Democrats during Clinton's first term, and made a return on their investment of nearly $5.5 billion in federal support.
The Center for Public Integrity calls ENRON a most-favored corporation and lists 49 occasions where ENRON successfully lobbied federal and state governments, either alone or with other companies (www.publicintegrity.org/report.aspx?aid=102&sid=200) for what the organization calls favorable treatment. Among the favors were the 1992 restructuring by FERC of interstate pipeline operations and the 1993 exemption by the Securities and Exchange Commission from provisions of the Public Utility Holding Company Act that banned utilities from investing in unrelated, risky businesses.
The non-distorted truth is that there is ample blame to go around for the pain and suffering inflicted by ENRON. A lot of it resides in the black hearts of Wall Street's greedy financial analysts. Gretchen Morgenson of The New York Times pointed out ENRON knew that once it had snookered bankers, brokers and accountants, the Wall Street gurus could be counted on to play along with the sham. She reminded readers that David N. Fleischer of Goldman Sachs was recommending ENRON the day after the company disclosed it lost $618 million in the most recent quarter and that its financial statements were lies, and Raymond C. Niles with Lehman Brothers was rating ENRON as a strong buy at 68 cents a share.
If there is evidence of criminal activity on the part of the current president or members of his administration regarding ENRON, as the breathless Bush bashers hope, then let the legal games begin. The Clinton administration, however, appears to have the greatest exposure. And, who wants to get re-exposed to Clinton’s non-distorted truths?
Mundus vult decipi
(Printer friendly version) Email: John David Powell
