The Clinton Boogie Man Lives On

[ElGRANDPEEHOLE]

RACK WARREN!

Smokie's got more chemicals in him than the local public pool! His credibility is about as favorable as Darrell Strawupmynoseberry.
In other words, who gives a flying bag of weed what he thinks!

[warrenton]

Hey Dr. D, don't expect a valid response from Uncle NoPecker, he has no idea that the only policy changes that benefitted Enron came during the Clinton Whorehouse.

No quid pro quo, you whiney little commies, please insert another quarter and try again.

[Uncle Fester]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="90%" bgcolor="#333333" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" bgcolor="#FF9900"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yeah, all Republicans did??</font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

I never said "all," Dr. Distorter. What do you want, a census figure? An actual headcount? You're funny when you play the literal card.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="90%" bgcolor="#333333" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" bgcolor="#FF9900"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Prove that Lay bought favors from Clinton, dipshit....you see, the appearance is there, but no smoking gun. It's the same argument that you liberal dipshits used to defend your lying President against charges of corruption in pardoning convicts for money, accepting Chinese money, bla bla bla...</font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not sure what the hell you are talking about. You said that Enron shopped favors from Clinton. I'm not saying you are wrong. I'm just asking what evidence you have to back it up.

And maybe you could do a little comparative study of the literature to see if Clinton's past associations with Lay and Enron are even in the same political stratosphere as they are with the Family Bush.

--------------------------

George W. Bush is trying to rewrite the history of his and his family’s relationship with Enron Corp.’s disgraced former Chairman Kenneth Lay. So far, Bush has enjoyed fairly good success as the U.S. news media has largely accepted the White House spin.

But the reality, as established by a wealth of historical record and recent disclosures, is that Lay and Enron were instrumental in Bush’s rise to power – and Bush played an important behind-the-scenes role in advancing Enron’s aggressive deregulation agenda, which helped the energy trader ascend to its lofty perch as the seventh-biggest U.S. company.

The Bush-Lay coziness earned the Enron chief a nickname from Bush as "Kenny Boy." But more importantly for Enron, Bush pitched in as governor and president whenever the energy trader wanted easier regulations within the U.S. or to have U.S. taxpayers foot the bill for loan guarantees or risk insurance for Enron's overseas ventures.

The Bush-Lay relationship helped Enron extend its reach across the globe, with the appearance of a successful company, as it pulled in billions of dollars in investment money from tens of thousands of unwary investors.

Now, in trying to insulate Bush from the spreading Enron scandal, White House aides have emphasized that administration officials rebuffed Lay and other Enron executives who sought a federal bailout to save their corporate skin. But the documentary record paints a different picture, showing that the administration did what it could last year to help Enron, until the Houston energy trader's collapse was so far advanced that its deceptive bookkeeping could no longer be kept out of public view.

Last year, Vice President Dick Cheney and his energy task force held six secret meetings with Lay and other Enron officials while developing an administration program that contained special favors for Enron. Bush named Lay’s allies to key regulatory positions, such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which pushed for other pet Enron projects.

Under the direction of Bush’s National Security Council staff, the U.S. government also strong-armed India to acquiesce to Enron’s demands over its troubled Dabhol power plant, which Enron was hoping to sell for $2.3 billion. The NSC’s extraordinary pressure on India continued even after Sept. 11 when Washington needed New Delhi’s support in the war on terrorism and wanted the Indians to quiet their border dispute with neighboring Pakistan.

Internal administration documents suggest that Bush and his NSC staff put Enron's interests on par with or ahead of U.S. national security interests. The extraordinary NSC-led campaign around the Dabhol plant ended only on Nov. 8, the day the Securities and Exchange Commission delivered subpoenas to Enron about its questionable accounting. The same day, the company admitted that it had overstated its profits by $586 million since 1997, by improperly shifting debt into affiliated partnerships. [Washington Post, Jan. 19 & 25, 2002; Bloomberg News, Jan. 18, 2002]

Kenny Boy Who?

With Enron’s ignominious collapse over deceptive accounting, Bush began to act as if he barely knew Lay. On Jan. 11, Bush told reporters that Lay "was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994." Bush implied that he had gotten to know Lay as a Richards holdover appointee to a Texas business council. The impression Bush sought to create was untrue.

The Bush-Lay relationship can be traced back at least a half decade before the 1994 race. It grew out of the Houston social circle where oil tycoons have long rubbed shoulders with political players – and where Ken and Linda Lay had grown close to George H.W. and Barbara Bush in the 1980s. Since 1988, when Lay backed the elder George Bush in his run for the White House, Enron and its executives have written big checks for one Bush initiative after another.

Besides the political financing, Lay has supported private and charitable activities of the Bush family. Lay joined one of Barbara Bush's charities to promote literacy as he served as the honorary chairman of the Celebration of Reading at Houston Wortham Theatre Center. [The Guardian, Jan. 30, 2002]

A trustee of the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation, Lay has donated $50,000 as a patron as well, the New York Daily News reported. In 1999, the Lays chipped in $100,000 for the Andersen Cancer Center at Texas A&M University in a fundraising drive led by then-Gov. George W. Bush and his wife, Laura.

During the Republican presidential primaries in 2000, Enron corporate jets were made available eight times to Bush's campaign staff and his parents, with the future president sometimes personally arranging the flights. [New York Daily News, Feb. 3, 2002]

Yet, when Enron collapsed, George W. Bush distanced himself from Lay. As Enron slid toward bankruptcy, its stock lost $26 billion in market value, devastating retirement plans for Enron employees and other Americans. About 5,000 people lost their jobs, including about 4,000 at Enron's Houston headquarters.

The once-high-flying Enron became synonymous with corporate corruption.

Oil-Field Alliance

The origins of the Bush-Lay relationship can be found in the intertwining connections among oil companies, Texas politicians and international commerce. [More on the Bush family 'Oiligarchy']

In 1985, Lay created Enron by merging his company, Houston Natural Gas, with one of the largest pipeline companies in the world, Nebraska-based InterNorth. Lay named the new company, Enron, and set its sights high. Political allies would be critical to Enron’s growth.

In his first major venture into politics, Lay went to work raising money and organizing support for then-Vice President George H.W. Bush’s campaign for the Presidency. Bush, who built his own fortune in the Texas oil fields, was appreciative as he battled through a tough Republican primary and then defeated Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis.

In the weeks after the 1988 election, Lay may have gotten his first dividend on his investment in the Bush family. Enron had joined the bidding for a contract to build a $300 million pipeline in Argentina. The government appeared close to choosing between two other companies -- one from Italy, Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, and the other a partnership between Argentine firm P?rez and America’s Dow Chemical.

Argentina’s Minister of Public Works, Rodolfo Terragno, later told Mother Jones that he considered Enron’s one-page project outline "laughable." He also noted that Enron "wasn't well established in Argentina." [Mother Jones, March/April 2000]

But Enron apparently was getting well established in the power corridors of the U.S. A few weeks after the 1988 elections, Terragno said the president-elect’s eldest son, George W. Bush, called to check up on "the slow pace of the Enron project."

Terragno recalled that the younger George Bush said that giving Enron the project "would be very favorable for Argentina and its relations with the United States." Terragno didn’t know whether this message was from the White House or whether Bush was working a business deal on his own.

But the public works minister, who was forced to flee Argentina after the 1976 military coup, didn’t succumb to what he viewed as political pressure. He said he told Bush that the deal would be awarded based on Argentine law.

Terragno, however, would not have the chance to make the decision. National elections in Argentina tossed his left-of-center party out of office and ushered in the administration of right-wing Peronist Carlos Menem.

Bush has denied the conversation took place. While Terragno says he still believes it was the younger George Bush who called, he has acknowledged the possibility that the call could have come from another Bush brother. Still, other news accounts have traced Lay's ties to George W. Bush back to about that time. An investigation by the New York Daily News concluded that "Lay began to cultivate their friendship in 1989." [Feb. 3, 2002]

Presidential Help

Falling gas prices caused Enron to back away from the pipeline contract in Argentina. But in 1990, President George H.W. Bush traveled to the South American country to plant seeds for U.S. business interests. One of those seeds was for Enron.

According to Mother Jones, several days after Bush’s visit, the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, Terence Todman, wrote Menem a letter saying Enron and seven other U.S. companies were prepared to pull the plug on investments in Argentina if the Menem administration didn’t stop favoring Argentine businesses in awarding contracts.

Todman’s letter said Enron was "poised to invest $250 million" if Argentina would lower tariffs and value-added taxes that punished U.S. businesses. Menem accepted the Bush administration’s entreaties and signed a presidential decree that waived these duties on Enron investments. [Mother Jones, March/April 2000]

Menem’s decision caused a political furor in Argentina, but the deal was done. In the years since, Enron has emerged as a fixture in the Argentine business landscape.

Back in the United States, Lay was one of 273 people invited by Bush to spend a night at the White House during his four-year term. [Houston Chronicle, Feb. 27, 1997]

In 1990, Bush picked Lay to co-chair the Houston Economic Summit of the G-8 Industrial Nations, a prestigious forum that gave the Enron chairman access to the leaders of the world’s wealthiest countries. Lay also enjoyed Bush’s backing to deregulate the nation’s energy market to open public utilities to private competition, Enron’s core business.

In 1992, Lay served as chairman of the host committee for the Republican National Convention in Houston. That year, however, Bush lost the White House to Bill Clinton. Cushioning the fall for some of Bush's top aides, Enron hired as consultants Bush's Secretary of State James Baker and Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher. [Business Week, Feb. 12, 2001]

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2002/020602a1.html

[mvscal]

RACK Warren & Dr. D. This is almost as entertaining as Homoha Native trying to spin for the Catholic Church at TNW.

[warrenton]

Hey Uncle Nosexter!

Here's one for ya' pinko, and I've got plenty more where this came from.

Oh, and by the way, "secret meetings" don't amount to shit, you simple dropout. Show me where actual policy was altered to benefit Enron under Bush's watch. Because, I will show you plenty of benefits that Enron gained under that thief you called Clinton's watch.

Oh, and by the way commie's, where's the outcry for Terry Mcaullife's earnings under Global Crossing?

You people are laughable.

Clinton helped Enron finance projects abroad
By Patrice Hill
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


The Clinton administration provided more than $1 billion in subsidized loans to Enron Corp. projects overseas at a time when Enron was contributing nearly $2 million to Democratic causes. Top Stories
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Clinton officials refused to finance only one out of 20 projects proposed by the energy company between 1993 and 2000 to build power plants, natural-gas pipelines and other big-ticket energy facilities around the world, according to the Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corp., the agencies that provided the subsidies.
In addition, the administration, which lauded Chairman Kenneth L. Lay as an exemplary "corporate citizen," granted about $200 million worth of insurance against political risks for nine Enron projects in such politically volatile areas as Argentina, Venezuela and the Gaza Strip, according to documents the agencies provided to the Senate Finance Committee.
"These projects obviously were a tremendous benefit to Enron's operations," said Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican and ranking minority member of the committee. He noted that the Reagan and Bush administrations approved no loans for Enron between 1985 and 1992 and provided insurance for only one Enron power project in Guatemala in 1992.
The Clinton administration provided three loans between 1994 and 1998 to the now-defunct Dabhol power project in India. Mr. Clinton's commerce secretary, Ron Brown, trumpeted the approval of the Dabhol loans on a trade mission to India in 1995, with Mr. Lay by his side.
The trip was one of 11 Clinton trade missions provided at taxpayer expense for corporate executives from Enron and other companies. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency, which sponsored the trips, also provided $1 million in funding to study Enron energy projects in Russia, Eastern Europe and former Soviet states.
As congressional committees dig for evidence to tie Enron and Mr. Lay to the Bush administration, evidence of Mr. Lay's links to the Clinton administration are ample and well-documented.
Mr. Lay at times was Mr. Clinton's golf partner and slept in the Lincoln Bedroom. Other top Enron officials attended the White House's infamous "coffee klatches" with Mr. Clinton, according to published reports.
Mr. Lay offered a seat on Enron's board of directors to Robert E. Rubin, Mr. Clinton's Treasury secretary, in 1999 just before he left government, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Mr. Rubin tried to get Treasury to intervene on behalf of Enron last fall when the company credit rating was threatened.
In May 1996, Mr. Clinton lauded Mr. Lay as a good "corporate citizen" at a White House event because of Enron's enlightened personnel policies, including profit-sharing of Enron stock and generous health and pension benefits. Enron employees now are suing because those benefits are as worthless as the bankrupt company's stock.
During the Clinton years, Enron contributed more than $1 million to the Democratic Party, including $600,000 to the Democatic National Committee, according to Federal Election Commission records. Mr. Clinton and Vice President Al Gore received contributions of $11,000 and $13,750, respectively, for their presidential campaigns.
One $100,000 contribution to the DNC was provided before India gave final approval to Enron's Dabhol project in June 1996. The largest and most expensive capital project ever undertaken in India, Dabhol was of dubious economic value and never went on line.
The World Bank, on reviewing the project, said it was not economically viable and inordinately benefited Enron, which was a 65 percent owner. Enron still owes $203 million on an Export-Import Bank loan for the project, which the bank says is covered by guarantees provided by five Indian banks.
Congressional aides said it is not clear what the taxpayers' liability will be for that and other loans now that Enron is bankrupt. The Export-Import Bank said its loans were extended to overseas subsidiaries of Enron and not the bankrupt corporation. The overseas investment agency said its exposure is limited to paying any missed premiums on Enron's political risk insurance.
Top Clinton officials lobbied personally to obtain Indian state guarantees for the Dabhol project after it encountered early problems in 1995. Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty, the White House chief of staff, made it a top administration priority to keep the project from failing. The Bush administration has continued efforts to salvage the project.
Clinton Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary led a succession of missions to India, and Mr. Clinton's ambassador to India, Frank Wisner, was charged with keeping the project afloat. After Mr. Wisner left government in 1997, he took a seat on the board of directors of a company then controlled by Enron. Mr. McLarty also performed work for Enron after leaving the

[DrDetroit]

I see now Fester. You ask about the relationship between Enron and the Clinton White House and then when confronted with facts, decide to ignore them and smear Dubya...props for plungering yourself.

BTW, you didn't have to use the word "all" to include all Republicans, dipshit, because when you post, "The "single fact" being that Republicans," you're inherently including all of them. Less you'd have been more specific in your charcaterization. Sucks when someone beats you about your head with your own words, eh?? LMAO!!!

[Terry in Crapchester]

Rack Smackie and Fester, even though the board's right wing is attempting a pile-on (go figure). And I just thought I'd address this particular gem from Warren:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="90%" bgcolor="#333333" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" bgcolor="#FF9900"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by warrenton:
Like they wouldn't even allow Bush's judicial appointee to get a vote on the Senate floor, even though they had approved the same man for an earlier appointment.</font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

The earlier appointment they had approved the same man (Charles Pickering) for was twelve years ago (or thereabouts). Many on the judiciary committee believed that Pickering had piled up a singularly unimpressive record (reminds me of Clarence Thomas) over the course of those twelve years. Actually, W nominated Pickering as a favor to Trent Lott, a personal friend of Pickering's, and rumor was that even the W administration wasn't real thrilled about the nomination.

Btw, if memory serves, Pickering was nominated for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. How many of Clinton's nominees for that Court were rejected by the GOP-controlled Senate without even a vote?

[mothomus]

Awright it's my fault------Jimmy Carter

[DrDetroit]

Terry, there?s no pile-on happening here. Though you?d like to characterize it as such to help your fellow Democrat out?

Fester attempts to suggest that the article was just a demonstration of, ?In a democratic society, successful propaganda generally relies on two elements: the fabrication of a useful, plausible, specific lie, and the deployment of visible professionals who are willing to repeat it until it?s believed.?

But the tone and content of the article belie that very narrow characterization of the article. More to the point, the article served one purpose and one purpose only, to use a single example of inaccurate information to undermine an entire argument, ala, Lay didn?t stay the night at the Clinton White House, therefore, there was no relationship between Enron and Clinton. And we all know that to be false as a few of us have posted substantiatated evidence to the contrary.

Also, Fester makes the attempt to suggest that, ?Republicans and the media used a lie to smear Clinton and point the finger away from Bush.?

That may be, however, just as no quid pro quo relationship was ever proven between Clinton and the Chinese, no such relationship has been demonstrated here. In fact, if such a relationship had existed between Dubya and Enron, it wold necessarily have resulted in a government bailout of that firm, would it not? Thereby demonstrating that no such relationship existed.

It?s hilarious seeing Fester feversihlsy demanding that I prove that Lay bought favors from Dubya, LMAO! Not only did I not claim that nor suggest it, he has yet to demonstrate the same with Dubya, of which this article he uses to suggest as much?..

[vitocorleone]

Aaaaah yes, Dr.WarrenPeehole. I see the right wing circle jerk is in full affect this morning The log cabin republicans are representing this morning.