Did Enron Get Payback for its Campaign Contributions?
Tonio on 6:38 am on Feb. 26, 2002[br]To me, the fact that the Bush Administration did nothing to get Enron out of trouble is not the scandal. I want to know what influence Enron had in shaping Bush's energy policy in Texas and in Washington.
You hit the nail on the head, Tonio. That’s a question I’ve been pursuing myself. Thus far, here’s what I see:
The real Enron scandal isn’t about Bush helping the company on its way down (when it was facing bankruptcy); it’s about Bush helping the company while it was still on its way up (and still able to write the big campaign checks).
Once the company was heading for the dumpster, of course the White House didn’t offer any kind of bailout. Bush would have to be even dumber than some people claim he is to go out on a limb for the company just when its cooked books were making all the headlines.
But before the company’s collapse, there was a long history of Enron’s contributions to the Bush campaign paying off -- as VP Cheney would say -- “Big Time.”
On energy policy, economic policy, and tax policy, Dubya’s buddy “Kenny Boy” got pretty much whatever he asked for. Here are some examples of the special influence and power given Enron by the Dubya White House.[/i] (I’ll save his years as governor for another post) :
1. Enron got to significantly shape the administration’s energy policy. Lay had six secret meetings with Cheney (more than anyone else), which resulted in 17 major concessions to Enron, putting the company in a position to gain more from the new policy than any other company in America.
http://www.corpwatch.org/news/PND.jsp?articleid=1376
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/08/politics/main323646.shtml
2. Enron execs’ inputs were written into the Economic Stimulus Bill, including a provision to reimburse companies for the Alternative Minimum Tax they paid a decade ago. This would give Enron a $254 million rebate check, although for 4 years since they paid zero taxes.
http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/694848.asp
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/business/1213610
3. Lay got to interview candidates and ultimately handpick the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the watchdog agency overseeing and regulating his company’s industry.
http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/697801.asp
http://www.consortiumnews.com/Print/020602.html
4. Enron received the dedicated services of National Security Council (NSC) staff to muscle India into buying an Enron power plant there. This continued even after Sept. 11, when the NSC needed to win India’s support in fighting terrorism. Administration documents show that Bush and the NSC placed Enron’s interests “on par with or ahead of U.S. national security interests."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34646-2002Jan24.html
http://www.consortiumnews.com/Print/020602.html
5. From the beginning, Ken Lay has been an influential Bush advisor, for personnel as well as policy. Several Enron executives and associates were appointed to powerful positions, including: Larry Lindsay, the White House Chief Economic Advisor; Robert Zoellick, the U.S. Trade Representative; Thomas E. White, Jr., Sec. of the Army; and Marc Racicot, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, who was and still is a lobbyist for Enron.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/02/01/enron.htm
http://www.latimes.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=la%2d000010256feb10
6. Shortly after taking office, the Bush administration announced it would "review" a Clinton administration move to crack down on countries whose lax banking regulations permit U.S. companies to hide money in offshore tax havens. With the crackdown delayed, Enron and others could continue to hide profit -- and debt -- in the Cayman Islands and other offshore accounts, thus making the company appear more profitable to investors.
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/01/19/Worldandnation/Enron_allies_helped_s.shtml
http://www.populist.com/02.3.edit.html
7. Enron opposed the price caps widely recommended as a fix for the California Energy Crisis (Remember the rolling blackouts and austere conservation efforts?) The Bush administration not only rejected price caps, but also used Lay’s talking points to explain why.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/696828.asp
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0106/ridgeway3.php
Throughout his political career, GW Bush has maintained a mutual back-scratching relationship with Enron execs. And once in the White House, he handed Enron all the power and influence it needed to rig the system to its own advantage. So much so that it’s hard to tell where Enron begins and the Executive Branch leaves off.
The GOP used to brag that Dubya would run the White House like a business. But who knew that it would mean a government “of the Corporation, by the Corporation, and for the Corporation”?