American Ju$tice: Judge Drops Counts Against Lay, Skilling [Archive] - The Orange Mane

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alkemical

03-28-2006, 03:35 PM

http://channels.netscape.com/pf/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0001/20060328/1246145000.htm

Judge Drops Counts Against Lay, Skilling

HOUSTON (AP) - A federal judge on Tuesday dropped three of the 31 counts against former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling and one of the seven counts against company founder Kenneth Lay. As the prosecution rested its case Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake dropped two counts of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud against Skilling, leaving him with 28 criminal counts against him; the judge also dropped one securities fraud count against Lay, said Skilling lawyer Daniel Petrocelli.

epicSocialism4tw

03-28-2006, 04:27 PM

alkemical

03-28-2006, 04:28 PM

what pisses me off - is how all the lip service got paid that "white collar criminals will pay" and it's the same old same old. The avg joe got ****ed big time, and the rich just walk on it.

This further creates a seperation in america - showing the middleclass that we are despised by the rich.

Crushaholic

03-28-2006, 04:39 PM

The amount of charges are dropped all the time with "average" defendants, not just white collar defendants...

epicSocialism4tw

03-28-2006, 05:22 PM

The amount of charges are dropped all the time with "average" defendants, not just white collar defendants...

Sure. Average defendents make it into court alot faster too. We arent talking about average defendants. We're talking about big money and big money lawyers. All of whom are probably only separated by a couple of degrees from everyone involved in the case. It's another day in the neighborhood.

These guys should be held to a much higher standard and should have the book thrown at them. They didnt just rob one person here. They ruined many lives.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

03-28-2006, 05:39 PM

American Ju$tice: Judge Drops Counts Against Lay, Skilling

Gosh, who could have ever predicted this?

loborugger

03-28-2006, 06:26 PM

That kind of stuff is fairly standard when you are throwing dozens of charges at a perp. I dont care if they dump all but three of the charges, as long as they can hang those 3 charges and get these jokers a federal address for numerous years. Also the forfeiture of some ill gotten gains would be a big plus. Leave em in there for a good long time and nothing to get out to.

SoCalBronco

03-28-2006, 06:37 PM

Well, youve got to prove all the elements of the cause of action. If there is an undisputed defect in your proof of even one element, than too bad. The prosecutors admitted that they put on no evidence regarding the particular charges they asked the Court to drop. This response is irrational.

Im not sure why people are angry. This whole...."i dont care about the particulars....theyve got to pay" is intellectually lazy.

loborugger

03-28-2006, 06:56 PM

Well, youve got to prove all the elements of the cause of action. If there is an undisputed defect in your proof of even one element, than too bad. The prosecutors admitted that they put on no evidence regarding the particular charges they asked the Court to drop. This response is irrational.

Exactly. Its a knee jerk reaction to assume the worst. Often, prosecutor's will pile on charges intentionally. They dont mind losing a periphery charge if they can make the main charges stick. Thats the game.

Having said that, these 2 jokers need a federal address.

Spider

03-28-2006, 07:06 PM

dropping 3 = no biggie ...........

alkemical

03-29-2006, 12:07 PM

they dropped charges that could be proven, now with those charges being tossed out, what others can they pare it down too?

The rich always walk.

enjolras

03-29-2006, 02:48 PM

Damn.. our Justice system functioning properly.

That's such a bitch really.

Crushaholic

03-29-2006, 03:07 PM

they dropped charges that could be proven, now with those charges being tossed out, what others can they pare it down too?

The rich always walk.

There's no reason to believe they will walk. Lay is still facing 7 counts and Skilling is still facing 28 counts. Don't jump to conclusions just yet...

Mile High Shack

03-29-2006, 03:12 PM

they are still facing MULTIPLE counts for much higher charges than what was dropped

how about we see what happens before we start freakin' out

but I guess that wouldn't be the political forum w/o freakin' out before getting all the facts

alkemical

03-29-2006, 03:43 PM

http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-03-29T204259Z_01_N29303951_RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-ABRAMOFF.xml

Disgraced lobbyist Abramoff gets 6 years

MIAMI (Reuters) - Jack Abramoff, the disgraced lobbyist at the heart of a Washington influence-peddling scandal that has rattled top Republicans, was sentenced to nearly six years in prison on Wednesday for fraud in the purchase of a Florida casino cruise line. Abramoff, who is cooperating in a federal investigation into whether Washington politicians gave his clients favorable treatment in exchange for campaign contributions, Super Bowl tickets and other
illegal gifts, was also ordered to pay $21.7 million, together with a co-defendant, in restitution.
"I am much chastened and profoundly remorseful," Abramoff told the Miami court in a brief statement. "I can only hope that the Almighty and those whom I have wronged will forgive me my trespasses."
___

Hey, he got charged for the same things - wonder why he didn't get his counts dropped?

alkemical

05-24-2006, 04:12 PM

http://today.reuters.com/news/ArticleNews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-05-24T002309Z_01_N23417839_RTRUKOC_0_US-CONGRESS-JEFFERSON.xml

Congress leaders denounce FBI office raid

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders of both parties on Capitol Hill accused the FBI on Tuesday of overstepping constitutional boundaries designed to protect Congress when it raided a Democratic lawmaker's office over the weekend.

The Justice Department's bribery investigation of Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson has turned up $90,000 in his freezer and won guilty pleas from two associates, but Republicans and Democrats alike said investigators went too far when they ignored long-standing precedent and executed a search warrant on his office on Capitol Hill.

"I clearly have serious concerns about what happened and whether people at the Justice Department have looked at the Constitution lately," said House Majority Leader John Boehner.

"I've got to believe that at the end of the day it's going to end up across the street at the Supreme Court," the Ohio Republican added.

The House's No. 2 Democrat, Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, said it was another example of the Bush administration's disregard for limits on its power.

"No member is above the law, but the institution has a right to protect itself against the executive department going into our offices," Hoyer said.

___

**** you

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-24-2006, 06:57 PM

The Al Capone of electricity: Ken Lay will get away with his real crimes

Al Capone cut throats, machine-gunned people to build his gang and went to jail -- for not filing his taxes properly. Likewise, Ken Lay, buccaneer of the power industry, will go down -- if the jury doesn't buy his alibi -- for not filing his SEC forms properly.

And just as Capone went up the river leaving us a permanent legacy of organized crime, so Lay, whether or not he's sent to the slammer, has left us, with the connivance of a few well-placed politicos, an electricity system that is little more than a playground for power-industry predators.

We've been here before. In the 1930s, a character named Samuel Insull created the first giant power holding companies. Insull played fast and loose with his account books, fast and loose with cash for politicians and pocketed millions by gouging electricity customers. Insull was indicted, like Lay, for crimes against his stockholders.

In 1933, President Roosevelt made Insull's power piracy a crime. FDR signed the Public Utility Holding Company Act and laws that capped the profit of electricity monopolies. The act required them to keep lights on by accounting for all maintenance expenses, barred "trading" electricity and, most important, banned donations by the power giants to politicians.

Fast-forward to January 2001. The George W. Bush administration, within 72 hours of his inauguration, issued an executive order lifting the Clinton Energy Department's effective ban on speculative trading in the California power market. The state was still in crisis, facing blackouts and 300 percent increases in power bills, the result of "deregulating" its electric system, as first suggested by Lay.

Instead of a "free" market, California's electricity bidding system became a fixed casino where Lay's operatives and a tight-knit cabal of corporate cronies jacked up prices through such tricks as "death star," "ricochet" and "kilowatt laundering."

In one instance, Enron "sold" the state 500 megawatts of electricity to go over a 15-megawatt line. Enron knew that sending that much power through those wires would have burned them to a crisp. To prevent this Enron-designed blackout, the state scrambled for other sources of electricity, which Enron and friends sold them at a big mark-up.

California's Independent System Operator put the cost to consumers of this "gaming" at $6.3 billion in a six-month period. Under the Roosevelt rules, when utilities were regulated to a fare-thee-well, the gaming rooms would have been busted.

Instead, the games have been institutionalized. For example, TXU, the corporate alias of Texas Utilities, has seen earnings per share rise 500 percent in five years. The reason: So-called deregulation allows the company to sell electricity at a price based on the sky-high cost of oil although much of its power is produced from cheaper coal or uranium. In effect, deregulation has become de-criminalization of price gouging.

Even more sinister than Bush's hasty executive order allowing Enron to resume speculation in the California power market was his appointment of Pat Wood as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the government's electricity cops. The choice of Wood was suggested, in secret, by Enron.

This put Lay one step ahead of Al Capone who had to buy the cops. Lay just had them appointed.

Wood may have been as honest as the day is long, but on his watch, Enron and the industry treaded through the power market like Godzilla through a kindergarten. And it continues under a new chairman, also suggested by Enron.

What about the $6.3 billion filched from the wallets of California consumers, let alone the larger sums taken in by power profiteers nationwide? The Lay-blessed federal regulators barely batted an eye.

Lay's brainchild of deregulation was coupled with his other grand idea: a massive increase in industry largesse to politicians. By unsubtle, but perfectly legal, means around FDR's prohibition on political donations, Enron PACs and its executives became the top Bush funders.

Capone never lived to see armed robbery made legal. But Lay, even if convicted, can leave the courthouse for the Big House knowing power profiteering is now as legal as prayer. On July 14, 2005, Roosevelt's Public Utility Holding Company Act, bulwark of consumer protection, was repealed by a Congress fattened with utility industry cash.

http://gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=507&row=0

SteveTensi13

05-24-2006, 10:09 PM

This is what I do when I arrest someone. I stack as many charges as possible, especailly when it comes to DUI's and domestics charges. Then, when the public defender and the DA get together, the DA can drop some of the lesser charges in a plea bargain, keep the more serious offenses and the public defender thinks he/she got a great deal for their client! Works like a charm!! Oh, and Spider, it's perfectly legit and ethical!!

BroncoBuff

05-25-2006, 02:58 AM

Gosh, who could have ever predicted this?
Your sarcasm is bordering on paranoia there, my friend ... I seriously doubt this or any judge is hoping for acquittals in this case.

In a legal sense, this is probably better for the prosecution, it has the effect of "concentrating" the good stuff, and accentuating what's left. Plus the jury won't know this - they don't know 'counts' until they're instructed, which is the last thing that happens before deliberations.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-25-2006, 03:22 AM

Your sarcasm is bordering on paranoia there, my friend

Expecting Bush's best friend and #1 campaign contributor to wriggle off the line isn't paranoia - it's called "being realistic."

Even if Kenny Boy is convicted, I'm sure he's feeling quite secure in the knowledge that a presidential pardon and a nice soft landing await him at the end of the line.

defenseman

05-25-2006, 07:22 AM

Sure. Average defendents make it into court alot faster too. We arent talking about average defendants. We're talking about big money and big money lawyers. All of whom are probably only separated by a couple of degrees from everyone involved in the case. It's another day in the neighborhood.

These guys should be held to a much higher standard and should have the book thrown at them. They didnt just rob one person here. They ruined many lives.

It's not a sin to be rich the last time I checked. And, Crushaholic is correct, specific charges are dropped all the time for various reasons. On the same note, I really would like the america justice system "grow some teeth" with these two guys. With the limited info I've got my hands on to this point leads me to believe they are very guilty and need to spend some time in the hooscow. Maybe lots of time if the prosecution can pull it off. But, I guess it's wait and see how it plays out..dman

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-25-2006, 12:42 PM

Bada bing. :thumbsup:

How long 'til Bush pardons his best friend?

Lay, Skilling convicted in Enron collapse

By KRISTEN HAYS, AP Business Writer 53 minutes ago

HOUSTON - Former Enron Corp. chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were convicted Thursday of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud in one of the biggest business scandals in U.S. history.

The verdict put the blame for the 2001 demise of the high-profile energy trader, once the nation's seventh-largest company, squarely on its top two executives. It came in the sixth day of deliberations following a federal criminal trial that lasted nearly four months.

Lay was also convicted of bank fraud and making false statements to banks in a separate, non-jury trial before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake related to Lay's personal banking.

The conviction was a major win for the government, serving almost as a bookend to an era that has seen prosecutors win convictions against executives from WorldCom Inc. to Adelphia Communications Corp. and homemaking maven Martha Stewart. The public outrage over the string of corporate scandals led Congress to pass the Sarbanes-Oxley act, designed to make company executives more accountable.

Enron's demise alone took with it more than $60 billion in market value, almost $2.1 billion in pension plans and 5,600 jobs.

Enron founder Lay was convicted Thursday on all six counts against him in the corporate trial. Former Chief Executive Skilling was convicted on 19 of the 28 counts, including one count of insider trading, and acquitted on the remaining nine.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed," Skilling told reporters outside the courthouse. "But that's the way the system works."

Skilling's lawyer, Dan Petrocelli, said the verdict "doesn't change our view of what happened at Enron ... or Jeffrey Skilling's innocence."

Lake ordered Lay to stay in the courthouse until his passport was surrendered and until the conclusion of a 2 p.m. CDT bond hearing.

Lake told jurors, "you have reflected on this evidence for the last few days and reached a very thorough verdict, and I thank you."

He set sentencing for Sept. 11. The charges for which Lay was convicted carry a maximum penalty in prison of 45 years in the corporate trial and 120 years in the personal banking trial. The charges for which Skilling was convicted carry a maximum penalty of 185 years in prison.

Jurors found through their verdict that both men had repeatedly lied to cover a vast web of unsustainable accounting tricks and failing ventures at Enron.

The panel rejected Skilling's insistence that no fraud occurred at Enron other than that committed by a few executives skimming millions in secret side deals, and that bad press and poor market confidence combined to sink the company.

"I wanted very, very badly to believe what they were saying, very much so, and there were pieces in the testimony where i felt their character was questioned," juror Wendy Vaughan said after the verdict was announced.

Both men testified in their own defense. Skilling is expected to appeal.

The government's victory caps a 4 1/2 year investigation that garnered 16 guilty pleas from ex-Enron executives, including former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow and former Chief Accounting Officer Richard Causey.

All are awaiting sentencing later this year except for two, who either finished or are still serving prison terms.

The Lay-Skilling case tested the federal government's ability to prove complicated corporate skullduggery.

Enron's implosion and the subsequent scandals scared off investors, increased regulatory scrutiny over publicly traded companies and prompted Congress to stiffen white collar penalties.

Former WorldCom head Bernard Ebbers awaits a 25-year prison term for orchestrating the $11 billion accounting fraud that bankrupted the company. Stewart did five months in prison and more time confined to work and home for lying about a stock sale. Adelphia Communications founder John Rigas and his son got double-digit prison terms for looting their company.

HealthSouth Corp. founder Richard Scrushy bucked the trend with his acquittal last year of fraud charges despite five former finance chiefs pointing the finger at him in a $2.7 billion scheme to inflate earnings. He dropped in on the Lay-Skilling case during Fastow's lengthy testimony in March, saying the ex-CFO couldn't be believed.

But those cases were much simpler than that against Lay and Skilling.

The government's vast investigation seemed to stall until Fastow pleaded guilty in January 2004 to two counts of conspiracy and paved the way for prosecutors to secure indictments against his bosses. Fastow also led investigators to Causey, who was bound for trial alongside Lay and Skilling until he broke ranks with their unified defense and pleaded guilty to securities fraud just weeks before the trial began.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/enron_trial;_ylt=A9FJqZgt.XVE2DUBoQgkkKQB;_ylu=X3o DMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

spdirty

05-25-2006, 06:10 PM

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-25-2006, 06:25 PM

Maybe President Bush will pull a Clinton and pardon them the day before he is out of office.

Don't you mean pull a Poppy?

spdirty

05-25-2006, 06:32 PM

Don't you mean pull a Poppy?

Whats a poppy? Isnt that like a seed?

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-25-2006, 06:34 PM

Whats a poppy? Isnt that like a seed?

Very funny. :D

I was talking about GeeDubya's dad.

spdirty

05-25-2006, 06:37 PM

Very funny. :D

I was talking about GeeDubya's dad.

Well, can you tell me who Ex-President Bush pardoned? With Clinton, Marc Rich comes to mind.

Well, I guess Ex-President Hussein comes to mind.:D

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-25-2006, 06:44 PM

Well, can you tell me who Ex-President Bush pardoned?

???

Either you're too young to remember Iran-Contra or you're just pulling my leg here. :D

With Clinton, Marc Rich comes to mind.

Ah, Marc Rich: Scooter Libby's client.

spdirty

05-25-2006, 06:55 PM

???

Either you're too young to remember Iran-Contra or you're just pulling my leg here. :D

Im just a pup...enlighten me.

Ah, Marc Rich: Scooter Libby's client.

Which Clinton pardoned.:D

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-25-2006, 07:06 PM

Im just a pup...enlighten me.

Poppy Bush and his co-conspirators were being investigated by an independent counsel for their roles in the Iran-Contra scandals. On Christmas eve, right before he left office, Poppy Bush pardoned everyone whose testimony could have sent him and Saint Ron to prison.

Which Clinton pardoned.:D

Small potatoes compared to Poppy Bush's pardons.

I still laugh when I remember how rethugs pounced on Clinton for the Rich Pardon (some even called for investigations) and then, all of a sudden, dead silence (when it became known that Rich was Scooter Libby's client and had all kinds of shadowy connections with various republicans.)

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-25-2006, 07:13 PM

BUSH PARDONS WEINBERGER, FIVE OTHERS TIED TO IRAN-CONTRA

(Calls Weinberger "true American patriot") (650) By Dian McDonald USIA White House Correspondent Washington -- President Bush December 24 granted pardons to former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five other individuals for their conduct related to the Iran-Contra affair.

Bush said Weinberger -- who had been scheduled to go on trial in Washington January 5 on charges related to Iran-Contra -- was a "true American patriot," who had served with "distinction" in a series of public positions since the late 1960s.

"I am pardoning him not just out of compassion or to spare a 75-year-old patriot the torment of lengthy and costly legal proceedings, but to make it possible for him to receive the honor he deserves for his extraordinary service to our country," Bush said in a proclamation granting executive clemency.

The president also pardoned five other persons who already had pleaded guilty or had been indicted or convicted in connection with the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages investigation. They were Elliott Abrams, a former assistant secretary of state for Inter-American affairs; former National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane; and Duane Clarridge, Alan Fiers, and Clair George, all former employees of the Central Intelligence Agency.

http://www.fas.org/news/iran/1992/921224-260039.htm

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-25-2006, 07:15 PM

Bush Pardons 6 in Iran Affair, Aborting a Weinberger Trial; Prosecutor Assails 'Cover-Up'

Six years after the arms-for-hostages scandal began to cast a shadow that would darken two Administrations, President Bush today granted full pardons to six former officials in Ronald Reagan's Administration, including former Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger.

Mr. Weinberger was scheduled to stand trial on Jan. 5 on charges that he lied to Congress about his knowledge of the arms sales to Iran and efforts by other countries to help underwrite the Nicaraguan rebels, a case that was expected to focus on Mr. Weinberger's private notes that contain references to Mr. Bush's endorsement of the secret shipments to Iran.

In one remaining facet of the inquiry, the independent prosecutor, Lawrence E. Walsh, plans to review a 1986 campaign diary kept by Mr. Bush. Mr. Walsh has characterized the President's failure to turn over the diary until now as misconduct.

Decapitated Walsh Efforts

But in a single stroke, Mr. Bush swept away one conviction, three guilty pleas and two pending cases, virtually decapitating what was left of Mr. Walsh's effort, which began in 1986. Mr. Bush's decision was announced by the White House in a printed statement after the President left for Camp David, where he will spend the Christmas holiday.

Mr. Walsh bitterly condemned the President's action, charging that "the Iran-contra cover-up, which has continued for more than six years, has now been completed."

Mr. Walsh directed his heaviest fire at Mr. Bush over the pardon of Mr. Weinberger, whose trial would have given the prosecutor a last chance to explore the role in the affair of senior Reagan officials, including Mr. Bush's actions as Vice President.

'Evidence of Conspiracy'

Mr. Walsh hinted that Mr. Bush's pardon of Mr. Weinberger and the President's own role in the affair could be related. For the first time, he

charged that Mr. Weinberger's notes about the secret decision to sell arms to Iran, a central piece of evidence in the case against the former Pentagon chief, included "evidence of a conspiracy among the highest ranking Reagan Administration officials to lie to Congress and the American public."

The prosecutor charged that Mr. Weinberger's efforts to hide his notes may have "forestalled impeachment proceedings against President Reagan" and formed part of a pattern of "deception and obstruction." On Dec. 11, Mr. Walsh said he discovered "misconduct" in Mr. Bush's failure to turn over what the prosecutor said were the President's own "highly relevant contemporaneous notes, despite repeated requests for such documents."

The notes, in the form of a campaign diary that Mr. Bush compiled after the elections in November 1986, are in the process of being turned over to Mr. Walsh, who said, "In light of President Bush's own misconduct, we are gravely concerned about his decision to pardon others who lied to Congress and obstructed official investigations."

In an interview on the "McNeil-Lehrer Newshour" tonight, Mr. Walsh said for the first time that Mr. Bush was a subject of his investigation. The term "subject," as it has been used by Mr. Walsh's prosecutors, is broadly defined as someone involved in events under scrutiny, but who falls short of being a target, or a person likely to be charged with a crime. In the inquiry into the entire Iran-contra affair, a number of Government officials have been identified as subjects who were never charged with wrongdoing.

What Charges Are Unlikely

The prosecutor said he would take appropriate action in Mr. Bush's case, implying he might contemplate future legal action against the President for withholding relevant documents. But prosecutors have said in the past that charging a President or former President with wrongdoing would be highly unlikely without overwhelming evidence of a serious crime.

C. Boyden Gray, the White House counsel, said today that Mr. Bush had voluntarily supplied the disputed material to Mr. Walsh, asserting that the notes contained no new information about the affair. Mr. Gray said Mr. Bush wanted make the notes public, but did not say when.

President-elect Bill Clinton, at a news conference in Little Rock, Ark., to announce his remaining Cabinet selections, said he wanted to learn more about the pardons, adding, "I am concerned by any action that sends a signal that if you work for the Government, you're beyond the law, or that not telling the truth to Congress under oath is somehow less serious than not telling the truth to some other body under oath."

Mr. Bush, in a statement accompanying the pardon, seemed to anticipate his critics, acknowledging that his decision might be interpreted as an effort to "prevent full disclosure of some new key fact to the American people." He said, "That is not true."

Asserting that "no impartial person has seriously suggested that my own role in this matter is legally questionable," the President sought to position himself on the side of greater openness. Mr. Bush said he had asked Mr. Walsh to provide him with a copy of his testimony to the prosecutor, which he would make public.

Lobbying by Ex-Reagan Aides

Today's action followed intensive lobbying by former Reagan aides to pardon Mr. Weinberger and a series of meetings in recent days at the White House, culminating with the President's decision this morning. Republicans, long angered by the prosecution, were incensed by the new indictment of Mr. Weinberger four days before the election. The indictment said Mr. Weinberger's notes contradicted Mr. Bush's assertions that he had only a fragmentary knowledge of the arms secretly sold to Iran in 1985 and 1986 in exchange for American hostages in Lebanon.

Mr. Weinberger was also charged with testifying falsely to Congress that he did not recall whether Saudi Arabia had ever contributed to the contras. Prosecutors said his notes showed that he had known of the Saudi contributions.

Records made public over the years included no evidence that Mr. Bush knew about he secret efforts to arm the Nicaraguan rebels, but they did suggest he knew of Iran operation almost from its inception in 1985 and took part in crucial meetings where the arms sales were openly discussed as an arms-for-hostages swap. The Reagan Administration's public policy was never to bargain for the freedom of hostages.

Mr. Bush said today that the Walsh prosecution reflected "a profoundly troubling development in the political and legal climate of our country: the criminalization of policy differences."

Question of Politics

He added: "These differences should have been addressed in the political arena without the Damocles sword of criminality hanging over the heads of some of the combatants. The proper target is the President, not his subordinates; the proper forum is the voting booth, not the courtroom."

In his comments, Mr. Bush said he was trying to "put bitterness behind us," asserting that each of the men he was pardoning had a long record of public service and had already paid a heavy price for their involvement in the affair in damaged careers, hurt families and depleted savings.

The Iran-contra affair, the worst scandal of Mr. Reagan's Presidency, came into the open in the fall of 1986 with the disclosure of two intertwined secret operations: the arms sales to Teheran, and the diversion of profits from those sales to help finance a covert weapons supply network to the contras, set up in 1985, after Congress barred direct aid to the rebels.

Besides Mr. Weinberger, the President pardoned Robert C. McFarlane, the former national security adviser, and Elliott Abrams, the former assistant Secretary of State for Central America. Both officials had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of withholding information from Congress about support for the contras.

Others Who Are Pardoned

The President also pardoned Clair E. George, the former head of the Central Intelligence Agency's clandestine services, who was convicted earlier this month, at his second trial, of two felony charges of perjury and misleading Congress about both the contras and the Iran initiative -- crimes for which he faced up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

Two other intelligence officials were granted clemency, Duane R. Clarridge, the former head of the C.I.A.'s European division, who was awaiting trial on charges that he misled Congressional investigators about a missile shipment to Iran in 1985.

The other was Alan D. Fiers Jr., once a rising star with the agency, who had pleaded guilty in 1991 to withholding information about the contras from Congress and who later decided to cooperate with the prosecution, becoming Mr. George's chief accuser at both his trials.

Mr. Bush described Mr. Weinberger as a "true American patriot" and he said clemency was granted both to spare him torment and cost of lengthy legal proceedings as well as out of a concern for the health of Mr. Weinberger, who is 75 year old.

Mr. Weinberger, who was asked at a news conference today whether his notes contained any entries that might be embarrassing to Mr. Bush, replied: "No, certainly not. There's nothing in those notes that in any way contradicts what President Bush said, or what President Reagan said."

But not since President Gerald R. Ford granted clemency to former President Richard M. Nixon for possible crimes in Watergate has a Presidential pardon so pointedly raised the issue of whether the President was trying to shield officials for political purposes. Mr. Walsh invoked Watergate tonight in an interview on the ABC News program "Nightline," likening today's pardons to President Richard M. Nixon's dismissal of the Watergate special prosecutor, Archibald Cox, in 1973. Mr. Walsh said Mr. Bush had "succeeded in a sort of Saturday Night Massacre."

Democratic lawmakers assailed the decision. Senator George J. Mitchell of Maine, the Democratic leader, called the action a mistake. "It is not as the President stated today a matter of criminalizing policy differences," he said. "If members of the executive branch lie to the Congress, obstruct justice and otherwise break the law, how can policy differences be fairly and legally resolved in a democracy."

The main supporters of the pardon were Vice President Quayle, the Senate Republican leader, Bob Dole, and Mr. Gray, one senior Administration official said today. The decision, discussed in private, seemed to coalesce in the last three weeks although Mr. Bush was said to believe that Mr. Weinberger had been unfairly charged ever since the former Reagan Cabinet officer was first indicted in June.

Throughout the deliberations, Mr. Bush consulted with Attorney General William P. Barr and Brent Scowcroft, the national security adviser, who had sat on a Presidential review panel that examined the affair in early 1987.

In lengthy Oval Office meetings in the last week, Mr. Bush and his advisers, none of whom offered a sharp dissent, discussed how to balance their desire to grant a pardon with their realization that such an act would almost certainly provoke hostility.

In the end, Mr. Bush's advisers decided he could surmount his critics by expressing, as did in his statement, his willingness to make public additional documents about the affair, like his statement to the prosecutors and Mr. Weinberger's notes.

Independent Counsel's Statement on the Pardons
By REUTERS
Following is a statement by the independent counsel, Lawrence E. Walsh, regarding pardons granted today by President Bush.

President Bush's pardon of Caspar Weinberger and other Iran-contra defendants undermines the principle that no man is above the law. It demonstrates that powerful people with powerful allies can commit serious crimes in high office -- deliberately abusing the public trust without consequence.

Weinberger, who faced four felony charges, deserved to be tried by a jury of citizens. Although it is the President's prerogative to grant pardons, it is every American's right that the criminal justice system be administered fairly, regardless of a person's rank and connections.

The Iran-contra cover-up, which has continued for more than six years, has now been completed with the pardon of Caspar Weinberger. We will make a full report on our findings to Congress and the public describing the details and extent of this cover-up.

Weinberger's early and deliberate decision to conceal and withhold extensive contemporaneous notes of the Iran-contra matter radically altered the official investigations and possibly forestalled timely impeachment proceedings against President Reagan and other officials. Weinberger's notes contain evidence of a conspiracy among the highest-ranking Reagan Administration officials to lie to Congress and the American public. Because the notes were withheld from investigators for years, many of the leads were impossible to follow, key witnesses had purportedly forgotten what was said and done, and statutes of limitation had expired.

Weinberger's concealment of notes is part of a disturbing pattern of deception and obstruction that permeated the highest levels of the Reagan and Bush Administrations. This office was informed only within the past two weeks, on December 11, 1992, that President Bush had failed to produce to investigators his own highly relevant contemporaneous notes, despite repeated requests for such documents. The production of these notes is still ongoing and will lead to appropriate action. In light of President Bush's own misconduct, we are gravely concerned about his decision to pardon others who lied to Congress and obstructed official investigations.

spdirty

05-25-2006, 07:17 PM

Poppy Bush and his co-conspirators were being investigated by an independent counsel for their roles in the Iran-Contra scandals. On Christmas eve, right before he left office, Poppy Bush pardoned everyone whose testimony could have sent him and Saint Ron to prison.

Well, I'd do it too if it kept my butt out of prison.

Small potatoes compared to Poppy Bush's pardons.

I still laugh when I remember how rethugs pounced on Clinton for the Rich Pardon (some even called for investigations) and then, all of a sudden, dead silence (when it became known that Rich was Scooter Libby's client and had all kinds of shadowy connections with various republicans.)

Actually, it was 140 pardons on his last day. I wouldn't call that "small potatoes." Eh, but whaddya do about it now?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton_pardons_controversy

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-25-2006, 07:28 PM

Actually, it was 140 pardons on his last day. I wouldn't call that "small potatoes." Eh, but whaddya do about it now?

Which is typical for most presidents.

The real question is "who was pardoned and why," "what was the crime," etc.

On that account, Poppy Bush's pardons constituted a more abject abuse of power than anything Clinton ever dreamed of.

If you read up on Iran-Contra, you might get more of an idea as to why some of us who remember those days were not too thrilled about the idea of another Bush in the WH.

And we were right - Bush II wasted no time in bringing many of daddy's friends and Iran-Contra players into his administration.

To answer your question, i.e., what do you do about it now?

NO MORE BUSHES!!!!!!!

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-25-2006, 07:43 PM

http://www.bartcop.com/kenny-cuffs.jpg

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-25-2006, 07:56 PM

http://www.bartcop.com/kennyboy3.jpg

W*GS

05-26-2006, 08:55 AM

The fact that Skilling and Lay will be going to prison for the rest of their lives gives lie to LABF's belief that Bush was going to protect them.

As it is, their crimes were committed on Clinton's watch; where was he when these guys were fleecing honest hard-working Americans out of billions?

alkemical

05-26-2006, 09:06 AM

defenseman

05-26-2006, 09:27 AM

Which is typical for most presidents.

The real question is "who was pardoned and why," "what was the crime," etc.

On that account, Poppy Bush's pardons constituted a more abject abuse of power than anything Clinton ever dreamed of.

If you read up on Iran-Contra, you might get more of an idea as to why some of us who remember those days were not too thrilled about the idea of another Bush in the WH.

And we were right - Bush II wasted no time in bringing many of daddy's friends and Iran-Contra players into his administration.

To answer your question, i.e., what do you do about it now?

NO MORE BUSHES!!!!!!!

I have to agree with LABF on some of this. Bush I did drop pardon card across the board in the Iran-contra affair. I didn't like it either to be honest. And LABF is correct, NUMEROUS presidents have pardoned their "buddies". It happens at the end of every presidency. You come to expect it.....I'm thinking Nixon didn't pardon anyone though, you may know LABF...dman

Mile High Shack

05-26-2006, 11:29 AM

alkemical

05-26-2006, 11:31 AM

they don't want to talk about that
Enron's "creative" accounting started during the Clinton Admin

Yeah but creative accounting has also been going on forever - S&L anyone?

I love the blame game though, generations that played that game, set the clean up for my generation.

Mile High Shack

05-26-2006, 11:35 AM

Yeah but creative accounting has also been going on forever - S&L anyone?

I love the blame game though, generations that played that game, set the clean up for my generation.

the tax loop holes that Enron used weren't made law until the early 90's

every company started using them, but Enron made it worse b/c they snookered so many of their employees to put all their eggs in one basket

it has nothing to do with Clinton or Bush, but people breaking laws regardless of who was president.

So when someone asserts that Bush caused the Enron collapse, I just like to point out that the lies started during the Clinton years.

I do find it funny though that people just assumed Lay would get off since he was friends with Bush.....I guess I was right and you were wrong this time..eh Josh ;)

alkemical

05-26-2006, 11:37 AM

the tax loop holes that Enron used weren't made law until the early 90's

every company started using them, but Enron made it worse b/c they snookered so many of their employees to put all their eggs in one basket

it has nothing to do with Clinton or Bush, but people breaking laws regardless of who was president.

So when someone asserts that Bush caused the Enron collapse, I just like to point out that the lies started during the Clinton years.

I do find it funny though that people just assumed Lay would get off since he was friends with Bush.....I guess I was right and you were wrong this time..eh Josh ;)

Uhm, sentancing hasn't happened yet - just like dubia hasn't turned over the ports to another company yet.....

Mile High Shack

05-26-2006, 11:40 AM

Uhm, sentancing hasn't happened yet - just like dubia hasn't turned over the ports to another company yet.....

so you think even though they are conviced they will get off?

before you said they wouldn't get convicted

alkemical

05-26-2006, 11:41 AM

so you think even though they are conviced they will get off?

before you said they wouldn't get convicted

Well if i did i'm wrong, i don't remember saying 'convicted' - as an exact term but it's possible. But the rich never pay.

Play2win

05-26-2006, 01:20 PM

Yeah but creative accounting has also been going on forever - S&L anyone?

You mean the one that involved a certain NEIL BUSH?!? :cuss:

alkemical

05-26-2006, 01:21 PM

You mean the one that involved a certain NEIL BUSH?!? :cuss:

The same neil bush that worked for the insurance company that handled the WTC policy.....

Play2win

05-26-2006, 01:24 PM

George W. Bush and kenneth Lay are apples from the same tree...

Play2win

05-26-2006, 01:25 PM

The same neil bush that worked for the insurance company that handled the WTC policy.....
And that, US, the Taxpayer, will be paying off HIS bill for the rest of OUR lifetimes...

THAT Neil Bush?!?

alkemical

05-26-2006, 01:27 PM

And that, US, the Taxpayer, will be paying off HIS bill for the rest of OUR lifetimes...

THAT Neil Bush?!?

Yep, THAT neil bush that also worked for the security firms before working for the insurance company that handled WTC.....

alkemical

05-26-2006, 01:27 PM

George W. Bush and kenneth Lay are apples from the same tree...

I didn't know there was a **** tree?

Play2win

05-26-2006, 01:36 PM

I didn't know there was a **** tree?
Now I am just wondering what 4-letter explorative was censored there, because about any would work...

a **** tree, **** tree, **** tree, **** tree, **** tree... The list goes on and on and on and on...

I guess SUCK Tree would be it, because when it comes down to it, they just SUCK. They exude Suckiness. They just SUCK, and everyone from that tree SUCKS... And a bunch of them seem to be in our government right now...

alkemical

05-26-2006, 01:39 PM

lol

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-26-2006, 01:47 PM

The fact that Skilling and Lay will be going to prison for the rest of their lives gives lie to LABF's belief that Bush was going to protect them.

So, you know for certain that Bush isn't going to pardon his best friend and top contributor, Miss Cleo?

As it is, their crimes were committed on Clinton's watch; where was he when these guys were fleecing honest hard-working Americans out of billions?

So, then, you have evidence that Clinton knew what was going on inside Enron's board room and didn't do anything about it?

Please post.

Just a little reminder:

Ken Lay is/was George W. Bush's (not Bill Clinton's) best friend and #1 campaign contributor.

George W. Bush - not Bill Clinton - allowed Ken Lay to write America's energy policy in a secret, closed-door meeting.

Play2win

05-26-2006, 01:53 PM

lol

8')

W*GS

05-26-2006, 02:22 PM

So, you know for certain that Bush isn't going to pardon his best friend and top contributor, Miss Cleo?

I know for certain that you were wrong when you claimed Skilling and Lay wouldn't even see the inside of a courtroom, much less being tried and convicted.

So, then, you have evidence that Clinton knew what was going on inside Enron's board room and didn't do anything about it?

I'm applying your standard for judging Bush to judging Clinton. Figure that out.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-26-2006, 02:39 PM

Ken Lay — guilty. George Bush — guilty.

The man who paid many of the biggest bills for George Bush's political ascent, Enron founder Kenneth Lay, has been found guilty of conspiracy and fraud almost five years after his dirty dealings created the greatest corporate scandal in what will be remembered as an era of corporate crime.

On the sixth day of deliberations following the conclusion of a long-delayed federal trial, a Houston jury found Lay guilty on six counts of fraud and conspiracy. In a separate decision, US District Judge Sim Lake ruled that Lay was guilty of four counts of fraud and making false statements.

The same jury that convicted Lay found Enron's former chief executive, Jeffrey Skilling, guilty on 19 counts of fraud, conspiracy, making false statements and engaging in insider trading.

Lay, who President Bush affectionately referred to as "Kenny-boy" when the two forged an alliance in the 1990s to advance Bush's political ambitions and Lay's business prospects, contributed $122,500 to Bush's gubernatorial campaigns in Texas. Lay would later explain to a PBS "Frontline" interviewer that, though he had worked closely with former Texas Governor Ann Richards, the Democrat incumbent who Bush challenged in 1994, he backed the Republican because "I was very close to George W."

Needless to say, once Bush became governor, Lay got his phone calls returned. A report issued by Public Citizen in February, 2001, months before the Enron scandal broke, identified Lay as "a long-time Bush family friend and an architect of Bush's policies on electricity deregulation, taxes and tort reform while Bush was Texas governor."

No wonder Lay had Enron give $50,000 to pay for Bush's second inaugural party in Austin in 1999 -- a showcase event that was organized by Karl Rove and others to help the Texas governor step onto the national political stage.

After Bush gave Enron exactly what it wanted in 1999, by signing legislation that deregulated the state's electrical markets, Lay knew he had found his candidate for president.

When Bush opened his campaign, Lay opened the cash spigots.

As a "Bush Pioneer" in the run-up to the 2000 presidential election, Lay was a key member of the Bush campaign's fund-raising inner circle. Under Lay's leadership, Enron ultimately gave Bush $550,025, making the corporation the Texan's No. 1 career patron at the time the 2000 election campaign began, according to the Center for Public Integrity. Lay personally pumped almost $400,000 into Republican hard- and soft-money funds, while Enron slipped another $1.5 million into the GOP's soft-money cesspool.

But that was just the beginning. Lay sent a letter to Enron executives urging them to contribute to Bush's campaign. More than 100 of them -- including Skilling, a major Bush giver since 1993, when he cut his first $5,000 check to GW's gubernatorial campaign -- did just that. Dozens of spouses wrote, including "homemaker" and frequent $10,000 donor Linda Lay, gave as well, making the Enron "family" a prime source of the money that gave Bush his early advantage over Republican rivals such as Arizona Senator John McCain.

All told, it is estimated that, over the years prior the company's bankruptcy, Lay, his company and its employees contributed close to $2 million to fund George W. Bush's political rise.

Lay found other ways to help, as well. He put Enron's corporate jets at the disposal of the Bush campaign in 2000. He kicked in $5,000 to pay for the Florida recount fight, while a top Enron "consultant," former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, ran the Republican's recount effort. He even paid for his own bookkeeping, chipping in $1,000 to help the Bush-Cheney campaign comply with campaign-finance laws. And Lay and Enron gave $300,000 to underwrite the Bush-Cheney inauguration festivities in 2001.

Did all that giving pay off? You bet!

Lay cashed in even before Bush was sworn in as president, entering into the inner circles of the new administration and using the access he had paid for to craft its agenda on the issues that mattered most to Enron.

Bush took good care of his contributor-in-chief, appointing the Enron founder as one of five members of the elite "Energy Department Transition Team," which set the stage for the Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force and administration policies designed to benefit corporations such as Enron. A report on "Bush Administration Contacts with Enron," compiled at the request of Congressman Henry Waxman, D-California, by the minority staff of the Special Investigations Division of the House Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, found evidence of at least 112 contacts between Enron and White House or other Administration officials during the month prior to the corporation's very-public collapse in late 2001. At least 40 of those contacts involved top White House officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, presidential advisor Karl Rove, White House economic advisor Lawrence Lindsey, White House personnel director Clay Johnson III, and White House energy task force director Andrew D. Lundquist.

As Waxman explained in a 2001 interview, "The fact of the matter is that Enron and Ken Lay, who was the Chief Executive Officer of Enron, had an extraordinary amount of influence and access to the Bush Administration. Lay was called a close friend by both the President and the Vice President. When the Vice President chaired an Energy Task Force, Ken Lay had an opportunity to meet privately with the Vice President and to have a great deal of influence in their recommendations."

Bush and his aides have worked hard since the Enron scandal broke to suggest that Lay was just another generous Texan. But the attempts to deny linkages to the now-convicted corporate criminal never cut water with Lone Star-state watchdog Craig McDonald, the director of Texans for Public Justice.

"President Bush's explanation of his relationship with Enron is at best a half truth," McDonald said after Bush first tried to distance himself from Lay and other Enron executives. "He was in bed with Enron before he ever held a political office."

As governor and president, Bush maintained that intimate relationship.

Now that his strange bedmate have been convicted of fraud, isn't it time for the president to end the fraud of claiming that he was ever anything less than a political partner of Lay and the Enron team?

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=86743

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-26-2006, 02:47 PM

Only W*GS could look at the relationship between Bush and Lay and try to make it about Clinton.

Hilarious!

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-26-2006, 02:55 PM

Bush's Enron lies

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.

Bush supposedly refused to intervene, despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars that Enron had poured into his political coffers. That refusal purportedly showed the high ethical standards that set Bush apart from lesser politicians.

Bush's defenders will probably reprise that storyline now that former Enron Chairman Lay and former Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling stand convicted of conspiracy and fraud in the plundering of the onetime energy-trading giant. But the reality is that the Bush-can't-be-bought spin was never true.

For instance, the documentary evidence is now clear that in summer 2001 - at the same time Bush's National Security Council was ignoring warnings about an impending al-Qaeda terrorist attack - NSC adviser Condoleezza Rice was personally overseeing a government-wide task force to pressure India to give Enron as much as $2.3 billion.

Then, even after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when India's cooperation in the "war on terror" was crucial, the Bush administration kept up its full-court press to get India to pay Enron for a white-elephant power plant that the company had built in Dabhol, India.

The pressure on India went up the chain of command to Vice President Dick Cheney, who personally pushed Enron's case, and to Bush himself, who planned to lodge a complaint with India's prime minister. Post-9/11, one senior U.S. bureaucrat warned India that failure to give in to Enron's demands would put into doubt the future functioning of American agencies in India.

The NSC-led Dabhol campaign didn't end until Nov. 8, 2001, when the Securities and Exchange Commission raided Enron's offices - and protection of Lay's interests stopped being political tenable. That afternoon, Bush was sent an e-mail advising him not to raise his planned Dabhol protest with India's prime minister who was visiting Washington. [For details on the Dabhol case, see below.]

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.

Bankruptcy

As Enron's corporate house of cards collapsed anyway in fall 2001, the toll was devastating. Investors lost tens of billions of dollars; some retirees were financially wiped out; 5,000 Enron employees were laid off. Enron's accounting tricks also discredited its accounting firm, Arthur Andersen LLP, which was soon closed by government regulators.

But Bush was fortunate that the Enron scandal broke while he was still wrapped in the glow of favorable poll ratings that followed the 9/11 attacks. The Washington news media generally acquiesced to Bush's insistence that he really wasn't that close to Enron or Lay, though Lay had earned a Bush nickname: "Kenny Boy."

The facts, however, suggest a political intimacy between Bush and Enron, especially with the now convicted swindler Ken Lay, dating back at least to Bush's first campaign for Texas governor in 1994.

By the 2000 presidential campaign, Lay was a Pioneer for Bush, raising $100,000. Enron also gave the Republicans $250,000 for the convention in Philadelphia and contributed $1.1 million in soft money to the Republican Party. Not only was Lay a top fund-raiser for the campaign, but he helped out during the recount battle in Florida in November 2000.

Lay and his wife donated $10,000 to Bush's Florida recount fund that helped pay for Republican lawyers and other expenses. Lay even let Bush operatives use Enron's corporate jet to fly in reinforcements. After Bush secured his victory, another $300,000 poured in from Enron circles - including $100,000 from Lay and $100,000 from Skilling - for the Bush-Cheney Inaugural Fund.

Yet, after the Enron scandal broke, Bush acted as if he barely knew Lay. On Jan. 11, 2002, Bush told reporters that Lay "was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994" for Texas governor, implying that he had gotten to know Lay as Gov. Richards' holdover appointee to a Texas business council.

The administration also claimed that it turned down Enron's bail-out pleas in late October 2001 when Lay sounded out senior Bush officials about overt financial help. By then, however, Enron's troubles were too advanced - and the public spotlight too intense - for the administration to launch a full-scale rescue mission out in the open.

Yet, before Enron went into its death spiral, the Bush administration did what it could, behind the scenes.

Gathering Storm

The Houston-based energy trader's financial crisis can be traced back to 2000 when the long-running stock market boom ended. During the boom, Enron had risen through the ranks of Fortune 500 companies to a perch at No. 7.

A leader of the so-called New Economy, Enron expanded beyond its core business interests in natural gas pipelines, branching out into complex commodity trading, which included electricity, broadband capacity and other ethereal items, such as weather futures.

The bursting of the dot-com bubble in March 2000 put pressure on Enron as it did many other companies. Even though Enron's stock held strong, hitting an all-time high of $90 a share on Aug. 17, 2000, the tumbling market and some risky overseas energy projects left Enron with many poor-performing assets.

To protect its image as a darling of Wall Street - and to prop up its stock value - Enron began shifting more of its losing operations into off-the-books partnerships given names like Raptor and Chewco. Hedges were set up to limit Enron's potential losses from equity investments, but some hedges were themselves backed by Enron stock, creating the possibility of a spiraling decline if investors lost faith in Enron.

Still, Enron saw a silver lining in the darkening economic clouds of 2000. A prospective George W. Bush victory could speed up Enron's deregulatory plans for the energy markets. Through energy trading in California alone, Enron stood to earn tens of billions of dollars.

Meanwhile, in summer 2000, the first signs of suspicions arose that Enron was trying to manipulate the California energy market.

An employee with Southern California Edison sent the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) a memo expressing concerns that Enron and other electricity providers to California's deregulated energy market were gaming the system by cutting off supply and creating phony congestion in the electricity grid to run up energy prices. [See Energy Daily, May 16, 2002]

By December 2000, Enron was implementing plans dubbed "Fat Boy," "Death Star" and "Get Shorty" to siphon electricity away from areas that needed it most and getting paid for phantom transfers of energy supposedly to relieve transmission-line congestion. [Washington Post, May 7, 2002]

That same month, after a 35-day battle over Florida's vote count, Bush nailed down his presidential victory by getting five Republicans on the U.S. Supreme Court to stop a statewide recount.

Grateful Bush

Once in the White House, a grateful Bush gave Lay a major voice in shaping energy policy and picking personnel. Starting in late February 2001, Lay and other Enron officials took part in at least a half dozen secret meetings to develop Bush's energy plan.

After one of the Enron meetings, Vice President Cheney's energy task force changed a draft energy proposal to include a provision to boost oil and natural gas production in India. The amendment was so narrow that it apparently was targeted only to help Enron's troubled Dabhol power plant in India. [Washington Post, Jan. 26, 2002]

Other parts of the Bush energy plan also echoed Enron's views. Seventeen of the energy plan's proposals were sought by and benefited Enron, according to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. One proposal called for repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, which hindered Enron's potential for acquisitions.

Bush also put Enron's allies inside the federal government. Two top administration officials, Lawrence Lindsey, the White House's chief economic adviser, and Robert Zoellick, the U.S. Trade Representative, both worked for Enron, Lindsey as a consultant and Zoellick as a paid member of Enron's advisory board.

At least 14 administration officials owned stock in Enron, with Undersecretary of State Charlotte Beers and chief political adviser Karl Rove each reporting up to $250,000 worth of Enron stock when they joined the administration.

Lay exerted influence, too, over government regulators already in place. Curtis Hebert Jr., a conservative Republican and ally of Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., had been appointed to the FERC during the Clinton administration. Like Bush and Lay, Hebert was a promoter of "free markets," and Bush elevated him to FERC chairman in January 2001.

But Hebert ran into trouble when he broke ranks with Lay on Enron's plan to force consolidation of state utilities into four giant regional transmission organizations, or RTOs. By quickly pushing the states into RTOs, Enron and other big energy traders would have much larger markets for their energy sales.

Hebert, who advocated state rights, told the New York Times that he got a call from Lay with a proposed deal. Lay wanted Hebert to support a faster transition to a national retailing structure for electricity. If he did, Enron would back him to keep his job.

The FERC chairman said he was "offended" by the veiled threat. Lay already had demonstrated sway over selection of administration appointees by supplying Bush aides with a list of preferred candidates and personally interviewing a possible FERC nominee.

Lay offered a different account of the phone call. He said Hebert was the one "requesting" Enron's support, though Lay acknowledged that the pair "very possibly" discussed issues involving FERC's authority over the nation's electricity grids.

Hebert also raised Enron's ire when he started an investigation in early 2001 into how Enron's complex derivative financing instruments worked. "One of our problems is that we do not have the expertise to truly unravel the complex arbitrage activities of a company like Enron," Hebert said. [NYT, May 25, 2001]

At the time, those complex - and deceptive - derivative schemes were concealing Enron's worsening losses.

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

alkemical

05-26-2006, 02:55 PM

Damn dude, cut that **** down to a paragraph and a link

W*GS

05-26-2006, 03:19 PM

Only W*GS could look at the relationship between Bush and Lay and try to make it about Clinton.

Only LABF would excuse Clinton for being asleep at the wheel while Enron, Worldcom, etc., etc. were engaging in massive criminal fraud.

Clearly, there are (at least) two standards LABF applies when judging Presidents. One for Clinton (he cannot do wrong) and one for Bush (he can only do wrong).

As usual, LABF's incredibly simplistic "thinking" rears itself, and it ain't purty.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-26-2006, 03:20 PM

Damn dude, cut that **** down to a paragraph and a link

???

Who the f_ck are you - the message board police?

alkemical

05-26-2006, 03:33 PM

???

Who the f_ck are you - the message board police?

Acutally, it's more about net-manners

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-26-2006, 04:30 PM

Acutally, it's more about net-manners

Says the self-appointed arbiter of "net-manners."

People post articles here all the time - why did you just now decide to b*tch about it?

Why don't you just use the ignore feature instead of whining?

alkemical

05-26-2006, 04:33 PM

Says the self-appointed arbiter of "net-manners."

People post articles here all the time - why did you just now decide to b*tch about it?

Why don't you just use the ignore feature instead of whining?

Oh puhlease. When posting an f'ing book - Mind you - not your own work - or your own thoughts - not all of us like to have to scroll through 44 pages of spam. I'm not asking for censoring, i'm just asking for courtesy. Since noone else would appoint me, i had to take it upon myself.... ya know

Taco John

05-26-2006, 04:58 PM

The average defendant didn't screw thousands of Americans out of their pensions.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-26-2006, 10:39 PM

Oh puhlease. When posting an f'ing book - Mind you - not your own work - or your own thoughts - not all of us like to have to scroll through 44 pages of spam. I'm not asking for censoring, i'm just asking for courtesy. Since noone else would appoint me, i had to take it upon myself.... ya know

There's a little thing called "ignore."

Learn it. Use it.

BTW, I think the stuff you post is "spam" too.

alkemical

05-28-2006, 09:19 AM

There's a little thing called "ignore."

Learn it. Use it.

BTW, I think the stuff you post is "spam" too.

yeah, but only when i post against democrats.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-28-2006, 05:45 PM

yeah, but only when i post against democrats.

I was just kidding - I don't think the stuff you post is spam.

I just wanted to make a point, i.e., that it would be just as easy for me to label anything I don't like "spam" too.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

05-28-2006, 07:14 PM

http://cagle.msnbc.com/working/060525/thompson.jpg

alkemical

08-15-2006, 02:56 PM

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticnews&storyID=2006-08-15T202351Z_01_N15420743_RTRUKOC_0_US-AIRLINES-NORTHWEST.xml&src=081506_1639_ARTICLE_PROMO_also_on_reuters

Northwest advised workers to see treasure in trash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bankrupt Northwest Airlines advised workers to fish in the trash for things they like or take their dates for a walk in the woods in a move to help workers facing the ax to save money.

The No. 5 U.S. carrier, which has slashed most employees' pay and is looking to cut jobs as it prepares to exit bankruptcy, put the tips in a booklet handed out to about 50 workers and posted for a time on its employee Web site.

The section, entitled "101 ways to save money", does not feature in new versions of the booklet or the Web site.

Northwest spokesman Roman Blahoski said some employees who received the handbook had taken issue with a couple of the items. "We agree that some of these suggestions and tips ... were a bit insensitive," Blahoski told Reuters.

denver5459

08-15-2006, 03:38 PM

Isn't there alot of evidence out there showing that Clinton was in bed with Enron just as much as Bush was??

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

08-15-2006, 06:32 PM

Isn't there alot of evidence out there showing that Clinton was in bed with Enron just as much as Bush was??

You're the one who is suggesting such a thing, so the burden to provide such evidence is on you.

Meanwhile, here in reality, Lay was Bush's best friend and #1 campaign contributor. The Bush administration invited Lay to help write America's energy policy in a secret, closed-door meeting the details of which the administration still won't disclose to the public.

Cito Pelon

08-15-2006, 08:15 PM

denver5459

08-16-2006, 08:00 AM

You're the one who is suggesting such a thing, so the burden to provide such evidence is on you.

Meanwhile, here in reality, Lay was Bush's best friend and #1 campaign contributor. The Bush administration invited Lay to help write America's energy policy in a secret, closed-door meeting the details of which the administration still won't disclose to the public.

Enron and Bill Clinton
Charles R. Smith
Thursday, Feb. 28, 2002
Trade Trips to Russia, India, Bosnia and Indonesia
I must admit to an error in my most recent article on the Enron scandal. Lovers of ex-President Bill Clinton will be overjoyed to find that Enron's top exec Ken Lay did not stay at the White House 11 times.

However, the bad news for those who still worship Mr. Clinton is that Enron not only donated $100,000 to Clinton's 1993 inauguration but, according to the records, also added an additional $25,000 to the Clinton 1993 celebrations.

The documented evidence shows that Enron did make it into the Clinton White House by special invitation. Senior Vice President Terrance H. Thorn had coffee with Bill Clinton on March 5, 1996.

Many of the other attendees of the Clinton White House coffee sessions also make up a long list of convicted criminals, arms dealers and bagmen for illegal DNC contributions.

For example, Wang Jun had coffee with Clinton in 1996. Wang is also the president of Poly Technologies, the largest arms trading firm owned by the People's Liberation Army. Poly Tech is currently banned from doing business in the United States after several of its top executives conspired to smuggle machine guns into the U.S. for sale to a major drug dealer – who later turned out to be a Customs agent posing as a gangster.

Charlie "Yah Lin" Trie, who was later convicted of illegally passing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Clinton/Gore re-election campaign, brought Wang into the White House. Trie also gave an additional $645,000 to the Democratic National Committee, and most of this money was from illegal foreign sources.

Trip to Russia

Enron's association with the Clinton White House comes even closer to home when you consider the many corporate foreign trade trips paid for by your tax dollars. In 1994, Enron's CEO Ken Lay surfaced on a list of attendees wishing to travel to Russia with Ron Brown.

One person who did make the trade trip to Russia was Roger Tamraz. Interpol then wanted Tamraz, a Lebanese oil financier, for embezzling nearly $80 million from a Middle Eastern bank. Tamraz, who made most of his money selling Libyan oil, would later give more than $300,000 to the DNC after having coffee with Bill Clinton in the White House.

Russia was not the only target of Enron wheeling-and-dealing with the Clinton administration. Enron execs traveled on a profitable trade trip to India with Ron Brown, landing a major contract for a power plant. The India power plant deal later fell apart with allegations of illegal payments and bribery.

Trip to Bosnia

Enron also traveled in 1997 to Bosnia with Commerce Secretary Kantor in hopes of landing a U.S. taxpayer-backed energy deal in the war-torn state. According to the Chicago Tribune, Enron made a $100,000 donation to the DNC just days prior to the trade mission to the former Yugoslav province. Commerce Department documents clearly note that Enron was interested in the "Zagreb" portion of the trip.

Even in the last days of Bill Clinton, Enron execs were on the go. Enron traveled to South Korea with Commerce Secretary William Daley in 1999. Daley would go on to run Vice President Al Gore's failed bid for the White House in 2000.

Trip to Indonesia

The most damning evidence linking Bill Clinton and Enron to corruption is the documentation that shows Enron received U.S. taxpayer monies in order to finance a corrupt deal with Indonesia.

P.T. East Java Power Corp., which was then 50.1 percent owned by Enron, wanted to conclude a deal for a 500 megawatt power plant in East Java, Indonesia. The 20-year deal was later signed by Enron with P.T. PLN Persero (PLN), Indonesia's state-owned electric utility, which agreed to purchase the power from the natural-gas-fired plant.

According to Enron, the natural gas for the project was to be provided by Pertamina, Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas company. Commerce Department documents noted that Pertamina stalled the project with excessive demands for gas prices.

"Enron is now engaged with Pertamina over access to natural gas. These discussions may prove difficult," states a 1994 Commerce Department advocacy document.

"Enron is registered for OPIC (Overseas Private Investment Corporation) insurance," states the document, noting that the giant corporation obtained U.S. taxpayer-backed insurance if the Indonesian deal fell apart.

Ron Brown Letters for Enron

Ron Brown personally sought approval for the Enron electric power plants inside Indonesia. According to a personal letter directed to the Indonesian Minister for Trade and Industry, Brown endorsed two Enron deals for gas-fired power plants with the corrupt Suharto regime.

"Enron power, a world renowned private power developer, is in the final stages of negotiating two combined cycle, gas turbine power projects," wrote Brown in his 1995 letter.

"The first, a 500 MW plant in East Java, should bring commercial power generation by the end of 1997 if it can promptly negotiate a gas supply Memorandum of Understanding with Pertamina. The other project, a smaller plant in East Kalimantan, also awaits a gas supply agreement.

"I urge you to give full consideration to the proposals," concluded Brown to the Indonesian minister. In October 1995, Brown wrote another letter, this time to Hartarto Sastrosurarto, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Trade and Industry, pressing him to conclude the Enron power plant deals.

"I would like to bring to your attention a number of projects involving American companies which seem to be stalled, including several independent power projects. These projects include the Tarahan power project, which involves Southern Electric; the gas powered projects in East Java and East Kalimantan, which involves Enron," wrote Brown.

"Your support for prompt resolution of the remaining issues associated with each of these projects would be most appreciated," concluded Brown.

On Nov. 18, 1996, Enron CEO Ken Lay announced that the deal with Suharto was complete. According to Enron's public statement, the U.S.-led energy company had finally won the East Java Power project.

Corruption, Collusion and Nepotism

Yet the Enron success was clouded by allegations that the power plant deals were filled with kickbacks for the Suharto family. In October 1998, U.S. Ambassador J. Stapleton Roy wrote a diplomatic cable that he had recently met with Indonesian Director General of Electricity Endro Utomo Notodisoerjo.

"Commenting on corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN), Endro said that in the past there was no separation between 'power' (not electric but former first family power) and business. 'All the IPP's (Independent Power Projects) have a relation with power, and it is still going on,' added Endro."

According to State Department documents, Enron signed on to a deal filled with "corruption, collusion and nepotism." One State Department cable included an entire section titled "Dealing with unwanted partners" that detailed corruption inside the two Enron power plants at East Kalimantan and East Java.

"Unocal executives told resources officer that the firm is close to reaching a deal with its partner, PT Nusamba (controlled by former President Soeharto crony Bob Hasan) to sever ties in two production sharing contracts (PSC) in East Kalimantan and East Java," notes the State Department cable.

Eventually, the Indonesian economy collapsed and Suharto was overthrown. The resulting economic mess forced Indonesia to default on its payments for the Enron power plants. The U.S. taxpayer using its insurance, however, paid off Enron. One such policy for Enron was obtained through the World Bank Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency or MIGA.

"In June of this year, MIGA paid $15 million to Enron Java Power Co. for its investment in P.T. East Java Power Corporation in Indonesia," states the 2000 official public release from the World Bank.

"The venture was one of many suspended by the presidential decree of September 20, 1997, issued in response to the country's economic crisis," noted MIGA officials.

Sounds like Clinton is as much to fault about ENRON as Bush is.

fdf

08-16-2006, 08:06 AM

. . .they dropped charges that could be proven. . . What, did you have a chat with the prosecutor and then review the 5 million pages of evidence in the case? Or is it your psychic powers that tell you this? Or maybe the universal overmind from Buzz Lightyear?

alkemical

08-16-2006, 08:09 AM

What, did you have a chat with the prosecutor and then review the 5 million pages of evidence in the case? Or is it your psychic powers that tell you this? Or maybe the universal overmind from Buzz Lightyear?

No, i can read:

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake dropped two counts of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud against Skilling, leaving him with 28 criminal counts against him; the judge also dropped one securities fraud count against Lay, said Skilling lawyer Daniel Petrocelli

bendog

08-16-2006, 08:15 AM

ummm, am I confused? Isn't Lay dead? And doesn't that pretty much end the govt's attempts to get the money from him? He died,and his family stays uberrich?

alkemical

08-16-2006, 08:17 AM

actually dog -

this thread was resurected - i found the article on the airline telling workers to dumpster dive - and everyone NOW wants to jump on this thread, check the dates.....

W*GS

08-16-2006, 08:59 AM

Isn't there alot of evidence out there showing that Clinton was in bed with Enron just as much as Bush was??

You see, the problem for LABF is that almost all of Enron's scummy activities took place right under Clinton's nose. However, since LABF cannot abide any criticism of Clinton, no matter how truthful, those of us who dare to take Clinton to task (the aftershocks of which are still with us) get nothing but name-calling, personal attacks, smears and slurs from LABF.

denver5459

08-16-2006, 09:30 AM

You see, the problem for LABF is that almost all of Enron's scummy activities took place right under Clinton's nose. However, since LABF cannot abide any criticism of Clinton, no matter how truthful, those of us who dare to take Clinton to task (the aftershocks of which are still with us) get nothing but name-calling, personal attacks, smears and slurs from LABF.

When I posted the article about Clinton being in bed with Enron I was trying to show the double standard around here when it comes to Bush vs. Clinton or democrats vs. republicans. Not that I support Bush over Clinton; in fact I think most politicians are dirty. But I find it funny when this post first began we were talking about Enron and Bush and everyone has got their comments about how dirty Bush is but I post something about Clinton being in bed with Enron and all I hear is the crickets. :spit:

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

08-16-2006, 07:16 PM

....but I post something about Clinton being in bed with Enron and all I hear is the crickets. :spit:

Because the fact that Enron was engaging in crooked/clandestine accounting practices while Clinton was president doesn't = "Clinton being in bed with Enron."

Anyone with two brain cells to rub together can understand this simple distinction.

If you want to know who was really in bed with Enron, just follow the money:

Ken Lay = George W. Bush's (not Bill Clinton's) #1 campaign contributor.

Ken Lay = Enlisted by the Bush administration (not by the Clinton administration) to write America's energy policy in secret meetings the details of which are still being witheld from the American people.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

08-16-2006, 07:24 PM

You see, the problem for LABF is that almost all of Enron's scummy activities took place right under Clinton's nose.

"Almost all?"

Your keyboard is where facts and the truth go to die.

You deliberately ignore the fact that Enron's covert/crooked book-cooking activities took some time to come to light/be discovered.

You are only making yourself look ridiculous (more ridiculous than usual, that is) in your attempt to suggest some sort of complicity between Clinton and Enron.

All the more laughable in light of so many instances of actual complicty between Enron and the Bush administration.

denver5459

08-17-2006, 09:14 AM

Enron and Bill Clinton
Charles R. Smith
Thursday, Feb. 28, 2002
Trade Trips to Russia, India, Bosnia and Indonesia
I must admit to an error in my most recent article on the Enron scandal. Lovers of ex-President Bill Clinton will be overjoyed to find that Enron's top exec Ken Lay did not stay at the White House 11 times.

However, the bad news for those who still worship Mr. Clinton is that Enron not only donated $100,000 to Clinton's 1993 inauguration but, according to the records, also added an additional $25,000 to the Clinton 1993 celebrations.

The documented evidence shows that Enron did make it into the Clinton White House by special invitation. Senior Vice President Terrance H. Thorn had coffee with Bill Clinton on March 5, 1996.

Many of the other attendees of the Clinton White House coffee sessions also make up a long list of convicted criminals, arms dealers and bagmen for illegal DNC contributions.

For example, Wang Jun had coffee with Clinton in 1996. Wang is also the president of Poly Technologies, the largest arms trading firm owned by the People's Liberation Army. Poly Tech is currently banned from doing business in the United States after several of its top executives conspired to smuggle machine guns into the U.S. for sale to a major drug dealer – who later turned out to be a Customs agent posing as a gangster.

Charlie "Yah Lin" Trie, who was later convicted of illegally passing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Clinton/Gore re-election campaign, brought Wang into the White House. Trie also gave an additional $645,000 to the Democratic National Committee, and most of this money was from illegal foreign sources.

Trip to Russia

Enron's association with the Clinton White House comes even closer to home when you consider the many corporate foreign trade trips paid for by your tax dollars. In 1994, Enron's CEO Ken Lay surfaced on a list of attendees wishing to travel to Russia with Ron Brown.

One person who did make the trade trip to Russia was Roger Tamraz. Interpol then wanted Tamraz, a Lebanese oil financier, for embezzling nearly $80 million from a Middle Eastern bank. Tamraz, who made most of his money selling Libyan oil, would later give more than $300,000 to the DNC after having coffee with Bill Clinton in the White House.

Russia was not the only target of Enron wheeling-and-dealing with the Clinton administration. Enron execs traveled on a profitable trade trip to India with Ron Brown, landing a major contract for a power plant. The India power plant deal later fell apart with allegations of illegal payments and bribery.

Trip to Bosnia

Enron also traveled in 1997 to Bosnia with Commerce Secretary Kantor in hopes of landing a U.S. taxpayer-backed energy deal in the war-torn state. According to the Chicago Tribune, Enron made a $100,000 donation to the DNC just days prior to the trade mission to the former Yugoslav province. Commerce Department documents clearly note that Enron was interested in the "Zagreb" portion of the trip.

Even in the last days of Bill Clinton, Enron execs were on the go. Enron traveled to South Korea with Commerce Secretary William Daley in 1999. Daley would go on to run Vice President Al Gore's failed bid for the White House in 2000.

Trip to Indonesia

The most damning evidence linking Bill Clinton and Enron to corruption is the documentation that shows Enron received U.S. taxpayer monies in order to finance a corrupt deal with Indonesia.

P.T. East Java Power Corp., which was then 50.1 percent owned by Enron, wanted to conclude a deal for a 500 megawatt power plant in East Java, Indonesia. The 20-year deal was later signed by Enron with P.T. PLN Persero (PLN), Indonesia's state-owned electric utility, which agreed to purchase the power from the natural-gas-fired plant.

According to Enron, the natural gas for the project was to be provided by Pertamina, Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas company. Commerce Department documents noted that Pertamina stalled the project with excessive demands for gas prices.

"Enron is now engaged with Pertamina over access to natural gas. These discussions may prove difficult," states a 1994 Commerce Department advocacy document.

"Enron is registered for OPIC (Overseas Private Investment Corporation) insurance," states the document, noting that the giant corporation obtained U.S. taxpayer-backed insurance if the Indonesian deal fell apart.

Ron Brown Letters for Enron

Ron Brown personally sought approval for the Enron electric power plants inside Indonesia. According to a personal letter directed to the Indonesian Minister for Trade and Industry, Brown endorsed two Enron deals for gas-fired power plants with the corrupt Suharto regime.

"Enron power, a world renowned private power developer, is in the final stages of negotiating two combined cycle, gas turbine power projects," wrote Brown in his 1995 letter.

"The first, a 500 MW plant in East Java, should bring commercial power generation by the end of 1997 if it can promptly negotiate a gas supply Memorandum of Understanding with Pertamina. The other project, a smaller plant in East Kalimantan, also awaits a gas supply agreement.

"I urge you to give full consideration to the proposals," concluded Brown to the Indonesian minister. In October 1995, Brown wrote another letter, this time to Hartarto Sastrosurarto, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Trade and Industry, pressing him to conclude the Enron power plant deals.

"I would like to bring to your attention a number of projects involving American companies which seem to be stalled, including several independent power projects. These projects include the Tarahan power project, which involves Southern Electric; the gas powered projects in East Java and East Kalimantan, which involves Enron," wrote Brown.

"Your support for prompt resolution of the remaining issues associated with each of these projects would be most appreciated," concluded Brown.

On Nov. 18, 1996, Enron CEO Ken Lay announced that the deal with Suharto was complete. According to Enron's public statement, the U.S.-led energy company had finally won the East Java Power project.

Corruption, Collusion and Nepotism

Yet the Enron success was clouded by allegations that the power plant deals were filled with kickbacks for the Suharto family. In October 1998, U.S. Ambassador J. Stapleton Roy wrote a diplomatic cable that he had recently met with Indonesian Director General of Electricity Endro Utomo Notodisoerjo.

"Commenting on corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN), Endro said that in the past there was no separation between 'power' (not electric but former first family power) and business. 'All the IPP's (Independent Power Projects) have a relation with power, and it is still going on,' added Endro."

According to State Department documents, Enron signed on to a deal filled with "corruption, collusion and nepotism." One State Department cable included an entire section titled "Dealing with unwanted partners" that detailed corruption inside the two Enron power plants at East Kalimantan and East Java.

"Unocal executives told resources officer that the firm is close to reaching a deal with its partner, PT Nusamba (controlled by former President Soeharto crony Bob Hasan) to sever ties in two production sharing contracts (PSC) in East Kalimantan and East Java," notes the State Department cable.

Eventually, the Indonesian economy collapsed and Suharto was overthrown. The resulting economic mess forced Indonesia to default on its payments for the Enron power plants. The U.S. taxpayer using its insurance, however, paid off Enron. One such policy for Enron was obtained through the World Bank Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency or MIGA.

"In June of this year, MIGA paid $15 million to Enron Java Power Co. for its investment in P.T. East Java Power Corporation in Indonesia," states the 2000 official public release from the World Bank.

"The venture was one of many suspended by the presidential decree of September 20, 1997, issued in response to the country's economic crisis," noted MIGA officials.

Sounds like Clinton is as much to fault about ENRON as Bush is.

I apologize for quoting this again but this is for LABF's sake. As you can see from this article Clinton was in bed with ENRON.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN

08-18-2006, 05:22 PM

I apologize for quoting this again but this is for LABF's sake. As you can see from this article Clinton was in bed with ENRON.

:laugh:

Not surprisingly, you didn't bother to provide a link or even identify the source of this article.

In any event, even if the article's facts are correct, it still doesn't show that Clinton was "in bed with Enron."

And it certainly doesn't show that "Clinton is as much to fault about ENRON as Bush is."

alkemical

08-18-2006, 05:25 PM

Who gives a **** - a large corporation screwed over alot of people - not just people that worked for enron, but investors and customers too.

The President doesn't care about you or i until it impacts votes.