ENRON

	Tom DeLay's Top Aide Broke the Law to Get Enron Lobbying Contract
	Starting to look like a Watergate-type coverup
	Sen. Hollings calls for special prosecutor
	Did ENRON help Bush break election laws
	ENRON internet links
	U.S.-India-ENRON crimes and human rights abuses
	WhiteHouse / ENRON
	Enron collapse forces vote on campaign finance reform
	Phil Gramm Led the Fight for Corrupt Auditors like Arthur Andersen
	Outside Lawyers Exposed Enron's Accounting Scam Last Summer
	Senator Gramm Lied About His Role in Enron Debacle
	Enrongate's Smoking Gun is California
	Enron Paid NO Income Taxes

See Wag the Dog
Selling out America

The "scandal" of all "scandals" is about to hit the fan. Check out personal notes between Bush and Lay just released under Texas's sunshine laws!
http://www.thesmokinggun.com
Bernie, 2/17/02

Enron Maintained a Fake Trading Floor to Trick Analysts into Believing Business was Booming 2/26/02

Putting it all together - What a 10 minute internet search will turn up on: "Enron Afghanistan Pipeline Taliban" 2/4/02

Congressman Conyers discusses ENRON 2/4/02

The Facts on Enron and Campaign Finance Reform 2/3/02

Enron's victims may find a friend in Rico 1/30/02

OIL AND POLITICS

Jan 14 2002

Enron, "Big Oil" and the New World Order

Recent revelations in the mainstream U.S. media linking the failed energy giant, Enron with the Bush Whitehouse is no news to corporate watchdogs or media activists. In the past, talk of "Big Oil's" capture of the Whitehouse and its ongoing influence on Capitol Hill were, for the most part, ignored by the corporate media. But, now that the bottom has fallen out of Enron and the financial press has reported the damage, the mainstream media are beginning to smell blood and find fault in the Administration's positions, while pundits of various stripes take pot shots. But, how far will the corporate media venture before coming up against self-censorship? Will the Bush dynasty's New World Order go the way of Nixon or will civil liberties in a "time of war" be further curtailed to silence dissent?

Meanwhile, news, analysis, and speculation of Enron/U.S. Government connections continue to surface in the alternative media. At the same time, Enron's international dealings are coming under increased scrutiny. Where will this story go?

ENRON Articles
(Top)

	Tom DeLay's Top Aide Broke the Law to Get Enron Lobbying Contract Roll Call has scored a MAJOR investigative coup that could bring down Tom DeLay's top aide. "At the top of the DeLay political hierarchy sits Edwin Alexander Buckham, a 43-year-old ordained evangelical minister with a dense political and legislative resume who rose to become DeLay's chief of staff after Republicans won the majority in 1994... Buckham left DeLay's staff Dec. 20, 1997, but was immediately hired as a consultant for the lawmaker's leadership PAC, Americans for a Republican Majority." BEFORE he left - on 11-12-97 - Buckham was working on a lobbying proposal to Enron that led to a $750,000 contract to promote electricity "deregulation," Enron-style - after DeLay pushed Enron to hire his aide. Buckham says he had nothing to do with the proposal, and that his letterhead was forged.
	Watergate Veteran John Dean Says Cheney is Starting a Cover-Up "Only the president has the right to executive privilege, not the vice president. It's never gone that far. It's really a uniquely presidential privilege, and the president himself must invoke it, and there has be no invocation of executive privilege here. What they've said is, we challenge GAO's authority to even ask for this information. That's different than executive privilege. What this appears, Paula, to me to be is the first step of a cover-up. This is the way you start it. You stall, you stall, you stall. You try to get something like this to go on until it is no longer an issue, until something intervenes and replaces it, or the issue becomes moot for some other reason. That's the early signal here... Certainly the way we did during Watergate was to try to stall everything, and this is a stalling action." So says Nixon White House counsel John Dean. (demdailynews)
	Senator Fritz Hollings Demands Enrongate Special Prosecutor "We need to name a special counsel... because conflicts of interest abound in this case, particularly at the Justice Department... A special counsel can also be appointed if there are 'extraordinary circumstances'... What could be more extraordinary than the largest bankruptcy in American history? When was the last time a corporate collapse had Wall Street so jittery, with investors questioning the accounting practices of every company and so many ripples spreading out through the economy? I also find it to be 'extraordinary circumstances' when a top executive commits suicide, voluminous documents are shredded and witness after witness takes the Fifth Amendment. And in my 35 years in the Senate, I have never witnessed a corporation so extraordinarily committed to buying government. In the last decade, Enron gave campaign contributions to 186 House members and 71 senators, including $3,500 to me." So writes Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-SC). Urge your Senators (202-224-3121) to join him! (demdailynews)
	John Conyers Demands the Truth From Karl Rove About Ralph Reed According to the NY Times, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) "plans to ask Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser, to provide any information that would link Bush campaign officials to the Enron Corporation... Conyers said he was spurred by reports that in 1997 Mr. Rove recommended that Enron hire Ralph Reed, a political strategist and former executive director of the Christian Coalition, as a consultant... Mr. Conyers plans to request a list and description of Enron officials or representatives whom Mr. Rove contacted on behalf of Mr. Reed, a list of contacts between Mr. Rove and Mr. Reed concerning his consulting agreement with Enron, and a list of contacts between Mr. Rove and other current members of the White House staff about Enron. 'If Enron did indeed pay funds to Mr. Reed on behalf of the Bush campaign,' Mr. Conyers wrote, 'it may well violate the Federal Election Campaign Act.'" Which would mean big-time trouble for Rove, Reed - and Bush.
	Ex-Enron executive found shot to death The Enron saga slipped from scandal to tragedy Friday as J. Clifford Baxter, a former vice chairman of the company who “complained mightily” about some of its off-the-books partnerships, was found shot dead in his car, an apparent suicide.
	U.S.-INDIA-ENRON CRIMES AND HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES http://groups.yahoo.com/group/InfoTimes/message/1260 ================================================== Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org ENRON HISTORY OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE IN INDIA http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/01/enron_012302.htm NEW YORK, NY, USA, January 23, 2002 (HRW): The human rights abuses that plagued the Enron Corporation's Dabhol power plant in India from 1992 to 1998 demonstrate the need for U.S. government agencies to scrutinize such controversial projects more closely, Human Rights Watch said today. In 1999, Human Rights Watch charged in a 166-page report, "The Enron Corporation: Corporate Complicity in Human Rights Violations," that Enron subsidiaries paid local law enforcement to suppress opposition to its power plant south of Bombay. "Enron is now being widely accused of arrogance and lack of transparency, but the people of Dabhol have known that all along," said Arvind Ganesan, director of the Business and Human Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "Enron was complicit in human rights abuse in India for several years." Local opposition to the Enron project began in 1992 over concerns about corruption and the hasty negotiations over the terms of Enron's investment. Farmers complained that the power plant had unfairly acquired their land and had diverted scarce water for its needs. Local activists raised concerns over potential environmental damage. The U.S. government bears special responsibility for the human rights consequences of Enron's investment because of its aggressive lobbying on behalf of the three U.S.-based companies developing the project, Ganesan said. Although the Indian press widely reported the human rights troubles around the power plant, U.S. officials failed to investigate the matter. The World Bank repeatedly refused to finance the project because it was "not economically viable," but the U.S. government extended between $290 million and $300 million in loan guarantees to Enron for its investment in Dabhol. The Export-Import Bank requires an analysis of the human rights implications of its loans. But the State Department's entire human rights assessment for one Export-Import Bank loan for the Dabhol project read, "The State Department has no objection to this case on political grounds or on the basis of human rights issues." "U.S. taxpayers funded corporate complicity in human rights abuse," said Ganesan. "Congress should make sure that never happens again." Ganesan urged the U.S. Congress to establish a human rights assessment office at the U.S. Export-Import Bank to report to Congress. A provision was introduced in the U.S. Congress during 2001 to strengthen the Export-Import Bank's human rights oversight. But the Bush Administration, the head of the Export-Import Bank itself, and many members of the U.S. business community opposed the provision, which was "killed" by a committee of the House of Representatives in November 2001. The 1999 Human Rights Watch report documents how contractors for the Dabhol Power Corporation harassed and attacked individuals opposed to the power plant. Police refused to investigate complaints, and in several cases, actually arrested the victims on trumped-up charges. The Dabhol Power Corporation, under provisions of law, reimbursed the abusive state forces for the security they provided to the company. These forces, located adjacent to the project site, were stationed there largely for the purpose of dealing with protests. While they reported to local police, their expenses were paid by the company, a subsidiary of Enron. In one instance in June 1997, Maharashtra police raided a fishing village where many residents opposed the power plant. They arbitrarily beat and arrested dozens of villagers, including Sadhana Bhalekar, the wife of a well-known protester against the plant. They broke down the door and window of Bhalekar's bathroom and dragged her naked out into the street, beating her with batons. Bhalekar was three months pregnant at the time. In another instance in May 1997, police beat and arrested nearly 180 protesters who were demonstrating peacefully outside the company gates. The protests had largely ended by 1998. Since the project's inception in 1992, Enron and the government of Maharashtra state, where the power plant is located, repeatedly ignored public complaints. "Dabhol Power Corporation would not tolerate any human rights abuses by its employees and sub-contractors," the company said in a 1997 statement. "If you have concerns about police actions, we suggest that you take it up with the police or government body that is responsible for their operations." In 2000, Enron began to take steps to address future violations, but those efforts ended when the company collapsed. Because of the plant's high cost of power, the Maharashtra state government announced in June 2001 that it was terminating its agreement with the Dabhol Power Corporation (DPC). Shortly after, DPC ceased operations and insisted that the government repay its debts. The dispute continued, but was further complicated when Enron declared bankruptcy on December 2, 2001. On January 17, 2001, Enron reportedly filed an approximately $200 million claim with the U.S. government's Overseas Private Investment Corporation in an attempt to recoup losses from the Dabhol Power Corporation. The project is up for sale to other investors. [© Copyright 2001-2002 Human Rights Watch] The Enron Corporation: Corporate Complicity in Human Rights Violations in India Human Rights Watch Report, 1999 http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/enron The report details the development of the Dabhol Power project from its inception in 1992 through 1998 in order to illustrate an unbroken continuum: the immense influence that Enron exercised over the central and Maharashtra governments; to describe the company's interaction with villagers whose legitimate concerns for their livelihood and environment were ignored or dismissed leading them eventually to oppose the project; to make clear that various avenues to address their concerns about the project judicial proceedings and direct dialogue with the company had been exhausted in ways that raised questions rather than answering them. The local opposition that formed to protest the project's lack of transparency, its human impact, its threat to villagers' livelihoods, and its potential to do environmental damage was the affected population's last recourse. Except in one case of stone-throwing and another incident where a water pipeline was broken, the opposition did not resort to violence; villagers' groups did not endorse sabotage, and their methods were peaceful. Yet they were met with serious, sometimes brutal human rights violations carried out on behalf of the state's and the company's interests. The relationship between the controversies surrounding implementation of the project, the efforts to challenge its development, and violations of human rights are all described in detail here because each is an integral part of a complex, disturbing situation. [Publisher: Information Times: http://www.InformationTimes.com America's Daily Internet Newspaper Washington DC, U.S.A. Copyright © 2001 Information Times. All Rights Reserved.]
	ENRON and the WhiteHouse "The head of a congressional inquiry into the Bush administration's energy proposals said yesterday he would sue the White House next week if the administration does not comply with his demands, in what would be the first legal action of its kind between the legislative and executive branches of government..... Former Enron executives disclosed yesterday that a top Bush campaign adviser, Edward Gillespie, served as the company's key conduit to the White House and House leaders. Gillespie's firm received $525,000 over nine months last year from Enron for lobbying that included the energy task force and economic stimulus legislation with tax provisions that would have helped Enron.... whether Karl Rove, Bush's top campaign adviser, arranged for an Enron consulting contract for strategist Ralph Reed instead of paying him from campaign funds. The White House and Reed yesterday denied a charge, made by an anonymous source in a New York Times article, that Reed's contract was arranged to keep his allegiance to Bush during the early days of the Texas governor's presidential bid.... New information was released yesterday showing that the White House amended a draft energy proposal by the State Department to include a provision favorable to Enron. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), the White House's main antagonist over the energy task force records, released papers indicating the White House added to the final report a call to boost energy production in India. In between the draft and the final report, Enron officials had met with the task force, Waxman's staff said. The development could be significant because the change was made at about the same time the White House was expanding an effort to aid Enron in India." .. from GAO Vows to Sue For Cheney Files , posted 1/26/02
	Supporters to Force Vote on Campaign Finance- Enron Collapse Garners Support for Reform The recent controversy over the demise of the energy giant, which contributed millions to both Republicans and Democrats, helped supporters of a Senate-passed campaign finance bill attract four additional lawmakers this afternoon to their discharge petition despite the GOP leadership's opposition to the measure. Under House rules, the leadership now has no choice but to bring the legislation up for a vote. ... 1/24/02
	Enron Maintained a Fake Trading Floor to Trick Analysts into Believing Business was Booming Fake trading floor, fake "partnerships," faked reports ...was there ever ANYTHING real about Enron? Or was it all just one big front designed to make a huge killing for a few, then let the chips fall where they may - and let the little guy and gal take their chances? This new revelation that Enron actually had a Hollywood-like set complete with "stand in" traders in the form of on-call employees is disturbing not just because of the colossal dishonest and arrogance it represents but because it echoes the Bush administration's modus operandi. Just like Enron, the Bush administration is being run like a front operation, with a glitzy, convincing Hollywood set up front for the public to see, but all the real information as to what is truly going on kept under lock and key to protect a few. Sadder still, Ken Lay has one up on Bush - at least he obtained his position honestly. http://www.click2houston.com/hou/news/stories/news-124836820020222- ....demdaily news, 2/26/02

Phil Gramm Led the Fight for Corrupt Auditors like Arthur Andersen

The Star-Telegram reports, "Phil Gramm was among the lawmakers who fought a 2000 proposal by the SEC that would have prevented an accounting firm to audit a company's books while providing consulting work. While the debate raged, Gramm lobbied on behalf of the accounting firms, which successfully fought the proposal. Gramm sent out several news releases on his Banking Committee Web site demanding that the SEC provide 'proof' of problems with auditor independence. 'You can make the argument that any time you are paying an auditor, there is a conflict of interest,' Gramm said in one news release during the 2000 battle. 'But if you are going to make the kind of changes that we are talking about, you have to do more than argue that there might be a conflict and that conflict might override the credibility of the people who are leading these firms.'" Credibility??? Yours is as bankrupt as Enron, Phil! http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/2489039.htm

Outside Lawyers Exposed Enron's Accounting Scam Last Summer

Salon's Jake Tapper reports that a mid-level Enron attorney, Jordan

Mintz, secretly hired the New York law firm Fried Frank Harris

Shriver & Jacobson to review the legality of partnerships created by

Enron's CFO, Andrew Fastow. FFHS&J urged Mintz to stop Enron from

creating such partnerships, and Mintz succeeded. This appears to be

the cause of CEO Jeffrey Skilling's mysterious departure on 8/14/01 -

he must have figured that without these debt-hiding partnerships,

Enron's ponzi scheme was finished. Before he left, Skilling demoted

Treasurer Jeff McMahon, who probably secretly approved Mintz's hiring

of FFHS&J, and demanded that Skilling take corrective action. McMahon

replaced Fastow as CFO in October, when Fastow was finally fired.

McMahon is now desperately trying to keep Enron from liquidation, as

previously secret debts continue to be revealed.

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/01/18/enron_partnerships/

Senator Gramm Lied About His Role in Enron Debacle

In December, Phil Gramm's press secretary said "Senator Gramm took no role, had no say, and did not vote on the energy futures provisions." But "on December 15, Gramm curiously turned up as co-sponsor of a bill with the same name, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which did deregulate energy futures and which, without undergoing the usual committee hearings and preliminary votes, was immediately attached as a rider to an 11,000-page appropriations bill." So reports James Ridgeway in the Village Voice.

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0203/ridgeway.php

Enrongate's Smoking Gun is California

According to Salon's Anthony York, "The real smoking gun for Enron could be its role in the California energy deregulation debacle. Vice President Cheney has already admitted that he and Enron CEO Ken Lay discussed the California situation in some of their six meetings last year, leading some critics to believe that Bush's hands-off policy toward the Golden State's energy meltdown was adopted at the bidding of Enron, whose profits soared during the crisis. Lay was also instrumental in replacing the chairman of the federal commission that regulates energy issues with his own nominee, after the original chairman refused to kowtow to Enron's wishes on electricity deregulation. A California state Senate committee is currently calling for depositions of Enron and Arthur Andersen officials to find out if the former energy giant or its auditors willfully destroyed documents that were under subpoena from the committee." And there's more - better keep those pretzels away from Cheney!

http://salon.com/news/feature/2002/01/16/california_enron/index.html

Enron Paid NO Income Taxes

Not only did Enron screw its employees and shareholders - it also screwed the taxpayers. "Enron paid no income taxes in four of the last five years, using almost 900 subsidiaries in tax-haven countries and other techniques, an analysis of its financial reports to shareholders shows. It was also eligible for $382 million in tax refunds. The company used strategies common among businesses to avoid taxes. It also used some unusual methods, among them the creation of 881 subsidiaries abroad, including 692 in the Cayman Islands, 119 in the Turks and Caicos, 43 in Mauritius and 8 in Bermuda." An NY Times editorial on 5/26/01 stated, "the Bush administration is backing away from a three-year effort by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to crack down on tax havens. The administration's decision to withdraw American support for essential elements of the effort undermines what had been a successful international campaign." How con-veen-yent! Congress must close offshore tax loopholes now!

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/17/business/17TAX.html

Bush "pioneer" is head of Arthur Andersen Houston office

D. Stephen Goddard, managing partner of Arthur Andersen's Houston Office (where the documents may have been destroyed) is a Bush "pioneer" who raised over $100,000 for the 2000 campaign

see http://www.tpj.org/pioneers/d_goddard.html

"July 28, 2000 - A new study analyzing the 212 Pioneer fundraisers that have delivered at least 24% of Bush's $90 million war chest concludes that their ranks are dominated by corporate executives and special interest lobbyists. The Pioneers group includes a host of polluters, corporate welfare recipients and trade group leaders who seek special favors for their particular industries. The report by Texans for Public Justice is the first in-depth look at each of the Pioneers."

--and Enron and Arthur Andersen, who announced that they destroyed Enron-related documents.

What's the common denominator: the Bush family and Bush/Cheney contributions and Bush/Cheney influence. It's damn incestuous.
.... a Buzzflash ENRONomics alert, 1/13/01

WASHINGTON (AP) - The president of Enron Corp. asked a top Treasury official last year to intervene with bankers with whom the company was negotiating for a credit extension to avoid bankruptcy.

WASHINGTON - Enron Corp.'s Chairman Kenneth Lay telephoned Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Oct. 26, a Fed spokesman confirmed today.

A BuzzFlash Reader Commentary: Ken Lay, Enron, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

Ken Lay, Enron, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/2002/01/011102_Lay_Enron_FERC.html

January 11, 2002

Remember last Summer's California energy crisis? Well...Ken Lay put some pressure on FERC Chairman Curtis Hebert to play ball, or Enron would not back him for his job.

http://www.senate.gov/~feinstein/releases01/ferc_investigation.html

"And now, we have a report in today's New York Times that Enron's Chairman Mr. Kenneth Lay told Curtis Hebert Jr., the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, that Enron would support him in his job if he backed a national push for retail competition in the energy business and a faster pace in opening up access to the electricity transmission grid to companies like Enron."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/briefings/20010531.html#Enron

Coincidentally, or not, Hebert wound up RESIGNING from his Chairmanship a few months later, after he snubbed Lay's attempt at extortion.

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/st/st001839.php3

"California is not losing a friend of the consumer with the announced resignation of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Curtis Hebert. Nonetheless, Hebert's resignation is troubling because it reveals the workings of the invisible hand of Kenneth Lay, head of the Enron Corporation. In Washington, people don't just give up their powerful positions. People resign because somebody above them tells them to resign. Back in June, it was reported in the New York Times that Lay was putting the heat on Hebert to pursue a more federally-oriented deregulation stance (Enron-style -- see above) in return for Lay's endorsement; the energy executive, after all, has enjoyed legendary influence with the President, who appoints Commission members and names the Chairperson. But Hebert snubbed Lay, who views the pro-dereg outgoing commissioner as not pro-dereg enough. Lay has been a long-time supporter of fellow Texan Pat Wood, who is expected to take over Hebert's post."

--Hesiod

CONGRESSMAN CONYERS DISCUSSES ENRON, LARRY THOMPSON, AND THE GAO'S REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FROM CHENEY

John Conyers Jr. of Michigan (14th Congressional District), is the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. He is a true hero, fighting the Bush administration for the truth about Enron. John Conyers also continues to fight for all Americans by urging the Bush administration to enact comprehensive election reform, something President Bush has opposed, after the Florida recount.

BUZZFLASH: Congressman Conyers, you wrote a letter last week to U.S. Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson asking him to appoint an outside special counsel to oversee the Justice Department Enron investigation. Why do you think this is necessary?

CONGRESSMAN CONYERS: I think it's necessary because there are definite conflicts of interest going on at several levels within the government. First and foremost, within the Department of Justice, both Attorney General Ashcroft and Larry Thompson, the number two man. Ashcroft has correctly recused himself, as well as the entire U.S. Attorney's office in Houston, Texas. Larry Thompson, whose law firm represented Enron, hasn't. So I don't know how Mr. Thompson thinks he's going to stonewall this for much longer before it becomes a pretty large issue.

For the full interview with Congressman Conyers, visit BuzzFlash:

www.buzzflash.com/interviews/2002/02/Congressman_Conyers_020102.html

Your tar and feathers ready? Mine are.

Ari Fleischer, that simpering twit of a White House spokesman, urged Thursday that the Enron debacle not be turned into a partisan witch hunt. OK, Ari, let's make it a bipartisan witch hunt.
But all the news seems so Republican-specific at the moment. You know they're getting edgy at the White House when both President Bush and Fleischer -- within about 30 minutes of each other -- try to blame Enron Chief Executive Officer Ken Lay (the single largest contributor to Bush's political career) on Ann Richards. Whoever wrote that talking point needs to be sent to the correspondence pool. It, at least, was not a good day to try the line. .... (More)

Enron is not Bush's Whitewater-- It will be worse

"What it is about... is how business gets done down in Texas. How a small group of business leaders exert enormous clout over Bush and his team in getting the rules changed to their benefit. It will explain why Bush has locked up presidential records, locked out any voices opposed to his pro-business agenda and rammed through an expensive economic plan that wiped out the budget surplus but to date hasn't had any positive effect on the economy. It will explain what influence Enron Chief Executive Ken Lay and his advisers had with Cheney and his energy task force when they met six times last year while the vice president was putting together the administration's energy policy. And it will explain why Bush is now thinking about acting on a proposal from that very task force that seeks to roll back a key provision of the Clean Air Act that helps keep factory pollution down by requiring new controls when old plants are upgraded." So writes CBS.MarketWatch.com Editor David Callaway.

Enron Is a Cancer on the Presidency

"The media, which had hounded Bill Clinton on his Whitewater connections, have allowed Bush to maintain the fiction that his--and his father's--administration had nothing to do with the debacle that is Enron. Given the intense interest in the list of those who slept over in the Clinton White House, it's odd that no attention has been paid to Kenny Boy's sleepover in the early years of the senior Bush's White House. Those early Bush years were crucial for Enron, beginning with the passage of the 1992 Energy Policy Act, which forced the established utility companies to carry Enron's electricity sales on their wires... There is a cancer growing on the presidency, but in this case it's name is Enron, and it won't go away by being ignored." So writes LA Times columnist Robert Scheer. http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0102-06.htm

"...If Enron's board, its top management, or its auditors did break any laws -- and it's important to remember that there's no hard evidence so far that they did -- the best response is a simple one: Put them in prison. It will, to borrow a phrase, discourage the others.

Securities & Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt has the right idea when he says the point of investor-protection laws isn't to bust crooks after they've ripped off their victims, but to stop them from trying. To do that, state and federal authorities need to send a tough message: Whether you're working out of teak boardrooms or basement boiler rooms, if you do fraud, you'll do time. Says Indiana Securities Commissioner Brad Skolnick: "The increased likelihood of jail time is the only thing that will deter investment scams."

RARELY CHARGED. Unfortunately, this country has a long and sad history of letting hustlers, stock market manipulators, and other white-collar con artists off the hook. Unlike the lowlifes who smash windows and swipe CD players, crooks whose weapon of choice is an annual report rarely go to jail...."
....http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jan2002/nf2002012_5188 1/5/02

Whitewater Critics Quiet About Enron

"One place to start untangling the Enron tale might be the moment in early 1993 when Bush appointees on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission voted to exempt energy traders from its anti-fraud regulations. The commissioner who initiated that convenient rule-making process, following a post-election request from Enron and several similar companies, was Wendy Gramm, wife of the Texas Senator. She left the CFTC just before the actual vote and, five weeks later, joined the Enron board of directors. This was merely a coincidence, as she and her benefactors in Houston later explained. Coincidence or not, that decision pulled open the 'regulatory black hole' in which Enron thrived and connived. It also represented the beginning of an unwholesome pattern that culminated earlier this year, when Enron’s generosity to the Bush-Cheney campaign evidently won its executives the right to choose their own regulators in Washington." So writes Joe Conason. http://www.observer.com/pages/conason.asp

Owning the White House

"...Enron also had significant input into the administration's national energy plan, including personal meetings between Lay and White House energy task force head Vice President Dick Cheney. Lay and Cheney are old acquaintances. While Cheney was CEO of Halliburton, his Houston-based Brown & Root subsidiary built Enron's new baseball park in Houston, modestly named Enron Field. Numerous other administration officials have either worked for Enron or have owned Enron stock. Secretary of the Army Thomas E. White, a retired brigadier general, was the vice chairman of Enron Energy Services, while economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey had a $50,000-a-year consulting job with the firm. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick served on Enron's Advisory Board. Both White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove and the Vice President's Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter'' Libbey, owned significant amounts of Enron stock. ....For the Bush Administration, it's not just a conflict of interest, it's a conflict with reality. For the nation, it's a disaster, which must be reversed immediately."
Bush Crew and Enron: Conflict Of Interest and Reality
....sdehart, 11/15

Robert Scheer: 'Connect the Enron Dots to Bush'

"Enron is Whitewater in spades. This isn't just some rinky-dink land investment like the one dredged up by right-wing enemies to haunt the Clinton White House--but rather it has the makings of the greatest presidential scandal since the Teapot Dome...[Chairman] Kenneth L. Lay, was a primary financial backer of...Bush's rise to the presidency...So greedy was Enron that it locked its own workers into a pension plan based on inflated company stock values and suspect hidden partnerships, while the top leadership led by Lay made out like bandits. Bush should be called as a witness in the congressional hearings scheduled to unravel this mess. One thing that should come up in the hearings is then-Gov. Bush's October 1997 telephone call on behalf of Lay to then-Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge to help Enron crack into the [state's] tightly regulated…electricity market...What was Lay's role in the sudden replacement of Curtis Hebert Jr. as" FERC chair? http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-

"Jeb was ... savvy when it came to cashing in on his name...As we have seen, so were Neil (of Silverado claim) and George W. On another occasion, their lobbying teamwork helped Enron, this country’s largest natural gas pipeline company, win a multi-million-dollar contract to build a pipeline linking Argentina and Chile. Enron showed its gratitude by giving $100,000 to George W.’s gubernatorial campaign."
http://bushfiles.com/bushfiles/fertilize_bushes.html

George W. Bush Gets Layed
This investigative report the uncovers close ties between the GOP candidate and Enron Corportations CEO.

Enron: Facts and Figures
Here are some facts and figures about Enron. As of June 2000, Enron had contributed $10,265 to Sen. Slade Gorton 's Campaign (Center for Responsive Politics). - lots of shady dealings and Bush connections...

Speaking of the California energy crisis,
" ... President George W. Bush is an outspoken proponent of deregulation. It's no coincidence that the natural gas giant Enron, gave the Republican Party more than $1 million last year, and the company is the president's biggest lifetime campaign contributor. Since taking office, Bush has urged California to gut its landmark environmental laws to facilitate faster construction of more natural gas plants. He also contends the state's energy crisis shows the need for opening Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. For his part, Vice President Dick Cheney says California companies should seriously explore building power plants in Mexico, where environmental rules are weaker. After initially balking at the idea, Mexican President Vicente Fox has given his tacit endorsement to the plan."

The U.S. Coalition of Service Industries is the top lobby group in the November WTO meeting in Qatar. The table below looks at 12 heavy hitters in the 67 member Coalition. Enron is #3 and in very impressive company...

" ... Enron is not just another energy corporation. It has recently reorganized to become one of the largest, multi-sector, private service providers in the world. While specializing in energy services, Enron's product lines now include a broad range of services from transportation to electronic commerce. Since Enron markets its services on a global basis, the GATS rules being negotiated at the WTO provide the power tools that can be used to knock down any barriers that may exist to profitable cross border trade-in-services.

For these reasons, Enron has positioned itself to be a leading player in the major big business lobby machines driving the GATS negotiations. But, on top of this, Enron has enormous economic and political clout, even as it currently faces serious troubles (October 25, 2001). Enron is still a player despite a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into transactions by its former Chief Financial Officer. The free fall in its stock prices and billion dollar losses Enron has incurred, are set against a backdrop of skyrocketing multi-billion dollar revenues in the last two years. More importantly, Enron's connections with the Bush Administration make it one of the most powerful corporate players in Washington today. And these connections make it an even more influential player in the WTO's service negotiations....
http://www.corpwatch.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=343

USA: Enron on Brink of Bankruptcy
HOUSTON -- The slick financing that helped turn Enron Corp. into a mighty power-brokering dynamo became its Achilles' heel, leaving the energy trader teetering toward bankruptcy after a smaller rival abandoned plans to buy it.

Enron: Pulling the Plug on the Global Power Broker
How could one of the most wealthy and powerful corporations in the world go bust overnight? It turns out that the 7th largest US business was mostly smoke and mirrors.

POWER SCAM: THE ENRON BUSH CONNECTION
One of the prime beneficiaries of the " crisis" is Enron Corporation and its Chairman Ken Lay, a major corporate and personal contributor to George Bush Jr.'s presidential campaign

"In 1988, a few months before Menem was elected for his first term, George W. Bush, the then oilman son of a sitting U.S. President, had tried to pressure the administration of outgoing President Raúl Alfonsín to favor Enron, the Houston-based company, over other, more qualified bidders to build a gas pipeline in Argentina. He was unsuccessful, but the Bushes hit it off with the high-rolling, big-spending Menem from the start. One of Menem's first acts as President was to give Enron a $300-million sweetheart deal on the pipeline project.

The Enron deal triggered a public outcry in Argentina. A congressional inquiry was demanded, and a special prosecutor launched a probe. But after Menem fired him, the probe fizzled. Enron and its founder and CEO, Kenneth Lay, another close friend of the elder Bush, were among the biggest contributors to George W. Bush's presidential campaign, as well as to his two gubernatorial campaigns.

George W. Bush's brother, Neil Bush, also had his fingers in the Argentina pie. He jetted to Buenos Aires for a tennis match with Menem the day after the latter was first elected, in 1989. Earlier, Neil had been involved in a failed plan to drill oil in Argentina, to be financed in part with a $900,000 loan from the Silverado Savings and Loan Bank in Denver, of which he was a director. The S&L collapsed in 1988 amidst a financial scandal, costing U.S. taxpayers more than $1 billion."
http://www.thegully.com/essays/argentina/010607bush_menem.html

Here in the United States Enron has also been the subject of criticism. For example activists point out that Enron has used powerful friends in government to rewrite laws on the energy futures markets (a major source of company income) so that these markets are now exempt from federal government oversight as well as from fraud laws. Meanwhile the company has been forced to revise a natural gas power plant projects in Boston because of the environmental impact on local water.
Below are some more detailed examples of the impact of this natural gas giant on communities in the last few years....
http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/motherlode/enron.html

A-Infos (ca) La familia Bush y la corporación Enron
El gobernador de Texas George W. Bush barrió con su contrincante John McCain en las primarias republicanas y su nombramiento oficial como candidato presidencial de su partido ya es inevitable. La relación del gobernador Bush- y sus hermanos Marvin y Neil- con la corporación de gas natural Enron es ilustrativa de la trayectoria, rica en intrigas y conspiraciones nefastas, de esta poderosa familia. --22 de mayo 2000

"...the role of (corporate) contributors, their influence permeates the Bush administration from cabinet and sub-cabinet appointments, to energy policy. For example, on May 25 (2001)The Guardian UK reported that applicants for jobs with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) were being vetted by the Enron corporation, the nation's largest electrical power corporation.

According to a joint investigation by the New York Times and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Mr Lay and other Enron executives interviewed other candidate members of the regulatory commission and supplied the president's personnel adviser, Clay Johnson, with a list of the company's preferred candidates.

Enron reportedly contributed $1.7 million to Republican candidates last year, and was among the top 10 corporate contributors to the Bush campaign. http://www.thedubyareport.com/money.html

ENRON'S VICTIMS MAY FIND A FRIEND IN RICO By: Brian J. Donovan

TAMPA, FL - January 29, 2002 - New legal rules and regulations will not prevent another Enron-like fiasco. A corporation's directors and officers, outside legal counsel, outside auditors/consultants, and investment bankers/stock analysts will feel morally, if not legally, obligated to be truthful to shareholders only if it is too expensive for them to do otherwise. Enron's victims should expeditiously use the current laws governing Corporate America to teach Enron's arrogant den of thieves that it is cost-effective to be truthful.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Code may allow Enron's creditors to bring assets back into the estate for distribution. A debtor-in-possession has the power to recover preferences and to void fraudulent conveyances. A preference is a payment or transfer of property to favored creditors within 90 days before the bankruptcy filing. The purpose of the power to recover preferences is to treat similarly situated creditors equally by not favoring any one creditor by preferential payments. For purposes of the Enron case, it should be noted that the applicable period of time in which an insider creditor is liable is one year - not 90 days. An insider creditor is a director, officer, person in control of the debtor, or partnership in which the debtor is a general partner.

Since Enron executives have admitted that partnerships were created for the purpose of hiding Enron's debt, creditors may be able to recover these assets under the fraudulent conveyance clause.

In cases of fraudulent conveyance, the debtor-in-possession may void any transfer of an interest of the debtor in property, or any obligation incurred by the debtor, that was made or incurred within one year before the filing for bankruptcy if the debtor:
1. made the transfer or incurred the obligation with -actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud- then existing or future creditors- or
2. received less than a -reasonably equivalent value- in exchange for such transfer or obligation.
Creditors may be able to recover assets, if any, transferred from Enron to its partnerships in off-balance sheet transactions, stock market proceeds obtained by Enron's directors, officers, and other insiders, and preferential payments made to insiders, outside auditors/consultants, legal counsel, and investment bankers.

Similarly, plaintiffs may pursue remedies under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933. Enron's directors and officers appear to have engaged in massive insider trading while issuing materially false and misleading statements regarding the financial condition of the company. If the facts support the allegations that Enron's directors and officers engaged in acts and omissions which operated as a fraud and deceit upon the purchasers of Enron's publicly traded securities, the plaintiffs should be able to recover for the damages they suffered in connection with their purchases of Enron's stock.

However, plaintiffs' best opportunity to recover damages from Enron and friends may be the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (-RICO-) statute. Section 1962(c) of the Rico statute makes it a crime -to conduct or participate in the conduct of the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity.- One must participate in the operation or management of the enterprise itself in order to be liable under RICO. In order to be successful under RICO, plaintiffs should consider filing the suit against Enron's directors and officers, outside legal counsel, outside auditors/consultants, and investment bankers/stock analysts as an -association-in-factI- enterprise. An association-in-fact is defined as a group of people joined together for the same purpose. Under RICO, an injured party -shall recover threefold the damages he sustains and the cost of the suit, including a reasonable attorney's fee.

In conclusion, parties injured by the Enron fiasco should immediately seek restitution provided for in the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, the U.S. securities laws, and the RICO statute. Although the process will be time consuming, Enron's wrongdoers must be held accountable for their actions. Shareholder confidence in our capital markets must be restored. It's time to smoke-out Enron's arrogant den of thieves and bring them to justice.

For More Information Contact: Brian J. Donovan Attorney at Law 813-956-2827 www.briandonovanlaw.com

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The Facts on Enron and Campaign Finance Reform

The Enron scandal underscores the need for immediate enactment of campaign finance reform. This story of greed, deceit and influence-peddling illustrates like nothing since the S&L crisis of the 1980s how thoroughly corrupt our political system has become. There’s only one way Congress can restore the credibility of the government in the wake of this debacle. It must rid the system of the legalized bribery that entices members of Congress to strip away protections for Americans against corporate misconduct.

The following is a summary of Enron’s nearly $6 million in campaign contributions over the last decade, which bought it unrivaled political access and influence.

Enron’s Campaign Contributions

From 1989 to 2002, Enron and its employees gave $5.95